AC Milan President Silvio Berlusconi and vice-president Adriano Galliani refused to back Sinisa Mihajlovic as doubt continues to grow over his future.
The Serbian tactician has led the Rossoneri to sixth place in the standings after 30 games, while they will face Juventus in the Coppa Italia final on May 21.
However, having failed to show consistency in their performances and with qualification for the Champions League next season unlikely, there are those that will argue that this season has been another failure.
Mihajlovic has done an impressive job in terms of rebuilding confidence in the squad with Milan looking particularly fragile in recent years, while he has developed young players such as Gianluigi Donnarumma and Alessio Romagnoli into first-team regulars.
Nevertheless, it doesn’t appear to be enough for the Milan hierarchy who hinted prior to Sunday night’s encounter with Lazio that a change is likely to happen in the summer.
“I expect to see a Milan that plays good football,” Berlusconi told Mediaset Premium, as reported by Football Italia. When asked if he is convinced by Mihajlovic’s approach, he responded: “I don’t know…. I saw Schiaffino’s Milan play…”
Meanwhile, Galliani also spoke with Mediaset Premium on Sunday, and make an even more obvious suggestion that something is perhaps brewing behind the scenes with reports claiming this week that Mihajlovic will be moving on to coach at Lazio next season.
“Bayern Munich won with Coaches who everyone knew were leaving, so they are all super professionals. In other nations people announce things six months early and nothing happens,” he noted.
“Before Sassuolo and Verona we had been doing really well. We drew with Napoli and Roma, won against Inter and Fiorentina, but the problem is with the small clubs, not the big games.”
It remains to be seen whether or not Mihajlovic will continue beyond this year, but there is an argument that the annual change in coach is doing little to help Milan’s progress in the long run.
Having gone through Massimiliano Allegri, Clarence Seedorf, Filippo Inzaghi and now Mihajlovic since 2013, a sense of stability and continuity is required for the club and the players.
Mihajlovic has done well for the most part, and so it would seem like a poor decision to part company after just one season at the helm.