Cagliari President Tommaso Giulini insists Zdenek Zeman’s resignation was not triggered by protests from fans – 'I won't condemn them'.
It emerged on Friday night that the Isolani players had been attacked by the club’s Ultras, with the Czech Coach saying the fans made things ‘more difficult’.
Cagliari President Tommaso Giulini insists Zdenek Zeman’s resignation was not triggered by protests from fans – 'I won't condemn them'.
It emerged on Friday night that the Isolani players had been attacked by the club’s Ultras, with the Czech Coach saying the fans made things ‘more difficult’.
Zeman resigned from his position this morning, but in an interview with Sky, the club’s President has denied the actions of the fans had any bearing on the decision.
“I’m very saddened by his decision,” Giulini admitted when asked about Zeman.
“It’s yet another failure in our season. He explained his reasons, but he will speak and explain everything. He wasn’t satisfied with the most recent games and it seemed the obvious choice, to him.
“I don’t think it has anything to do with what happened last week with the fans. If it weren’t for Parma, we’d be last in the table, and 20 or 30 fans came to protest, something you can’t condemn.
“Right now the story of fans coming to Assemini [the training ground] is being exploited, and also the private lives of the players are being talked about too much.
“I don’t know what the police will do, if they were to identify the 25 fans who arrived at Assemini we might even get some clarity about what happened.
“However, I repeat: I will not condemn them.
“It was not an open confrontation. They came in screaming and shouting, there was nothing else though.
“People who talk about slaps and punches don’t know the reality.
“They still support the team, Sunday-after-Sunday. All of this is part of football folklore, it has always existed in the stadium, just as long as it doesn’t lead to violence.”
Giulini also expressed regret over his choices in the dugout, with Zeman having already been sacked, before being brought back to replace Gianfranco Zola.
“From the beginning of the season we took too big of a risk in terms of the technical side of the club. The results haven’t come.
“We made a risky choice, because we could have had an incredible year or, as happened, a campaign to forget.
“The season has been a disaster, and maybe having a more conservative Coach from the outset would have made things different.
“As President I’d always look for a more technical Coach such as Zeman or Zola, but perhaps I’d have been better not to choose in my first year.”