Two Serie A coaches – Walter Novellino (Palermo) and Sinisa Mihajlovic (Milan) – were recently shown the backdoor by their clubs to increase the number of top division coaching casualties in Italy this season to 14.

Appointing new men in charge and dismissing others may have become somewhat customary for Maurizio Zamparini, the Palermo chief. However, at Milan this process has only become common this past year or so.

In fact, the Rossoneri had four different coaches – Massimiliano Allegri, Clarence Seedorf, Filippo Inzaghi and Mihajlovic – since January 2014. Last week, they selected youth team coach Cristian Brocchi to lead the senior side and he started on the right footing after a 1-0 away win at Sampdoria.

Before, in his 28 years as owner (1986-2014), Silvio Berlusconi had sacked only four coaches – Nils Liedholm (1987), Oscar Tabarez (1996), Alberto Zaccheroni (2001) and Fatih Terim (2001).

The changes denote a short term vision and no projects with clear ideas where to take the club next. It seems that firing coaches has become an easy option for club supremos and Berlusconi seems to be no different from the others.

But, in my opinion, some coaches have become the scapegoat of errors which others may have committed.

In Milan’s case, it did not make sense to risk giving novices Seedorf and Inzaghi a chance to prove themselves only to sack them almost immediately for failing to attain instant success.

The case of Seedorf – a former Milan stalwart – was emblematic as the Dutchman signed a two-and-a-half year contract, only to lose his job six months later.

Before sitting on the Milan hot-seat, the four-times Champions League winner was persuaded to end his playing career with former club Botafogo.

At the time, the decision to sack Seedorf so prematurely was estimated to have cost the coffers of the club quite a few millions of euros.

Former youth team coach Inzaghi was promised a full campaign to prove himself.

An encouraging start augured well for the former Italy striker as Milan were serious contenders for a top-three finish before the Christmas recess.

However, a poor showing in the second half of the campaign saw the Rossoneri slip down to 10th place and that immediately brought the curtains down on Inzaghi’s coaching stint.

Indeed, these are the sort of setbacks that any up-and-coming coach will surely find it difficult to recover from for the rest of his career.

And many still ask why was Allegri sacked after having led Milan to their 18th Scudetto at the end of season 2010/11?

Now, just a couple of years after leaving San Siro, Allegri is being ranked among the top coaches in Europe. This year, he is on the verge of leading Juventus to a second successive domestic double.

Last year, the Bianconeri almost emulated Jose Mourinho’s Inter of 2010 when they won the treble.

Former Roma, Sampdoria, Lazio and Inter hardman Mihajlovic was initially promised the necessary backing by the Milan bosses.

A €90m spending spree last summer augured well as the Rossoneri embarked on a rebuilding project complemented with the signing of promising duo Alessio Romagnoli and Andrea Bertolacci (both ex-Roma) and Carlos Bacca from La Liga’s Sevilla.

But with Mihajlovic on the sidelines Milan were never serious contenders for a top-three finish.

At the time of being sacked, they were languishing in sixth place, 15 points adrift of third-placed Roma.

Coppa final

Strangely, Milan decided to part with Mihajlovic before next month’s Coppa Italia final with Juventus.

Many reckoned, myself included, that the former Serbia national team coach deserved to finish the season irrespective and lead the side out in the May 21 showdown.

In the past, Milan attained huge successes, both at home and in Europe, thanks to the vision of their boardroom maestros, led by Ber-lusconi and his right-hand-man Adriano Galliani.

Through their wily moves on the transfer market and intuitions with coaches and players, they had given the San Siro giants a new dimension.

But, it now seems that the same people who lifted Milan to stardom years ago have now become a burden for the club as their faulty strategies have seen the Rossoneri losing their competitive edge both in Serie A and Europe.

Really, who should have lost his job here Allegri, Seedorf, Inzaghi, Mihajlovic or the ones above who keep going for the wrong options?

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