Paulo Fonseca, the Portuguese manager of AC Milan, was fired yesterday after a 1-1 draw against Roma. The only two goals happened in the first 23 minutes, and Milan was unable to come back, prolonging their fall in the first half of the season: eighth in Serie A, far from the Champions League spots.
The 1-3 victory against Real Madrid at the Bernabéu, and the 1-2 victory against Inter (their only defeat so far) were a rare exception in a very uneven season. Rumours about the destititon of Fonseca had circulated for some time, but even before the draw those talks increased. It seemed that only a victory could have saved his job.
However, after the match ended, in the press conference, Fonseca denied the rumours, saying he felt "secured at the bench, why woudn't I be?", and talked about his plans for the Supercoppa this week. It was right after that when he was told he was fired.
The most striking of it all is that it was Fonseca who confirmed to the press that he had been fired... last night, when he left the stadium in his car, and was stopped by the press. "Yes, it's true, I'm out of Milan now. That's life. My conscience is clear, I did everything I could", he said.
it was this morning, at 10 AM CET, when the club made it official: "AC Milan announces that Paulo Fonseca has been relieved from his duties as Head Coach of the Men's First Team. The Club extends its gratitude to Paulo for his great professionalism and wishes him the very best in his future endeavours". His substitute will be Sergio Conceição, Porto manager for seven years but currently without club.