Floriana are set to appoint Giovanni Tedesco as their new coach after Ian Dawes was dismissed by the club in the wake of Saturday’s 2-1 defeat to Relegation Pool strugglers Vittoriosa Stars.
Riccardo Gaucci, the Floriana FC president, yesterday confirmed that Dawes had been relieved of his duties after the loss to Vittoriosa left the Greens just three points above the drop zone with only three games left.
Gaucci, who took over the helm of the club in February, said that Tedesco, a former Serie A player who has figured for a host of clubs, including Fiorentina, Palermo and Perugia, has agreed to take charge of the team for their remaining three Premier League matches.
“The decision to part with Ian Dawes was not taken lightly but a change was needed in light of the team’s difficult position in the standings,” Gaucci told Times of Malta.
“Giovanni Tedesco, the ex-Palermo and Perugia midfielder, is travelling to Malta tomorrow (today) to lead our team for the last three league games.
“It’s difficult to recruit a new coach in the final weeks of the season but Tedesco is a personal friend and he heeded my call to come and help our team in this difficult situation.”
The Greens’ prospects of securing their Premier League status with a few games to spare looked bright after they beat Qormi and Vittoriosa Stars in their opening two Relegation Pool matches but their momentum was jolted by a 3-0 defeat to Tarxien Rainbows and a 1-1 draw with Naxxar Lions.
A 5-0 victory over bottom side Rabat Ajax looked to have put the Greens back on track but back-to-back defeats to Qormi and Vittoriosa dragged them back into the relegation mire, costing Dawes his job.
Dawes’s position will not have been helped by the protest staged by some Floriana fans outside the Centenary Stadium after the upset to Vittoriosa.
The former Liverpool youth coach had been selected by Steve Vaughan Jr, the former club president, to succeed Iain Brunskill as head coach of Floriana last summer.
For his part, Tedesco, 41, is still at the start of his coaching career.
In 2011, he joined the youth coaching staff at Sicilian club Palermo, initially working alongside youth system chief Rosario Argento.
In September 2011, Tedesco landed his first coaching job as head of the Under-17 Allievi Regionali team for Palermo.
In the summer of 2012, Tedesco amicably parted company with Palermo in order to pursue a head coaching career. He was appointed coach of Foligno but his spell at the Lega Pro club was short-lived.