Mandragora reacts to Fiorentina armband controversy: ‘Understand fans are angry’

Rolando Mandragora dismantles controversy after Fiorentina fans suggested he threw down the captain’s armband during a defeat to Lausanne-Sport. ‘I understand people are angry.’

The Viola tumbled to yet another dismal result this evening, this time in the Conference League, where they were beaten 1-0 in Switzerland by a Gabriel Sigua free header.

Coach Paolo Vanoli threw on several big names when they were already 1-0 down, and during this triple substitution, some fans online felt that Mandragora had thrown down the captain’s armband on his way off the field.

This sparked a firestorm online and the midfielder was eager to set the record straight.

“I certainly did not throw the captain’s armband down. Pablo Mari was the vice-captain, so I had to hand it to him, I was trying to hurry the situation up during my substitution and it fell, Mattia picked it up and handed it over. I would never dare show disrespect to the armband, it was just an accident,” Mandragora told Sky Sport Italia.

The Fiorentina crisis just keeps getting worse, as they were put into a training retreat at their Viola Park camp on Sunday evening after the home defeat to Hellas Verona left them rooted to the foot of the Serie A table.

Coaches have come and gone, so have directors, but nothing has changed. Is it time the players take responsibility?

“We must try to find a way to get out of this situation. I understand people are angry about the armband, but I wanted to clarify it was simply handing it over to the vice-captain,” added Mandragora.

“It depends exclusively on us now, we’ve got to find the strength to react and drag ourselves out of what is becoming an increasingly complicated situation.

“Unfortunately, we cannot seem to repeat what we do in training and what we say in the locker room out onto the pitch. Perhaps we talked too much, we’ve got to do more of our talking on the field.

“We can only do this by digging deep within ourselves and finding that strength to get out.”

What do the players say to each other in the locker room?

“What we are lacking right now are performances. We say that we need to be stronger, more aggressive, to react, but at this moment we’re struggling. We cannot seem to react to setbacks.”

This result means Fiorentina will now enter the Conference League play-offs, where they will face either Omonia Nicosia or Jagellonia.