Marco Simone, the former Milan and Italy striker, has been appointed coach of Switzerland’s FC Lausanne.
Simone, who won the Serie A title four times and the Champions Cup twice in the Rossoneri shirt, was already engaged by FC Lausanne as a technical director.
Simone, who is a qualified UEFA coach, will be in charge at FC Lausanne until the end of the season, taking over from Francesco Gabriele.
FC Lausanne play in the second-tier Challenge League.
Berlusconi backs Rossoneri to thrive
Silvio Berlusconi has vowed to return Milan to the upper echelons of football.
Milan finished the 2013-14 Serie A season in eighth and missed out on a Champions League place for the first time in five years. But they have made an encouraging start under new coach Filippo Inzaghi and currently lie fifth in the Serie A standings after six matches.
“I think football goes in cycles, with years of success followed by a lull and then new victories,” Berlusconi said.
“The fans should rest assured, the team is already competitive and soon we will be back to being leaders in Europe.
“In 2016 the Champions League final will be in Milan. Why shouldn’t we dream of being there?”
FIGC gesture
The Italian Football Federation (FIGC) has announced plans for Genoa to host an international friendly between Italy and Albania next month.
The north-west port city has been besieged by heavy flooding in recent days and the FIGC has responded by announcing proposals for the November 18 friendly to be staged at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris, rather than Parma’s Stadio Ennio Tardini as originally planned.
The Ferraris is home to Genoa and Sampdoria and the FIGC revealed the switch would only be given the go-ahead once their presidents Enrico Preziosi and Massimo Ferrero – as well as Parma chief Tommaso Ghirardi – had given their blessing.
Schalke president backs Heldt
Schalke president Clemens Tonnies has given his support to the club’s director of sport Horst Heldt for hiring Roberto Di Matteo as manager after sacking Jens Keller last week.
Prior to removing Keller, Heldt had already relieved Felix Magath and Huub Stevens of their duties while Ralf Rangnick also left due to exhaustion.
It was Heldt who picked the new coach each time and his decision to bring in the former Chelsea boss has been praised by Tonnies.
“He’s got my full backing,” the Schalke president said.
“He was looking for a top coach and he got one. It is all down to him and he did a great job.”
Wenger apologises for shoving Mou
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has apologised for shoving his Chelsea counterpart Jose Mourinho on the touchline during a Premier League match at Stamford Bridge.
“Too much importance was given to this story but I should not have reacted like this. I always regret any signs of violence and I apologise for it,” the Frenchman told TF1 TV.
Wenger blatantly shoved Mourinho in the chest midway through the first half after a heated exchange of views in Chelsea’s 2-0 win on October 5.
Also speaking to TF1, Mourinho said: “I will not say more. I have no words to explain what everybody else saw in those images.”
Wenger initially said he had nothing to apologise for.
Cyprus refs’ offices damaged by bomb
A small pipe bomb exploded outside the offices of Cyprus’s referees association yesterday, police said, confirming a second attack on members of the profession in a month.
The small-density explosive caused slight damage outside the Nicosia offices of the association at about 3.30am, a police spokesman said.
A fire bomb was recently thrown at the home of an assistant referee in Limassol.
Cypriot soccer occasionally experiences outbursts of violence and referees are regularly targeted.
Earlier this year, a bomb damaged the car of a prominent referee and head of the association, triggering the postponement of matches for a weekend.
Essien denies Ebola rumours
Milan’s Michael Essien has been forced to deny social media rumours that he has Ebola.
Rumours surfaced online over the weekend that Essien had contracted the deadly virus after he was not selected in Ghana’s squad for Saturday’s Africa Cup qualifier against Guinea, which ended in a 1-1 draw.
The hoax claims prompted the former Chelsea and Real Madrid star, who was omitted due to a foot injury, to take to social media to reassure fans he was “very fit and very healthy”.
“No truth in rumours that I have contracted Ebola. I’m very well & I’m doing very good & will be training as usual tomorrow.# falsenews,” he wrote on Twitter.