It's been a tumultuous few years for AC Milan. They've fallen from grace, currently standing as nowhere near the powerhouse they once were. Lately, they've been running through managers like crazy, moving from Max Allegri to Clarence Seedorf to Pippo Inzaghi with an almost callous lack of care or consideration.
Sinisa Mihajlovic hired to manage AC Milan
AC Milan have a new manager, but not the one fans were hoping for.
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Milan fans are hoping that changes with their new manager -- a post opened by Milan unemotionally dumping legendary rossoneri star Inzaghi -- will be the man who brings stability and new success to Milan, two things they’ve lacked over the last several years. Just one hour after Inzaghi’s dismissal, that new hire and man the club are pinning their hopes and dreams on has been officially announced: Sinisa Mihajlovic.
The Serbian manager, who most recently guided Sampdoria to surprising successes in Serie A this past season, was tapped by Milan in the wake of Carlo Ancelotti officially turning the club down so he can have back surgery and some time off to recover. Mihajlovic comes into the Milan job with two significant disadvantages as far as Milan fans are concerned -- the first and perhaps biggest of which is that he was a star player for Inter, Milan’s fiercest rival.
The memory of him in the blue and black shirt is not one that most Milan fans are fond of -- and it’s one that the club conveniently omitted from their announcement of his hiring. On top of that, Mihajlovic is on the record in the past as saying that he would “rather die of hunger” than manage il diavolo. That’s not a quote that sits well with Milan fans who see it, especially since many of them never wanted him in the first place.
You see, pretty much every Milan fan wanted Ancelotti to come home, and so did Milan themselves. Club vice president Adriano Galliani fought hard to convince Ancelotti to return to Milan, where he won the Champions League twice as well earning a Serie A title. Ancelotti said no, though, so now Milan fans will have to get used to Mihajlovic.
Their new manager draws mixed reviews from fans and observers of the game -- some feel that Mihajlovic is a promising young tactician who can get the most out of his team. Others point at his mediocre record before taking over at Sampdoria and wonder “what has he done to earn this shot?” They see his success at Sampdoria as a lucky confluence of young talent taking a step up, while Mihajlovic’s supporters think he saw how best to utilize that young talent and helped them blossom as players.
The reality is probably somewhere in the middle, like it usually is. The more important thing in the meantime, though, is to see how Milan support Mihajlovic, in terms of the coaching staff brought in and, more importantly, what they do in the transfer market. This is a crucial time for Milan, and if they get things wrong, they could be stuck in their current doldrums for years still to come.
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