Ever since Gerry Cardinale purchased AC Milan, the entire club's management has been in a constant state of change, with questions recurring as to what his goals even are as an owner. First, Gazidis left and Furlani was appointed CEO, then he infamously had Maldini fired. After a bunch of gaslighting and nonsense about "working groups" and not having people in specific positions as before, they restored an identical management hierarchy. When that was clearly unsuccessful, they asked Ibrahimović to join RedBird as an Operating Partner and Senior Advisor to Milan, a position with duties and powers that have never been clarified. It has never been clear who is making the sporting decisions in this inexperienced group of egotistical directors. Now, with additional changes to the sporting sector on the horizon, more than ever, everyone is questioning, "Who is actually running Milan?"
 |
| One or more of these men is supposedly running Milan, but who? |
Cardinale has insisted that he spent his first year as owner observing, not making big changes. But the reality is that immediately upon announcement of his purchase of the club, Elliott said they turned the reins over to him. And whether it was him or Elliott or both, they pushed the renewal of Maldini and Massara's contracts literally up to the eleventh hour, with their renewal being agreed to in the waning hours of June 30th 2022. This was shocking and shameful, the duo who had just helped a young team win the Scudetto were left hanging until the very last minute. Not only that, but the transfer plans they had been making all spring went out the window, and as his very first official act as owner, Cardinale cut the transfer budget considerably.
This is when the gaslighting of the fans through the media began, with stories about Maldini's contract demands shamelessly not refuted by the club in any way, nor the club giving him any visible support whatsoever, with his name and reputation increasingly tarnished as the transfer window and then the season went on. He was clearly poised to be their scapegoat. Still, at least it was clear that Maldini was both mentoring and protecting the team, even if it was apparent that he was fighting battles behind the scenes that whole year. In hindsight, even he did not know how bad it was.
 |
| Even afterhe blocked players, went behind his back, and fired Boban, Maldini still worked with Gazidis. |
The transition from Gazidis, who had 30 years of experience in football, to Furlani, who was a portfolio manager, was a bit rough. News from the club and sponsor growth dried up for months, and Maldini was the only one we heard from anymore. But it was clear even from photos that they did not share the same rapport, so in hindsight, it is not actually a surprise that Elliott's guarantor and self-reported Milan fan had Cardinale fire the club legend as soon as he had renewed the major players and the season ended. This after Maldini's sporting sector met or exceeded the goals for the season, playing in a Champions League Semifinal for the first time in 17 years and qualifying for the competition for the following year. Clearly, Furlani was threatened by and/or did not play well with others.
It was also immediately clear that there was no plan in place to govern the sporting sector following Maldini's abrupt dismissal. Everyone from President Paolo Scaroni to the the traitorous Furlani insisted that the team of Cardinale, Furlani, Moncada, and Pioli would work together much closer than the team of Maldini, Massara, and Pioli ever had. I was shocked that fans bought this absurd story, given that Maldini and Massara were always at Milanello, always at every match, and could always be seen on the pitch with Pioli and the team. How could anyone work together any closer than that?
 |
| The body language told us long before the news came that one of these things did not like the others. |
Furthermore, they insisted they were not going to have a Sporting Director, but then they found out that they had to have one in order to register for Serie A. So they did some digging and found out that the head of youth scouting, D'Ottavio, had the appropriate certification to be a Sporting Director, so they promoted him. It should have been clear from this messy beginning that his story would not end well.
After seeing the harsh reaction of the football world and all the reasonable fans to Maldini's sacking and their subsequent "opportunistic" selling of fan favorite, Tonali, the narcissistic owner-CEO-technical director combo sprang into action and started spending money to try to buy the fans' love. Cardinale was infamously pictured with fans in Capri while on vacation, having promised them that his spending would help Milan win. Sadly, many fans actually did fall for this, disturbingly and vehemently disparaging Maldini along the way.
 |
| Cardinale made promises to fans while on vacation, promises he has failed to keep. |
While it is still not clear exactly who was pulling all the strings on these moves, that first summer saw the exit of 17 players and the purchase of ten new players. A bold statement of how "they" planned to run the club, like an animal marking its territory. The season started off well enough, but it was clear that the players needed a mentor, like Maldini had been to them. "They" tried having Franco Baresi be a "liaison" between management and the players. But that fizzled out very quickly without explanation (although Baresi has always famously stayed clear of getting involved in matters of the club beyond being a spokesperson.)
