Ferrari hint Fiorentina considered Palladino return, Dzeko anger ‘trying to unite’

Fiorentina director Alessandro Ferrari does not deny Raffaele Palladino was mentioned for a return before he was appointed by Atalanta, and insists Edin Dzeko’s criticism was ‘trying to unite us.’

It kicks off at the New Balance Arena at 17.00 GMT.

You can follow all the build-up and action as it happens from this game, Pisa-Inter and Roma-Napoli on the Liveblog.

The Viola crisis just seems to go from bad to worse, as they are still without a single Serie A victory this season and remain in the relegation zone.

“It will be a long and difficult period, we must be aware of where we are and the situation we are facing,” Ferrari told Sky Sport Italia.

“Along with getting ourselves back on track, we must sort ourselves out mentally. This aspect is fundamental and the coach is helping in that too.”

After Paolo Vanoli started with two draws against Genoa and Juventus, they suffered a 1-0 home defeat to AEK Athens in the Conference League on Thursday.

Edin Dzeko lashed out after that game, insisting that the Fiorentina fans ought to help the team rather than jeer following every error.

“Edin is a strong guy, he said important words trying to protect the squad, not himself. This is how they must be read,” responded Ferrari.

“Clearly, we understand the fans are upset, we are experiencing it too, but Edin wanted to say we’ve got to stick together and be united to get through this. He was trying to unite us all.

“We have not been healed yet. That game was two steps back, so we need to find some consistency in our performances.”

Curiously, Fiorentina are up against their former coach Palladino today, who was appointed by Atalanta this month to replace Ivan Juric.

Is it true that he had been approached for a potential return to the Stadio Franchi before Vanoli was chosen to replace sacked Stefano Pioli?

“It’s natural that when we decided to make a change of coach, there were several names mentioned, but we were pretty decisive for Vanoli. Once we actually met with him, the decision was immediate,” insisted the director.