AC Milan president Silvio Berlusconi has explained that a fear of missing out silverware this season and European football next term were his reasons for firing Sinisa Mihajlovic and appointing Cristian Brocchi on Tuesday.
Mihajlovic was sacked after the club failed to win their last five matches and sit in sixth place in the Serie A table, but Berlusconi's choice to replace the Serbian at such a late stage of the season has not met with the approval of Milan fans, with 92 percent voting against the decision in a poll by La Gazzetta dello Sport.
However, the Milan president said action had to be taken to try to rescue something from a third straight disappointing campaign.
"I'd like to thank Sinisa Mihajlovic for the work he has done, with maximum effort," he wrote on his Facebook page. "However, Milan can and must do better. We need to bring the season to a conclusion in the best way possible and try to win the Coppa Italia, and of course get back into Europe.
"Brocchi has been chosen to prepare the future, a future in which Milan have got to get back to playing a football and obtaining the results worthy of our history. At the end of the season, we will draw our conclusions and make all the necessary choices to this end."
Brocchi has been given a contract until the end of the season, but that may well be extended if he impresses, with former Milan coach Arrigo Sacchi admitting Berlusconi has had a soft spot for his side's former midfielder for a while now.
"Berlusconi's had Brocchi in mind since last year, but [general manager Adriano] Galliani has always tried to slow him down a bit," Sacchi told Mediaset television.
"If Brocchi manages to deal with this situation well, he has the big advantage of enjoying the president's faith.
"Berlusconi wasn't happy with Mihajlovic's work and he's taken this decision, which is courageous. I'm always sorry when a coach is fired because it means the club made a mistake in appointing him. Milan have spent a lot this season and their results have not been good enough. Berlusconi was complaining about the quality of football being played under Sinisa.
"I think the club have already seen how Brocchi coaches and they already realised he's a coach with a future. He's taking charge of a delicate situation because he didn't choose the players and they are not performing well.
"He's going to have to adapt well and go easy on the teaching side because there's no time. He's going to have to be sensible. Mihajlovic had a great relationship with the players so it's not going to be easy to get into the players' minds."