Beginning in September of 2023, it was reported that "they" had approached Ibrahimović to fill this role. Negotiations took four months, but finally, in December, it was announced that he would join Cardinale at RedBird and be a Senior Advisor to Milan management. It is difficult to measure who was most confused about what his actual role was – fans, players, the media, management, or the former player himself. Perhaps all the above. But we know that he did offer a few Ibratastic pep talks to the team after he was hired.
 |
| The infamous photo of the trio who proudly clearanced out the winning team for their Moneyball players. |
His arrival was too late to salvage Milan's Champions League run, which had ended at the Group Stage. However, despite growing dissent from media and fans regarding performances, the team did manage a second place finish in Serie A last season. After nearly five years as manager, most people agreed that Stefano Pioli's tenure as manager was finished. Yet now it was incumbent upon these charlatans posing as the management of a football club to hire a new manager. But who exactly was making that choice?
Cardinale knew next to nothing about football, and even less about owning a football club. While he held a stake in Liverpool as a part of Fenway Sports Group, he was not responsible for any decision making. RedBird had purchased French side Toulouse FC for €20 million two years prior, following their relegation to the second division. Apparently, that made him feel confident in investing €1.2 billion in AC Milan. In fact, he did so much research that it was ten months after he bought the club that he discovered that we had the second most Champions League titles of any club.
 |
| How Cardinale views himself as an owner (also available in dartboard form for angry Milan fans.) |
Then there is the portfolio manager, Furlani, who went from managing other people's investments with Elliott to running one of the biggest football clubs in the world. Because those are clearly the same thing. Even Moncada, who never played professional football, and only had ten years experience as a scout, had zero experience as a technical director. Yet here he was, overseeing the entire sporting sector of a legendary club with 19 Scudetti and seven Champions League trophies, amongst so many other accolades.
Still, no one was more out of place than Ibrahimović, who traded in his legendary football boots for an unfamiliar world of meetings and public protocols and wearing suits. As a player, he said and did whatever he wanted, but he backed up both his ego and his indiscretions with spectacular performances on the pitch. In his new role, whatever it is, there is no way to immediately dazzle people to erase their memories, and he is perhaps as inept at whatever it is he is supposed to be doing as he was great at playing football. Even his most ardent fans have noticed, and his approval rating could not be lower, even if people knew exactly what it was they were rating.
 |
| Cardinale really does look up to Ibrahimović, though, in more ways than one. |
At the end of the 2023-24 season, Pioli bowed out gracefully by "mutual consent," and the people in Milan's management who had no experience at their jobs were responsible for choosing a new manager. After a very public fumble, "they" chose the manager that no one outside of themselves wanted, Paulo Fonseca. For some bizarre reason, "they" were hell bent on hiring a foreign manager, despite the incredible track record of Italian managers in Serie A and abroad, and big name managers such as Antonio Conte practically throwing themselves at them.
It goes without saying that "their" choice was a disaster, with Milan once again exiting Champions League in the Group Stage this season. Their delayed decision to sack Fonseca also left Milan in a dismal eighth place ahead of a formidable run of 17 matches in four competitions in just seven short weeks to kick off 2025. For that challenge, "they" chose Sergio Conceição, a manager who was also available last summer, but for some inexplicable reason, "they" went with the less experienced manager with fewer wins last June. "They" also pushed out five players, including our captain, and brought in five players midseason, all things that should have happened last summer as well. Their lack of patience with player transfers is mindboggling, with a number of their own transfers infamously only lasting six months. It's almost as if "they" don't even believe in themselves.
 |
| Cardinale already had buyer's remorse on the summer tour. |
All of these decisions demonstrate that "they" have no idea what on earth they are doing. Destabilizing the team midseason and overcorrecting their errors after they had already taken a Scudetto winning side down to eighth place in just two and a half years is actually impressive. However, "they" also took a side who played in a Champions League Semifinal just 18 short months ago, and led them to back-to-back Group Stage exits, and now an almost definite exclusion from the competition for next year. Absolutely disgraceful for a club with such DNA and history. These feats are impressive, even for a group of men who insist on their "Moneyball" algorithms and doing everything "their" way, though "they" have never done any of these things at all. But honestly, most average fans could have probably done a better job than this management.
