AC Milan fans appear to be losing patience with Filippo Inzaghi as calls for the coach to be sacked could be heard at the San Siro on Sunday.
Milan once again failed to impress in a 1-1 draw with Empoli that leaves them seven points adrift of the top five and two behind city rivals Inter. Inzaghi had previously enjoyed the full backing of the fans, who had instead turned on general manager Adriano Galliani, but that changed this weekend.
Aside from the chorus of boos that greeted the final whistle, there were isolated chants of disapproval aimed at the 41-year-old and some of the decisions of a coach who now has the worst average point record of any boss since Silvio Berlusconi took over the club.
Inzaghi's 1.304 points per game is the worst average since the 1986-87 campaign under another former Rossoneri striker, Nils Liedholm, who was ultimately replaced with Fabio Capello after 24 games. Milan finished fifth in a 16-team Serie A that season.
"We go home unhappy once again today and I've got to try to reassure the lads because people find it hard to accept moments like this," Inzaghi said after the match. "But you need patience. We've always got players who cannot go the full 90 minutes but I've got to keep them on the field because I've got so few alternatives. It's a period in which we're a bit unlucky."
One of those alternatives might have been M'Baye Niang, but he was loaned out to Genoa this winter since he could not convince Inzaghi to give him a chance.
On Sunday, he scored two for his new club in a 5-2 win against Hellas Verona and he said after the game: "I feel that everybody believes in me here.
"The coach works a lot with me in front of goal and even with my heading game. I'm just trying to improve all the time, together with the rest of the team."
Niang's Genoa have five points more than Milan, who are only one point better off than they were at the same stage of last season when Massimiliano Allegri was sacked and even a late surge under Clarence Seedorf was not enough to secure them a place in Europe.