Even the legendary hardman that is Joe Jordan did not scare Gennaro Gattuso.
While the Napoli boss has mellowed a bit since hanging up his boots at the end of a storied playing career, you would rather go nose-to-nose with a ravenous Bengal tiger than find yourself on the wrong end of one of Gattuso’s glowering stares.
One of the game’s most promising, up-and-coming coaches has caught the eye with his tactical acumen since replacing Carlo Ancelotti at the Stadio San Paolo. But, as you might expect, discipline remains a key weapon in his armoury.
And Gattuso was never going to take kindly to the sight of Faouzi Ghoulam ‘jogging around’ in a training session before Sunday’s 1-0 triumph over Serie A rivals Bologna.
“(Ghoulam and Mario Rui) stayed in the stands, because they were jogging around in training yesterday,” Gattuso growled after dropping the Algerian from his matchday squad, as reported by Tribal Football.
“I brought them along (to the game) anyway, because it’s too easy to just let them stay home and watch it on the couch.”
This is not the first time Gattuso has punished a player for an apparent reluctance to sacrifice blood, sweat and tears to the cause in training.
Allan, the Brazilian ball-winner who eventually left Napoli for Everton, got on the manager’s bad side in February before Hirving Lozano suffered the same fate and missed the Coppa Italia final victory over Juventus as a result.
Unfortunately for Ghoulam, he appears to have missed the chance to join Allan in the Premier League.
Alfredo Pedulla reported that Wolverhampton Wanderers were in talks to sign yet another Jorge Mendes client.
But, with Ghoulam’s £60,000-a-week wages proving rather prohibitive, Wolves turned to the long-term option that was Rayan Ait-Nouri instead (Gazzetta).
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