Of course, there's more. Just a week and a half ago, Milan's Chief Communications Officer, Pier Donato Vercellone, who had been at Milan for around five years, was fired. Then there is D'Ottavio, the previously mentioned Sporting Director, who was pushed out in December following disagreements with Ibrahimović. D'Ottavio had been at the club for over eight years. He was also considered to be Moncada's right hand man, whcih begs the question: How much was Moncada involved in and/or affected by his departure? Is Moncada still included in the decision making process?
 |
| Who cut off Moncada's right hand man (D'Ottavio)? And why? |
These are not the only victims of Ibrahimović's wrath, however, as Abate left the club last summer, one of several longterm Milan employees having not been offered contract extensions. Abate, however, was notable, as he was quite successful in his role as manager of the Primavera team, taking them to an unprecedented UEFA Youth League semifinal in 2023, then an historic final last year. He would have also been the huge favorite to take on the U23 team.
Abate and Ibrahimović had been friends and business partners for years, since the latter's first stint at Milan. Additionally, as another act of revenge, Ibrahimović was reported to have moved Abate's father, Beniamino, a longtime goalkeeping coach for Milan, to another division, then actually fired him. His mistreatment of Abate and his father were widely reported to stem from the younger Abate's unwillingness to play Maximillian Ibrahimović in the Primavera squad.
 |
| Two of "they" who don't play well together, with a scapegoated manager who actually made them look good. |
While "they" were able to find a competent Primavera manager to replace Abate, the roles of Sporting Director and Chief of Communications are still vacant. The Sporting Director role in particular has attracted much attention, with no shortage of reports of potential names for the position. Yet here we are, it is nearly the middle of March, and not only did "they" change managers on their own, "they" conducted an entire transfer window with no Sporting Director. This was the fourth transfer window "they" oversaw, all of which demonstrated "they" have no understanding of how to build a proper team.
Speaking of building a proper team, one thing we were told was that Ibrahimović was put in charge of the U23 team, which is probably why it is named so creatively, "Milan Futuro." So, to oversee the project, Ibrahimović hired his friend Jovan Kirovski as the Sporting Director. This was the person who had brought him to the LA Galaxy. While he had some experience in Europe as a player, he had no experience working on the other side of football in Europe, nor with young players. In fact, the Galaxy's highest spending and most underachieving years were the ten years he was their Technical Director.
 |
| Two more people with no experience at their jobs, but hey, they were friends of Ibrahimović. |
It should be no surprise, then, that Milan Futuro are bottom of their table, about to be relegated. That they held onto the manager "they" chose, Bonera. He was a friend of Ibrahimović who had never coached his own team or worked with young players, he was only a first team assistant for five years. He had the team demoralized and underperforming in no time. People made excuses for him over and over, but this was not the player development project Ibrahimović had promised.
In January, "they" sold off some of the promising young players to bring in more experienced players to try to win, also not about player development. Still not wanting to sack Bonera for someone else, "they" brought in the legendary Mauro Tassotti as his assistant as a last resort (I cannot think of a better vote of no confidence for Bonera.) And when even that did not help at all, with only ten games left to try to avoid relegation, "they" finally sacked Bonera, and hired a more experienced Massimo Oddo. By more experienced, Oddo has had very little experience staying at a single club for even an entire season, but has been manager at many clubs. Oh, and "they" kept Tassotti as his assistant, too.
 |
| Tassotti and Oddo trying to weather the storm for Milan Futuro, but "they" made the change too late. |
Milan Futuro started with the most valuable team in Serie C, based on the talent of our young players. And the season looks to be ending in complete disaster, as they are on track to be relegated to Serie D, which is only semi-professional. And just to make things that much more painful, Inter will likely create a U23 team this year, who would then take Milan U23's place in Serie C. I don't know if this thing was 100% on Ibrahimović, or if "they" had any input, as D'Ottavio's departure was reportedly due to disagreements about issues with Milan Futuro and the Youth Sector. But since Ibrahimović doesn't actually work for Milan, I would assume somewhere in there, "they" were involved, too.
