Ex-Rangers star lands new job at historic European club who call him 'legendary'

Ex-Rangers star lands new job at historic European club who call him ‘legendary’

Posted by Admin June 13, 2024 Jobs

HE may have only been at Rangers for a short time, but he made a big impact.

Still highly regarded by fans of the Ibrox club, he left after just one year to return to his homeland – where he would achieve truly legendary status in Serie A.

Rino Gattuso was sacked by Marseille in February – but he has a new jobCredit: REUTERS

The man in question is Gennaro ‘Rino’ Gattuso – who has just landed himself a new job.

A 2006 World Cup winner with Italy and two-time Champions League winner with AC Milan, Gattuso was one of the best defensive midfielders of his generation.

He stepped into coaching following his retirement from playing, starting with Sion (his final team) in Switzerland before a spell with Palermo back home and OFI Crete in the Greek Super League.

Since then he has bossed Napoli, Pisa and former club AC Milan.

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His last few jobs haven’t gone so well though, having been sacked three times in three years by Napoli, Valencia and Marseille respectively.

He has landed himself a new job however, after spending four months unemployed after the dismissal from Marseille.

Gattuso, 46, has been appointed the new manager of Hajduk Split in Croatia.

He joins on a two-year deal and the Croatian giants, who slipped to third for their worst league finish in three years last season, are overjoyed to have him on board.

They described Gattuso as a “legendary” figure and an “iconic figure of world football“.

A club statement read: “HNK Hajduk is very pleased to confirm today that the legendary Gennaro Gattuso will lead our first team in the new season!

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“He signed a contract with Bijeli until the summer of 2026, and he will arrive in Split next week, at the beginning of the first team’s preparations, when we will officially present him at Poljud.

“In his playing career, he won almost everything that could be won. World champion with Italy in 2006, winner of the Champions League with Milan in 2003 and 2007, double winner of Serie A, UEFA Super Cup and Italian Super Cup, and once won the World Club Championship.

“Due to his style of play, combativeness, uncompromisingness and pronounced winning mentality, he became an iconic figure of world football.

“Gennaro Ivan Gattuso was born on January 9, 1978 in the city of Corigliano Calabro in Italy, and he took his first football steps in Perugia, where he made his senior debut.

“Then he moved to the Scottish club Rangers, then returned to Italy in the ranks of Salernitana, and in 1999 he moved to Milan, which marked his football career.

“He gained the status of a legend at San Siro, staying there for 13 years and playing a total of 468 games.

“He ended his football career in 2013 as a player for the Swiss Sion, and in that club he immediately made the transition to coaching and took over the management of the first team.

“During his football career, he absorbed knowledge from the greatest Italian coaching geniuses such as Carlo Ancelotti , Marcello Lippi and Massimiliano Allegri .

“His last engagement as a coach was leading the French giant Olympique Marseille, from whose bench he left in February this year. In Spain, he previously managed Valencia, and before that Fiorentina, Napoli and Milan, where as a player he managed our sports director Nikola Kalinić.

“At the very beginning of his coaching career, after the episode in Switzerland, he was the head of the coaching staff of Palermo, then Greek OFI Crete and Italian Pisa.

“SuperSport HNL will be the seventh league in a row in which he will hold the position of head coach, and Hajduk will be his ninth club.

“The environments and clubs in which he has worked so far are known as extremely demanding, but so far in his football and coaching career he has proven that he is extremely resistant to the high pressure and expectations he was exposed to.