Trouble at Roma as players rebel against club manager sacking

Roma’s first-team squad confronted Paulo Fonseca at a training session and made an important demand.

Tensions are running high at Roma as the club was recently knocked out of Coppa Italia by Spezia. Moreover, even if Paulo Fonseca’s team had managed to win the game, they would still have disqualified due to the misuse of player substitutions.

As the 90 minutes ended with a 2-2 draw, teams were forced to face each other on extra-time. Five minutes into the first half, Paulo Fonseca decided to sub in goalkeeper Fuzato.

However, this was Roma’s sixth change, which caused some confusion. Despite the visible warnings from club captain Lorenzo Pellegrini, the substitution went through, which meant Roma broke the Coppa Italia rules. In fact, both teams were only allowed to perform five changes, with no additional substitution available on extra-time.

Roma's board will meet today to discuss Paulo Fonseca's future, according to reports. Portuguese sporting director Tiago Pinto involved in discussions as the Roma owners are thought to be increasingly concerned with the direction of the team under Fonseca. https://t.co/0tWgRaRdNp
— Sean Gillen (@SeanGillen9) January 20, 2021

In the aftermath of the controversy, Roma decided to sack team manager Gianluca Gomber and Global Sport Officer Manolo Zumbiria. This situation reportedly left the players raging as they didn’t feel that justice had been made.

Therefore, Edin Dzeko and Lorenzo Pellegrini reportedly decided to confront head coach Paulo Fonseca at this Thursday’s training session. The players, representing the first-team squad, demanded the return of Gomber.

Moreover, multiple reports also suggest that the players are unhappy with Fonseca’s management. Dzeko and Pellegrini questioned the manager’s methods as they believe the team has some tactical problems. Although Roma currently occupies fourth place in the league, this tense situation seems to have left Paulo Fonseca’s job in serious danger.