That brings me back to the first team manager debacle. Just two months into his tenure, having won the Supercoppa, and despite having a nearly equivalent record to Pioli's start, except playing the same number of matches in half the time and in four competitions, solving the dressing room issues and improving the injury crisis he was given, Conceição's job is reportedly already under fire as well. (Because "they" had waited too long to make the change.) In fact, it was reported ahead of the Lecce match that if Milan lost that match, he would be sacked.
 |
| He might be the best decision "they" have made, yet "they" are already talking about sacking him? |
Rumors have been that "they" kept Tassotti on their books in case "they" needed him as interim manager for the rest of the season for the first team as well. Most media outlets have been speculating as to who Conceição's replacement will be for weeks already, with papers such as La Gazzetta dello Sport apparently already having appointed his successor. (Nevermind that last week was Conceição's first full week of training with the squad.) In fact, the newspaper are already discussing the players who would play for this next manager as well.
I would put forth that La Gazzetta dello Sport were putting their hat in the ring to be Sporting Director with the confidence they reported this. However, they have also apparently chosen the new Sporting Director as well. The famous pink paper are not the only media outlet to speculate about this, simply one of the most confident. Ever since Cardinale's arrival, and particularly since Maldini left, the lack of direct communication from the club has been incredibly frustrating. And it is clear that "they" feed certain stories to media outlets to get the word out, but it is not clear which stories come from the Club, and which stories are journalistic fiction.
 |
| Who has the most favor with Papa Cardinale? Or are there other reasons for being favored? |
All of this begs the question: who is actually calling the shots at Milan? Who are "they," and how much power do each one of them have? After reports of Cardinale and Ibrahimović having met potential Sorting Director candidates in London were published, indicating that "they" were Cardinale and Ibrahimović selecting the next Sporting Director, Furlani was quoted as saying that 'all decisions went through him'. He then went off on a tiny tantrum to the United States to meet with Cardinale about a number of things, including the Sporting Director position. After his return, reports said that Furlani was making the final decisions. In other words, he was "they." So now he is interviewing Sporting Directors, like most portfolio managers, I'm sure do.
Why Furlani? As a former Elliott employee, he also provides a sort of guarantee for Elliott on their €600 million vendor loan to RedBird. Which raises the question of whether or not Elliott are still calling any of the shots at Milan. Actually, Interisti investigators made a whole fraudulent investigation about whether Elliott still owned Milan, which was obviously never true. But with their little man Furlani making consistently terrible decisions, and two current Elliott men plus Furlani and ex-Elliott Cocirio, who is also Milan's CFO, on Milan's Board of Directors, they are certainly well represented in the club's decision making.
 |
| Is Elliott still pulling the strings at Milan? Are the Singers "they"? |
Which opens up another whole line of questioning: Are Elliott still running Milan? Are Elliott part of "they"? Did Cardinale hire Ibrahimović to be part of RedBird so that he could have one "company man" who was loyal to him only and not influenced in any way by Elliott? To have his own representative in all discussions, so he would know what the Elliott-placed CEO and CFO are up to? Does Gerry actually want people running his club who know football after all? These are all questions worth asking.
This alone could account for a lack of ability to come together on big decisions. Obviously, the media has speculated extensively on what appears to be a very real rift between the different members of management, as "they" don't seem to be able to come to an agreement on who the Sporting Director should be. Although if the media has read it correctly, Furlani's choice of Sporting Director and manager would turn us into the Juventus team that was banned from Europe and docked points. That's the last thing this Milan needs.
 |
| Now that Papa says he gets to choose, will he choose to make this the criminal Juve team? |
However, now it would seem that "they" (Furlani?) are wrestling over bigger issues. Since Furlani's trip crying to Papa Cardinale, there are more reports about bringing in more than just a Sporting Director, but also bringing in one or more ex-Milan players to support the new Sporting Director in roles like Director of Football, etc., similar to how the club was organized when Maldini/Boban/Massara worked together. (Gee, I wonder where "they" got that idea?)
This asks the question of whether or not Moncada is still part of "they," or if he is planning to return to his role as head of scouting, or leaving the club altogether. With the recent report that both Moncada and Kirovski had been accepted into a special program for those who have worked and trained abroad to obtain the proper license to become Sporting Directors in Italy themselves, it would seem that Moncada's aspirations are well above head scout. Even though he completely dismantled a winning team, and has not been able to put together a cohesive team with all the right parts in four high spending transfer windows. Clearly, he is one Maldini referenced when he said they were only at the club to pad their CVs.
 |
| Is Moncada still a part of "they"? Or will he become a "me" and leave? |
Additionally, if Cardinale effectively put the power back in the hands of the tiny traitor to hire the Sporting Director, then the question really needs to be asked now more than ever, what is Ibrahimović's role? What decision making power does he have? Less than two weeks ago, he was alongside Cardinale, interviewing Sporting Directors, but now someone half his size and with no footballing experience whatsoever is doing that, apparently on his own. Or is he consulting with "they"?
