Within a day of saying he would leave, Milans chief executive was persuaded to stay and saw an immediate resultSometimes, you need to go through hard times to find out who your friends are. That has certainly been Adriano Gallianis experience of late. On Friday, the Milan chief executive and acting vice-president announced that he would leave the club before the end of this month, bringing down the curtain on nearly 28 years of service. He felt that his position had been fatally undermined by criticisms from the owners daughter, Barbara Berlusconi.Galliani was soon inundated with sympathetic messages from the many footballing directors and dignitaries he has befriended over the years. Among others, he was reported to have received phone calls from both the Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez and Barcelonas Sandro Rosell.One conversation, in particular, made Gallianis week. It was with Zlatan Ibrahimovic, the striker whom he had not heard from since selling him to Paris Saint-Germain in 2012. He told me that he was sorry about my situation and that he wished me well, said Galliani. He had stopped speaking to me after we sold him, because he was so angry at me for breaking my promise that he could stay. So his call really made me happy.Better yet would be the chat that Galliani had with Silvio Berlusconi over dinner on Friday night. The pair met in the presence of a mediator at the club owners residence in Arcore, where they were expected to thrash out a golden handshake that could run to tens of millions of Euros. Instead Silvio quickly made it clear that he did not want Galliani to leave, persuading his old friend to work in tandem with Barbara.A new agreement on how the club should be structured was confirmed in a statement from the owner. Milans situation is serene once more, said Silvio. I am happy to report that full agreement has been reached on a new club set-up in which there will be two chief executives: Adriano Galliani with responsibility for the sporting sector, and Barbara Berlusconi with responsibility for other sectors relating to the clubs social activity.In effect, Galliani had retained control of the clubs footballing operations, while Barbara had been charged with strengthening its commercial and marketing efforts. How satisfied she will be with that arrangement is unclear; her greatest criticisms of the incumbent had been that he was spending the clubs money poorly by relying too heavily on certain agents (Mino Raiola and Ernesto Bronzetti) and failing to construct a good enough scouting network to unearth cheap, young talents abroad.One way or another, she will have to lump it for now. Expelled from the Italian senate on Wednesday, her father once more has time to focus on his football club. He had planned to drop in on the players at training on Saturday, but his helicopter was grounded due to snow.A day later, there was Galliani at the Stadio Angelo Massimino, taking up his seat for the teams game away to Catania. If he was content with his new working arrangement, then he could be even more pleased with Milans performance. After falling behind early on, they rallied to beat the Sicilians 3-1. It was their first league victory since 19 October, and their first all season away from home.Galliani was especially delighted to see Ricky Kaká· score the teams third goal. His decision to sign the Brazilian this summer was portrayed by many people as a decadent act, inspired more by nostalgia than any level-headed assessment of what the player could contribute. And yet here was Kakás third strike in nine days – having opened the scoring in both Milans draw with Genoa on 23 November and their Champions League win over Celtic on Tuesday night.He is a phenomenon, glowed Galliani on Sunday. On the goal, he told me that he was expecting Mario [Balotelli] to arrive in the middle for a cross. He didnt get there, so [Kaká] shot instead.A fine effort it was too, clipped into the roof of the net at the near post. Milans other two goals – a volley from Riccardo Montolivo and a low drive from Balotelli – were not too shabby either.The match was marred, however, by allegations of racial abuse. Balotelli reacted angrily after a challenge from Nicolás Spolli, claiming that the Catania defender had called him negro di merda - black piece of shit. Spolli could be banned for 10 games if found guilty of such an offence, but nobody else was close enough to hear their initial exchange. Without fresh video evidence, it seems unlikely that disciplinary action will be taken.Balotelli was withdrawn by Massimiliano Allegri soon afterwards, although the Milan manager insisted that he was resting the player rather than guarding against any retaliation. Allegri, meanwhile, might be grateful for the recent boardroom shenanigans, which helped to deflect attention away from Milans recent seven-game winless streak.He continues to enjoy the support of Galliani, and indeed Barbara Berlusconi. Both parties recognise his achievement in qualifying for the Champions League last season despite the departures of Ibrahimovic, Thiago Silva, Alessandro Nesta, Mark van Bommel, Alberto Aquilani, Gennaro Gattuso and Antonio Cassano – to name just a few.But performances this season have not been up to scratch. Galliani must share the blame, having failed to address the teams defensive shortcomings during the summer transfer window. His plans to appoint a new sporting director – Fiorentinas Daniele Pradé and Veronas Sean Sogliano are the reported favourites – could be read as a tacit admission that Barbara Berlusconis criticisms were not entirely unfounded.For now he and the owners daughter will continue their uneasy partnership. Time will tell if two heads can really be better than one.• Talking points to followResults: Parma 1-1 Bologna, Genoa 1-1 Torino, Catania 1-3 Milan, Chievo 3-0 Livorno, Atalanta 1-1 Roma, Inter 1-1 Sampdoria, Cagliari 2-2 Sassuolo, Juventus 1-0 Udinese. Fiorentina play Verona and Lazio host Napoli on Monday night• Serie A tableMilanSerie AEuropean club footballPaolo Bandinitheguardian © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Posted on: Mon, 02 Dec 2013 14:00:28 +0000
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