Moretto: Pochettino still a serious option for Milan after ‘further direct contacts’

In 55 years, only under Berlusconi has there been peace, but this is the lowest point ever. The heartless monsters have been exposed: after ambition and results, they’re now sweeping away the fans. Give the keys to a general.

JUNE 5, 2026, 12:00 AM BY LUCA SERAFINI

“Since I first entered San Siro, I was 10 years old in 1971, the owners and presidents who have succeeded one another at AC Milan have always been sui generis, improvised, sometimes inexperienced, often shrewd and profiteering. In 1972, Albino Buticchi took over, an oil tycoon from La Spezia and an avid gambler who had attempted suicide twice, with serious consequences for his eyesight and walking. In 1972, he became president of AC Milan, succeeding the lawyer Federico Sordillo. In his first season as president, he acquired Luciano Chiarugi from Fiorentina: the team won its third Coppa Italia and its second Cup Winners’ Cup. However, they lost the championship on the final day following a 5-3 defeat to Verona. Over the next two seasons, the club achieved mid-table finishes and lost three cup finals (the 1973 European Super Cup, the 1974 Cup Winners’ Cup, and the 1975 Coppa Italia). He came up with the idea of ​​selling Gianni Rivera to Torino in exchange for Claudio Sala, sparking a fan uprising that forced him to leave on December 21, 1975.

For two years, the position was occupied by Bruno Pardi (a former AC Milan youth player, club advisor, and coach), an elderly engineer with health problems, and the “pipe king” Vittorio Duina, a metallurgical entrepreneur and avid hunter. These were temporary figures, reluctant to spend, so much so that AC Milan—despite their passion—risked relegation to Serie B in 1977, only surviving on the final day thanks to the return of Nereo Rocco to the bench, replacing Pippo Marchioro.

Duina also left, and Felice Colombo took over the family business, which had been involved in plastic molding and later expanded into the healthcare and radio and television sectors. His management of the club remains controversial: with the hiring of coach Nils Liedholm, the team won the Coppa Italia in 1978 and the coveted 10th Scudetto the following year. After that, however, his involvement with other AC Milan players in the Totonero scandal led to AC Milan’s automatic relegation to Serie B in 1980, the first in the club’s history. Colombo was banned for life from sporting duties, despite his involvement in the match-fixing scandal appearing more a mixture of naiveté and a sense of impunity than actual intent to commit fraud. After his expulsion, although he remained the majority shareholder of Milan, he was no longer able to hold official positions, so in October 1980 he handed over the presidency to Gaetano Morazzoni, a Christian Democrat parliamentarian, known essentially as a front man.

Finally, in early 1982, he sold the club to Giuseppe Farina, former president of Vicenza, who appointed Gianni Rivera as his assistant. The team floundered in the lower reaches of the league and was relegated to Serie B again at the end of the season —this time on the pitch—despite the presence of some of the key players from the Scudetto victory just three years earlier. After easy promotion the following year (coached by Ilario Castagner), the following season was not particularly successful. Then, with yet another return of Nils Liedholm, things improved, and the club even reached the UEFA Cup. However, his Rossoneri era ended in a disappointing fashion in 1986, when Silvio Berlusconi took over the club on the brink of bankruptcy. Farina became famous for sending the team into retreat even when they were playing at home, sometimes renting Milanello for wedding receptions and other private events.

On the other side, after the presidency of Angelo Moratti (1955-1968), Inter passed to Ivanoe Fraizzoli (1968-1984), Ernesto Pellegrini (1984-1995), and Massimo Moratti before being sold first to Tohir and now to Oaktree . A much more linear, stable, and peaceful path, albeit with long periods of failure.

RedBird has become absolutely, indisputably the most disastrous management of those I’ve recalled. Not only has it leveled off in the standings (8th and 5th place) after the good years of Elliott with Maldini and Pioli, but daily life at Casa Milan has been gutted, the youth sector has been decimated, the management of Milan Futuro ridiculed, the passion of the fans has been shattered. Young workers earning little more than €1,000 a month are being fired overnight, others are being moved from one sector of the company to another like puppets, Milan TV will close, there are arguments in offices and corridors almost every day, managers and historic key figures in digital, marketing, and communications are fleeing. The youth sector is clientelistic and watered down, Milan Futuro has no strategy for growth or ambition and prevents its coaches from counting on certain players because you never know if they’ll be called up to the first team. Milan is razed to the ground, in all its layers.

The fans are consumed by their passion, their belonging, their hopes, their enthusiasm. And here lies the great, enormous difference from the past: Buticchi, Colombo, Farina, and all those we’ve listed had a heart. Here, however, the Jurassic garden is populated by a soulless monster that devours the history, the ambition, the very meaning of the club. Expensive tickets, San Siro in the hands of tourists, visitors, and passersby, dismantling organized support in favor of casual fans, hot dogs, and French fries. An American-style spectacle (?).

What’s the future? Gerry Cardinale , in the press conference two weeks ago, assured us he would handle everything personally, especially since relations with Ibra—a survivor of the purge that wiped out the management—are strained. The name of the sporting director should have been known within a week, and the name of the coach immediately after. Instead, there’s just over a month to go until the meeting, and we’re still here. Yep, yeah.

We need to hand the keys to Milanello to a general who brings a colonel with him, and both of them, together, keep out anyone lacking competence or qualifications. It has a certain reminiscence of disastrous military times, of forced reversals, but there’s nothing left to overturn here: we must rebuild from the rubble. And unfortunately, Cardinale doesn’t appear to be an architect, a surveyor, or a construction site manager. Let’s hold on tight, let’s hold hands.”

Wanna bet the cardinal will bring the USA coach to milan???
Clearly that is what he is driving at

Wouldn’t put it past the geniuses in charge to pull the trigger on a coach who wouldn’t be available for another month.