Old boys in frame at Parma

Parma AC president Stefano Tanzi has confirmed that Pietro Gedeone Carmignani will remain as coach of Parma AC until the end of the season, although Arrigo Sacchi may return to the club in a technical role.

Run of defeats
Parma sacked Argentinian coach Daniel Passarella on Tuesday after a run of five successive Italian first division defeats following his appointment in early November. The club's former goalkeeping coach, Carmignani, who took charge for the 2-1 victory over AC Perugia on 4 November after the departure of Renzo Ulivieri, has again been placed in control of first-team affairs.

No regrets
"We decided that if we had to make a change, we had to do it now," Tanzi said. "I don't regret appointing Passarella and we must at least give him credit for leading us through in the [UEFA] Cup, but unfortunately in the championship things were becoming very difficult. It's difficult to say given the fact that Passarella should have been permanent, but Carmignani will stay until the end of the championship."

'Think about the future'
Former Milan AC and Italy coach Sacchi, who took over as coach at Parma last season before resigning because of stress, has been linked with a return to the club as technical director in the new year. "Sacchi has always been close to Parma and we have already had him here before," added Tanzi. "Now is the time to think about the next two games and then at Christmas we will think about the future."

Second from bottom
Parma have suffered their worst ever start to a season in the Italian top flight. Since winning promotion to Serie A for the first time in 1990, they have never finished outside the top seven. They are currently 17th in Serie A after 14 rounds of matches.

Bright spot
The UEFA Cup was Passarella's only source of satisfaction, with the club advancing to a fourth-round meeting with Hapoel Tel-Aviv after eliminating Danish challengers Brøndby IF 4-1 on aggregate under the former Argentina World Cup captain's leadership.