A dramatic fallout between Gasperini and Ranieri

Nobody wanted this but it still happened – there is a new conflict in Roma and it will be resolved with one (or two) people leaving in May. The conflict between coach Gian Piero Gasperini on one side and advisor Claudio Ranieri and sporting director Frederic Massara on the other side became too big and when the season ends, the owners will have to choose between sides. Some would think that Roma blew their chances for the Champions League when the tensions between Gasperini and Ranieri, started but no, the Giallorossi are only three points away from the last spot that leads to the UEFA competition, with six more games to play. So, the timing couldn’t be worse for this ‘war’ but it rages on. The American owners, the Friedkin family will have to settle this at the end of the season as currently their advisor and the coach are not even greeting each other.

Gasperini was brought in to make Roma like Atalanta – a competitive team with a blend of young and older players who will participate in the Champions League regularly. But he began to moan quite loudly about the lack of reinforcements and when they finally arrived, about the quality of some players. The club also had a misfortune to have a vast number of injured players which didn’t help either. He was advised to keep his tone down in public as criticizing publicly the club in which you are working is not the Friedkins’ way. But Gasperini continued to pressure the sporting sector when the results weren’t good and then Ranieri stepped up and publicly said that every player was brought in with Gasperini’s knowledge and added that the current coach was the third option, as two managers refused Roma’s offer before him.

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All those public disagreements didn’t please the club’s legend Francesco Totti, who was on a verge of returning to the club, but was put on hold due to this ‘war’ between two men.

"Both Gasperini and Ranieri must have respect for the Roma fans and the Roma club. We're there, three points behind Juve... I hope they unite all their forces, then at the end of the season we'll take stock. The only objective is Roma, and we Roma fans hope we can move in the same direction. Problems are everywhere, but exposing these problems isn't right. Or at least it's not right to do so now. It could have been done at another time" he said for eBay. Since buying Roma in 2020, the Friedkins’ changed no less than six managers (Gasperini is sixth), so doing this again in May will damage their reputation further more. But if they decide to keep him and sack Ranieri, they will have to give him more power and considerable autonomy, including in transfer decisions. Unpleasant decision is coming up in May, weather do they like it or not.