Beppe Iachini insists “I still have affection” for Palermo President Maurizio Zamparini, who sacked him twice last season.
The tactician is the longest-serving Coach of Zamparini’s reign, but the fiery patron described him as “an idiot” with a “losing mentality” in an extraordinary interview in March.
“Despite everything, I feel affection for Zamparini,” Iachini told Gazzetta dello Sport.
Beppe Iachini insists “I still have affection” for Palermo President Maurizio Zamparini, who sacked him twice last season.
The tactician is the longest-serving Coach of Zamparini’s reign, but the fiery patron described him as “an idiot” with a “losing mentality” in an extraordinary interview in March.
“Despite everything, I feel affection for Zamparini,” Iachini told Gazzetta dello Sport.
“If I’m the Coach who has lasted the longest under his management then I must have done some positive things.
“He called me right after that interview on Radio 24 to apologise and to say he didn’t mean to offend me, they were jokes.
“Let’s just say that Zamparini has a particular character, I’ve known him for a lifetime as I was one of his players at Venezia.
“Eventually the relationship broke down because of different technical opinions, he wanted a four-man defence and I pointed out that I didn’t have players with the right attributes.
“In fact, [Davide] Ballardini then kept them up with 3-5-2. It was a positive experience though, which lasted almost three years.
“For that, besides how it ended, I have to thank Zamparini for the opportunity he gave me.”
Palermo take on Udinese tomorrow, with Iachini sacked by the Zebrette after just seven games.
“It was a surprise, I didn’t deserve it. Unfortunately in these cases we lack the patience to wait for the Coach’s project.
“I started the season with four key players out injured, [Silvan] Widmer, Samir, [Emmanuel] Badu and [Emil] Hallfredsson, plus [Cyril] Théréau had physical problems.
“So we had to speed-up the recovery time of guys like [Seko] Fofana, [Rodrigo] De Paul and [Jakub] Jankto.
“During pre-season we tried 3-5-2, which is now part of the history of Udinese. I then changed, switching to 4-3-1-2 or 4-3-2-1 because I had the players that allowed me to do it.
“I needed time to recover the injured players and implement the system that [Luigi] Del Neri is also following now.
“So I needed time? Yes, and the club didn’t give it to me. Too bad. Don’t discount those seven games though, we won away to Milan and I had a group that was behind me.
“I’d have liked to see the team with all players in top condition.”
What will Iachini do now?
“I plan to go to England to study the training sessions of [Antonio] Conte, [Pep] Guardiola and [Claudio Ranieri]. And then [Carlo] Ancelotti in Munich.
“It’s important to understand how such talented colleagues work.
“If Zamparini calls me one day? Why not? It depends on the project and so many other things. I’d consider it. Never say never.”