Thursday, January 17, 2008

Prandelli Lined Up As Benitez’s Successor?


Cesare Prandelli has sparked speculation that he could be set to succeed Rafa Benitez as manager of Liverpool.

It is widely expected that Benitez will not be on the Liverpool bench at the start of next season due to his frosty relationship with the club’s American owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett.

Hicks recently revealed that they had approached Jurgen Klinsmann about possibly replacing Benitez if the Spaniard left.

"We attempted to negotiate an option as an insurance policy to have him [Klinsmann] become manager if Rafael left for Real Madrid or other clubs that were rumoured in the press - or in case our communication spiralled out of control for some reason," Hicks said.

Fiorentina boss Cesare Prandelli, who is one of Italy’s best coaches, was asked about the possibility of him taking over at Liverpool, to which he replied: "In football never say never."

Prandelli is preparing his side for this evening’s Coppa Italia second leg tie against Ascoli in Florence. The scores are 1-1 from the first leg.

“We want to win tonight against Ascoli and get through first of all,” Prandelli explained to La Gazzetta dello Sport.

“We can go far in this competition. I will play players who haven’t had much of a run recently and hope that they will make my future selections tough for me. Anyone who is picked will demonstrate what it means to be a Fiorentina player.”

No comments: