Cristiano Ronaldo has bid farewell to manager Stefano Pioli but may not be too happy about the list of replacements.
Football’s all-time top scorer saw his Al Nassr coach’s departure officially confirmed with a statement from the club and responded on social media.
“Grazie per tutto!” he wrote to his millions of followers, thanking the Serie A winner for everything in Italian.
Pioli took the Saudi Pro League job in September 2024 after leaving Milan as a title winner.
His Scudetto in 2022 was the first major honour of his coaching career at the age of 56 and with 23 years of experience in the dugout.
That lowered expectations at Al Nassr who dropped from second in their previous two Pro League seasons to third in 2024/25, but it’s still nothing compared to one of the men who could replace him.
Belgian coach Marc Brys has been linked to the role by leading media outlets in his home country, which will come as a shock as he hasn’t won a title in two decades.
The 63-year-old has previously coached in Saudi from 2013 to 2015, but his career has been mainly limited to Belgium and the Netherlands.
In fact, his last success was the Belgian Cup with Germinal Beerschot in 2005.
Currently managing the Cameroon national team, he may also be looking for a way out.
Last year he was hired to the post by the football federation, but its president Samuel Eto’o said they made the move behind his back.
The Barcelona and Inter Milan legend was seen berating the coach after finding him at a federation meeting, telling him: “I am the president, sir. You want to work with us… Right? If you are a coach it’s because I appointed you, you are not a coach because someone else appointed you.
Pioli left Nassr after nine months and is heavily linked with a move to FiorentinaAFP NJA TV YouTubeBrys was confronted and shouted at by Eto’o in shock scenes[/caption]“In your country, I don’t do it. You don’t talk to me like that, Mr. Coach, don’t forget that. As a footballer, you can’t talk to me. Now I’m president, you don’t talk like that. Sit down now, we’re going to work. Cut this s*** out.”
Eto’o went on to suspend Brys, calling the appointment ‘illegal’ but didn’t have the authority to do so, with Brys keeping his job, and he has Cameroon on course for Africa Cup of Nations and World Cup qualification.
Elsewhere Luciano Spalletti has been linked with the role having walked out of a press conference upon confirming his Italy departure at the start of June.
The Italian won Serie A with Napoli the year after Pioli did so with Milan, but left straight after to join the national team and only lasted a year.
The last international fixtures saw a 3-0 defeat to Norway put their World Cup qualification hopes in jeopardy and Spalletti responded to stories that he was going to be sacked after the next match against Moldova.
Confirming those reports, he was then asked if he felt betrayed by the football federation, and got up and walked out of the press conference without responding.
Spalletti’s unceremonious departure won’t raise hopes at NassrGettyRonaldo may have more hope with a third link – Sergio Conceicao, who he crossed paths with as a Portugal international.
La Gazzetta claim he’s a leading candidate weeks after departing Milan.
Conceicao is a far more seasoned winner with numerous titles as a player and head coach of Porto.
He even won the Supercoppa at Milan and took the team to the Coppa Italia final, but his clashes with the media and his own players undermined any success.
In fact, he even took on his own captain – Davide Calabria – in January after the full-back complained about a substitution.
The coach and player had to be separated on pitch, and Calabria left his lifelong club in the final days of the transfer window to see out the last six months of his contract at Bologna.
Conceicao’s hot-headedness got the better of him on multiple occasions in MilanGettyThere he beat Conceicao in the Coppa final, and the coach showed his questionable attitude again by snubbing a handshake from his former player post-match.
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