Floriana FC have accepted the resignation of coach Giovanni Tedesco and handed the first-team reins to Argentine midfielder Nicolas Chiesa.
Tedesco tendered in his resignation as the club’s first-team coach on Sunday after the Greens crashed out of the FA Trophy in the third round following a 3-1 extra-time defeat to Naxxar Lions the day before.
For the Greens this was the second successive setback in a space of a week after the 1-0 defeat to rivals Valletta in a Premier League match late last month.
“I can confirm that Giovanni Tedesco is no longer the coach of Floriana FC,” club president Riccardo Gaucci told Times of Malta.
“In my opinion when a coach tells you that he’s no longer capable of bringing the best out of his players then it’s a clear sign that there needs to be a change in leadership.
So, I agreed with Giovanni Tedesco to end his association with the club.
“I would like to thank him for all his work and we now look forward to put Floriana FC back on track with Nicolas Chiesa who has been put in charge of the first team.”
For Chiesa this will not be his first experience in the Floriana dug-out as earlier this season he had led the team when Tedesco was serving suspension.
Gaucci said that the decision to give Chiesa the responsibility to lift the team was the most realistic in the current circumstances.
“I think our move was quite straightforward,” the club sup-remo said.
“To bring a new coach midway through the season would further complicate matters for us as he would need more time to acclimatise in his new surroundings.
“But Nicolas knows the players inside out and he has already shown that he can be up to the task this season.
Really, we’re all confident that he will do a good job and help the team to turn this difficult moment.”
Chiesa will make his debut as the new Floriana coach on Saturday when the Greens take on Lija Athletic at the Tedesco Stadium in a league match.
Gaucci said that the team had just suffered two huge setbacks in their quest to challenge for silverware this season but said that the slip-ups have only increased the club’s determination to put their campaign back in the running as soon as possible.
“The team has three important matches before the end of the month and we need to win them all,” Gaucci said.
“We play Lija Athetic and Birkirkara in the league and only maximum points from those two matches will suit our cause for us not to slip behind in the title race.
“Then we have the Super Cup clash against Hibernians and victory in that contest will see us wrapping the year on a fine note.”