Palermo fire Zenga after derby draw, hire Rossi

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ROME, Nov 23, 2009 (AFP) - Palermo on Monday sacked coach Walter Zenga, a day after their 1-1 home draw against Sicilian rivals Catania, and appointed former Lazio boss Delio Rossi.

Zenga, a former coach at Catania, becomes the sixth Serie A coach to be sacked this season while Luciano Spalletti also quit as AS Roma boss.

His sacking comes as a surprise as Palermo were having a reasonable season and some had been suggesting that Zenga, a former Italy goalkeeper, would be in the running to be the next Inter Milan boss.

Palermo had not won in four games but one of those was a thrilling 5-3 defeat at leaders Inter where Palermo hit back from 4-0 down at half-time to 4-3 at one point.

Prior to those four games they had won three in a row, including a 2-0 success over Turin giants Juventus, prompting Zenga to proclaim that his team could finish in the top four this season.

They currently sit 12th but are only seven points off fourth in a tight mid-table.

Palermo president Maurizio Zamparini, though, is known for his short patience. He bought Palermo in 2002 having previously owned Venezia since 1987 and has sacked 29 coaches during his 22 years in football.

"I thought about it all night and I decided we couldn't continue like this," said Zamparini, who only hired Zenga from bitter rivals Catania before the beginning of the season.

"After 13 games while all the other teams are progressing Palermo are getting worse without even having a game.

"I'm sorry on a human level but Zenga wasn't the right coach for Palermo."

Rossi began his coaching career in 1993 at Salernitana in Serie C1 and led them to promotion to Serie B.

He then went on to do the rounds in the top two divisions. Most recently he spent four years at Lazio, guiding them to third place and Champions League qualification in 2006/07 despite beginning the season with a three-point penalty for their role in the Calciopoli match-fixing scandal.

Last season he guided Lazio to the Italian Cup but then left the club at the end of the campaign due to a difficult working relationship with president Claudio Lotito.

Rossi signed a contract until the end of the season with an option for a further year.