Greece appoint interim coach

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Although the Hellenic Football Federation (EPO) is yet to formally announce the departure of Ranieri – with the delay reportedly due to discussions over compensation – a statement on Sunday said that Tsanas, the under-21s head coach, would take temporary charge of the team for Tuesday’s friendly against Serbia.

“The Hellenic Football Federation announces that the role of interim coach for the friendly match with Serbia will be (carried out by) Kostas Tsanas and Nektarios Pantazis,” the statement said.

Ranieri, who took over the side in July, saw his fate sealed by Friday’s 1-0 shock home defeat to the Faroe Islands, their fourth straight loss in the Euro 2016 qualification campaign.

In the wake of that match, the president of the EPO Giorgos Sarris signalled the end of Ranieri’s reign with a damning statement.

“Following today’s devastating result for the national team, I take full responsibility for the most unfortunate choice of coach, which has resulted in such a poor image of the national team being put before the fans,” Sarris said.

“The governing board will convene and take responsibility among all the members to make the necessary changes needed to avoid a repeat of such an embarrassing night.”

A statement on FIFA’s official website on Saturday said Ranieri’s contract had been terminated.

Speaking after the loss to the Faroes, Ranieri – who left Monaco at the end of last season – was at a loss to explain the defeat.

“I have no words to explain what happened,” he said in comments reported on uefa.com.

“We all wanted to record our first victory in the group. But the Faroese deserved to win as they created more chances to score. Only hard work can get us out of this situation.

“When the qualifiers started nobody believed we would find ourselves in this situation. We were wrong in believing that it was a straightforward group for us.

“All defeats hurt equally, but we must leave results in the past and work our way out of this situation.

“We are last in our group because that is what we deserve. The coach is always responsible for that. Back in September, most of my players were low on form following the World Cup, but this week during training I saw my players very lively and motivated. That’s why I am very surprised about the result.”

Ranieri has managed almost 1,000 career games and has a win percentage of close to 46 per cent. He replaced Fernando Santos who took Greece to the last 16 of the World Cup.

Seventy-five-year-old Italian Giovanni Trapattoni has already been linked with his job, having most recently been employed by the Republic of Ireland.

Greece appoint interim coach

admin

Although the Hellenic Football Federation (EPO) is yet to formally announce the departure of Ranieri – with the delay reportedly due to discussions over compensation – a statement on Sunday said that Tsanas, the under-21s head coach, would take temporary charge of the team for Tuesday’s friendly against Serbia.

“The Hellenic Football Federation announces that the role of interim coach for the friendly match with Serbia will be (carried out by) Kostas Tsanas and Nektarios Pantazis,” the statement said.

Ranieri, who took over the side in July, saw his fate sealed by Friday’s 1-0 shock home defeat to the Faroe Islands, their fourth straight loss in the Euro 2016 qualification campaign.

In the wake of that match, the president of the EPO Giorgos Sarris signalled the end of Ranieri’s reign with a damning statement.

“Following today’s devastating result for the national team, I take full responsibility for the most unfortunate choice of coach, which has resulted in such a poor image of the national team being put before the fans,” Sarris said.

“The governing board will convene and take responsibility among all the members to make the necessary changes needed to avoid a repeat of such an embarrassing night.”

A statement on FIFA’s official website on Saturday said Ranieri’s contract had been terminated.

Speaking after the loss to the Faroes, Ranieri – who left Monaco at the end of last season – was at a loss to explain the defeat.

“I have no words to explain what happened,” he said in comments reported on uefa.com.

“We all wanted to record our first victory in the group. But the Faroese deserved to win as they created more chances to score. Only hard work can get us out of this situation.

“When the qualifiers started nobody believed we would find ourselves in this situation. We were wrong in believing that it was a straightforward group for us.

“All defeats hurt equally, but we must leave results in the past and work our way out of this situation.

“We are last in our group because that is what we deserve. The coach is always responsible for that. Back in September, most of my players were low on form following the World Cup, but this week during training I saw my players very lively and motivated. That’s why I am very surprised about the result.”

Ranieri has managed almost 1,000 career games and has a win percentage of close to 46 per cent. He replaced Fernando Santos who took Greece to the last 16 of the World Cup.

Seventy-five-year-old Italian Giovanni Trapattoni has already been linked with his job, having most recently been employed by the Republic of Ireland.