Giovanni Tedesco conducted his first training session at Palermo yesterday after being confirmed as the new head coach by the Serie A club.

Tedesco, a former Palermo midfielder who started the 2015-16 season as coach of Maltese Premier League club Birkirkara FC, will be taking over the reins of team for the next six months, Palermo said on their official website.

Club supremo Maurizio Zamparini had intended to hand over the first-team coaching duties to Guillermo Barros Schelotto following the departure of Davide Ballardini earlier this month.

However, Schelotto, an Argentine, does not possess adequate documents to earn a coaching licence in the Serie A and Tedesco was identified as the man to lead the team from the bench.

On Sunday, youth coach Giovanni Bosi was in charge of the team for the home clash against Udinese which Palermo won 4-1 to move to 14th place on 24 points, six clear of the relegation zone.

Sky Italia reported yesterday that Schelotto will be the Palermo team manager, a role that does not require the same licence as that of first-team coach in the Italian top flight.

In a short message on his personal facebook page, Tedesco thanked Zamparini for showing faith in his abilities and urged the team to climb higher in the standings.

“I thank club president Maurizio Zamparini for giving me this opportunity to coach Palermo,” he wrote.

“We have to be united to reach our objectives this season. C’mon Palermo… always and ever.”

Zamparini is renowned for firing and re-hiring coaches. This season, the Sicilians started with Giuseppe Iachini in charge but he became Zamparini’s 29th coaching change since 2002 when he was shown the backdoor with Ballardini stepping in.

Ballardini was sacked after just two months but with Schelotto unable to lead the team from the touchline, Fabio Viviani took charge of training only for Zamparini to opt for Bosi as coach against Udinese.

Tedesco’s first match will be on Saturday when Palermo play away to Carpi.

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