AC Milan fires Coach Paulo Fonseca after six months

AC Milan have parted ways with head coach Paulo Fonseca following a lackluster campaign that has left the team struggling to secure a Champions League spot in Serie A.

The decision was confirmed on Monday after the club’s 1-1 draw with AS Roma on Sunday, a result that marked their sixth draw of the season.

Fonseca, 51, hinted at the dismissal during a post-match press conference at the San Siro, stating he had been relieved of his duties.

The Portuguese coach, who previously managed Shakhtar Donetsk, Roma, and Lille, leaves Milan in seventh place, trailing Lazio by eight points for the final Champions League position and lagging 12 points behind title-contenders Inter Milan.

Reports suggest that Sergio Conceição, Fonseca’s compatriot and current FC Porto coach, is set to take over. AC Milan fans will be hoping the managerial change can rejuvenate the team’s push for European qualification.

“AC Milan announces that Paulo Fonseca has been relieved from his duties as Head Coach of the Men’s First Team,” read a statement from the club.

“The Club extends its gratitude to Paulo for his great professionalism and wishes him the very best in his future endeavours.”

Conceicao has Serie A experience as a player and is available after the 50-year-old ended a seven-year spell as Porto coach in June this year.

Milan, the seven-time European champions, have been battling inconsistent form and fan anger.

Fonseca has been in open conflict with senior players and questioned his squad’s commitment, repeatedly going after countryman and star winger Rafael Leao and dropping France full-back Theo Hernandez for a teenage academy player in a dismal goalless draw with Genoa earlier this month.

Meanwhile the cub’s fans are on a war footing, attacking the owners on December 21 when a celebration of the club’s 125th birthday was marred not just by a poor match and the very obvious absence of Paolo Maldini among the iconic players parading on the pitch, but also chants demanding that owners, US investment fund RedBird, sell up.

Supporters then turned up outside a private party for the anniversary, barracking most of the arriving players and displaying banners with messages like “a club with no ambition, you’re not worthy of our history”.