Walter Novellino New Coach

As expected, Novellino has taken over the reigns with the Granata, following the sacking earlier today of Gianni De Biasi.

The news was in the air, but it is now official: Walter Novellino will take the hot-seat on the Torino bench starting from Tuesday as he has been chosen by president Urbano Cairo to replace sacked coach Gianni De Biasi.

This is actually a return for Novellino as he was previously the Toro coach up to last season before he was sacked and eventually replaced by the same De Biasi.

Rather than opting for an internal solution, Cairo decided to recall Novellino since he is still under contract with the Granata until June 2009.

Novellino had in fact joined Torino from Sampdoria in the summer of 2007 before being sacked in April 2008, five matchdays before the end of the season, with the team seriously in risk of relegation.

This decision matured following an urgent summit between the club’s directors on Sunday evening at the Olimpico Stadium of Turin following the 4-1 defeat against Fiorentina.

Novellino will be officially presented to the press tomorrow afternoon at 2pm, where he will be hoping to improve on his previous experience at the club.

Under De Biasi, Torino only managed to obtain 12 points from 15 league games, with the team sitting dangerously in the relegation zone.