Serie A: AS Roma sack head coach Rudi Garcia

Italian top-flight club AS Roma have confirmed the sacking of head coach Rudi Garcia after three years in charge. The French manager, aged 51, has led Lille to a surprising Ligue 1 title in 2011 and was hired by Roma at the start of the 2013-2014 season. He got off to a flying start, winning his first 10 matches, but last season they were quite inconsistent in the second half of the season. That lack of consistency reappeared at the start of the current campaign, with Roma winning just one of their last 10 matches in all competitions and scoring just 10 goals during that span. “On behalf of myself and everyone at AS Roma, I'd like to thank Rudi Garcia for all his hard work since joining the club. We've all enjoyed some great moments during his time at Roma but we believe that this is the right time for a change,” Roma president Jim Pallotta said. Roma are currently fifth in the Serie A table, with 9 wins, 7 draws and 3 losses. They are five points away of third place, the final Champions League spot in the Italian top flight. However, Roma have qualified for the first knockout round of the Champions League, where they will face Spanish giants Real Madrid. The favourite to replace Garcia is former Roma head coach Luciano Spalletti, but Jose Mourinho is 9/1 at Bet365 to become the next Roma head coach.