Ibrahimović has said that he is the voice of Cardinale when he is not at the club (which has been most of the season,) and that was reiterated by Cardinale himself. Certainly, "they" have been more than happy to push him in front of the camera for most press conferences, whenever he is available. And while none of the "they" have any prior experience at their current jobs, at least Ibrahimović brings the most footballing experience to the table, so shouldn't he have more say in the "they" when it comes to something so important as choosing a Sporting Director?
 |
| Is Ibrahimović still part of "they"? Or will he move on to other ventures? |
By definition, as an Operating Partner of RedBird, he should be working with Milan to offer expertise, support, and guidance to improve performance and growth of the club. The numbers show that he has done the exact opposite, at least on the sporting side. And, he has actually been a liability on many occasions, particularly in the way he does not play well with others. So, will Cardinale pull him from this project and reassign him? Or just fire him? Or will he keep him there as his informant? Or just to make everyone else uncomfortable?
Nearly two years post-Maldini, and it is clear now more than ever that the club is in shambles. Fans are protesting management nonstop because the sporting results are the worst in years, despite having increased wages and spent more on transfers than anyone since the Yonghong Li summer. If only someone could have foreseen that having four people completely inexperienced at their jobs, with such limited knowledge of football collectively, and each with egos that far exceeded their abilities, and with no clear chain of command might go sideways (besides every single person in the world of football when they sacked Maldini.)
 |
| After failing at "their" way, it would seem that "they" are pathetically trying to recreate something like this. |
There are signs that "they" are finally willing to make some changes that might put the club back on track after negatively changing our history, ruining Milan's reputation and even perhaps some of the careers of the first team and young players who put their trust in this project (Certainly, many of the players have seen their value drop significantly as a result of the management's failings.) Yet even as these changes are rumored to be happening, no one can say when they will happen, what shape the management will take, whether or not the media is actually helping to influence their decisions, or more importantly, definitively who all is involved in making the decisions. Like a train without a conductor that has already derailed, everyone is asking, "Who is actually running Milan?"
Milan Futuro Fall to Pineto and Also to the Bottom of the Table
 |
| Camarda knows his future also hangs in the balance. |
The fate of Milan Futuro is all but sealed after a 2-1 loss away to Pineto on Tuesday. Massimo Oddo was brought in to save the team from relegation, but has only managed one point in three matches. His time is running out, as well, with only seven matches left. That said, Futuro actually did play well in the first half of this match, where a Quirini goal in the 25th minute had them leading 1-0 at the half. However, they conceded two goals in the second half to a seventh place Pineto side who deserved the win.
There was controversy when the referee awarded Milan a penalty in the 81st minute for a handball, but then rescinded it after consulting with his assistant. The Pineto players aggressively swarmed the referee, Milan Futuro players protested, but in the end, no penalty. There is no VAR in Serie C, either, to help in situations like this. For highlights of the match, check the Serie C YouTube channel. Milan-friendly journalists are making a big deal about the revoked penalty, and also claiming there were other egregious referee errors, but at the end of the day, Milan Futuro did not do enough to win. Period. And that has been the case all season. They will play again on Saturday, hosting 14th place Pontedera.
Milan Primavera are in the Coppa Italia Final!
 |
| Finally, something to celebrate again. |
After so many disappointments surrounding Milan lately, on Wednesday, the Milan Primavera advanced to the Coppa Italia Final Primavera after defeating Lecce Primavera 1-0. The match was even at halftime, with both sides having chances. But in the 68th minute, the Primavera's top scorer, Filippo "Pippo" Scotti scored to put Milan ahead 1-0. Brief highlights are available. That was enough to put Guidi's boys through to the final, which will be played on Wednesday, April 9th at 15:00 at the Arena Civica di Milano. Milan Primavera will face Cagliari Primavera, who knocked Juventus Primavera out with a 2-0 victory on Wednesday.
 |
| From Scotti, with love. |
Be sure to check out the latest Milan Obsession Podcast
Reviewed by Elaine
on
11:20 AM
Rating:
