Di Matteo new Albion boss; Italian is the shock choice: Di Matteo takes over hot-seat.Byline: Chris Lepkowski ROBERTO Di Matteo Roberto Di Matteo (born May 29, 1970 in Schaffhausen, Switzerland) is a Swiss-Italian former professional footballer. A midfielder, his career consisted of spells at Schaffhausen (1988-91), Zürich (1991-92), Aarau (1992-93), Lazio (1993-96), and Chelsea (1996-2002). will today be named as new Albion
He is currently the assistant manager at English Premier League football club Everton, who he made eighty appearances for as a player in the early 1980s. will be staying as Deepdale boss. The Baggies made their decision early this morning after whittling Whittling is the art of carving shapes out of raw wood with a knife. Whittling is typically performed with a light, small-bladed knife, usually a pocket knife. Specialised whittling knives are available as well. down their shortlist to the MK Dons manager and his Preston counterpart. The 39-year-old will be con- firmed as Baggies boss later today after Irvine was informed of Albion's decision. Both men's teams play the 'Albion way', but the Italian ex-Chelsea player made a big impression during the interview process. An official announcement from Albion is due imminently, with the club hoping to unveil him as Tony Mowbray's successor tomorrow afternoon or on Thursday. He will also meet the Albion players for the first time tomorrow morning when they return to preseason training. Di Matteo took MK Dons to the League One play-offs last season after replacing Paul Ince. The Dons also scored the most goals in their division. They lost to Scunthorpe on penalties in the play-off semi-finals, but the team had been praised throughout the campaign for the quality of their football. Di Matteo has an academic background, having built on a business studies degree gained in his native Switzerland by taking an MBA course at London's European School of Economics. Although he is relatively inexperienced as a manager, Di Matteo, an Italian international of 39 caps, has been working his way through his coaching badges after his playing career was ended when he was just 31. Preston have issued a statement confirming that Irvine will be remaining as their manager, although Albion claim that it was their decision to hand the job toDiMatteo, asopposed to Irvine rejecting them. "Over the weekend I was approached by West Bromwich Albion," said PNE PNE Pine (street suffix) PNE Preston North End (Soccer Club) PNe Planetary Nebulae PNE Pacific National Exhibition PNE Platform for Network Equipment (Wind River) chairman Derek Shaw. "Sometimes it is very dif- ficult to give a running commentary to our supporters via themedia. I had to discuss things on Monday with our lawyers. "Alan was given permission to speak to West Brom while he was on holiday, but hehas chosen to remain as Preston's manager. "I know Alan and his representative did have some talks, but I believe Alan did not meet them face to face and he has chosen to remain at Preston which we are extremely pleased about. This was confirmed to me late on Monday night when Alan returned from his family holiday." |
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