Furlani: ‘Milan cannot deny this is a failure of a season’

Milan director Giorgio Furlani ‘cannot deny this is a failure of a season’ after losing the Coppa Italia Final to Bologna. ‘I have to admit various errors were made. We must go forward and correct them.’

There were some suggestions that a second piece of silverware after January’s Supercoppa Italiana could potentially rescue a doomed campaign, but the 1-0 defeat to a Dan Ndoye goal has laid bare the disastrous results under both Paulo Fonseca and Sergio Conceicao.

Check the Football Italia Player Ratings for Milan 0-1 Bologna

“I wish firstly to congratulate Bologna for this historic achievement for the club and the city,” Furlani told Sport Mediaset.

“After that, I cannot deny this is a failure of a season. Despite winning the Supercoppa, we are still a long way off where we wanted to be.

“Now there are two games left to play, we will try to end the season in the best possible way, even if we are distant from the targets that we had set at the start of the campaign.

“We share the disappointment of our fans, I as a supporter and now as a director have to admit various errors were made. We must go forward, correct them, and get back to where we ought to be.”

Winning the Coppa Italia was Milan’s best chance of qualifying for the Europa League, so now they sit eighth in Serie A and may well struggle even to get into the Conference League.

Furlani was asked if there are any radical changes on the horizon and pulled out all the diplomatic stops to avoid giving a clear response.

“At this moment there is huge disappointment for this match, a trophy which we could’ve won. I don’t feel ready to answer this question right now.

“There are another 12 days to go in the season and two games, then we will make some decisions and see.”

Milan owner Gerry Cardinale was not in Rome for the Final, so did he communicate with Furlani since the end of the match and is there still the desire to keep investing in the club?

“We have not had contact in the last two hours, but he will be as disappointed as me for the game and this season. Everyone knows what the Milan project is, so you know the answer to that question,” added Furlani.

“I cannot answer these things now.”

Furlani has been directly involved in the search for a new director of sport, but after months of talks and several different candidates in pole position, now it seems as if the club might not appoint anyone for that role at all.