Reagan Connelly: Il Burattinaio Irlandese

A career to never be forgotten. An inspiring journey from a career ending injury for most, to dominating that 2007 Champions League final! What’s next for Reagan!?

L'Uscita

8 October 2019, Milan, Italy

Giampaolo sacked
AC Milan have announced that manager Marco Giampaolo has been sacked with immediate effect. AC Milan currently sits 10th in the table and have lost 3 of their first 7 games. Giampaolo is the 8th coach to have been sacked in the last 5 years.

Question is who will be ready to take over at San Siro. Current favourite is Stefano Pioli, who is currently unemployed after a spell at Fiorentina. Former manager Allegri has also been named as Giampaolo’s possible successor, but Allegri seems to not be interested to take charge. Former club captain Reagan Connelly has also been put forward as a potential interim-manager to take over at San Siro for the rest of the season.

Whether it’s Pioli, Allegri or Connelly, it seems that the manager will be in for a busy winter transfer window. Club captain Romagnoli has attracted the attention of English giants Manchester United with their rivals Manchester City also interested to add the defender to their squads. Meanwhile, sources close to the club report that a player has supposedly agreed terms with an unknown Spanish side for a winter transfer. Alongside Romagnoli and that unknown player, Donnarumma also seems ready to take on a new challenge, with French outfit PSG favorites for the young goalkeeper.

AC Milan seem determined to get their new manager in charge before the end of the international break. I Rossineri restart their season at home to Lecce, it’s expected that the manager will take charge of that game.

AC Milan has stated to be saddened by the premature exit from the Italian manager. Managing director Ivan Gazidis has not commented on Giampaolo's possible successor. Gazidis told media that the search is ongoing and that there have been talks with multiple different people in the search for a new manager.

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Scott and TheLFCFan: Who knows what will come next

Could this vacancy be the start of Connelly's next chapter?

Let's hope Gazidis will hire Reagan! Just don't become the next Ole please.

We've seen former players go back to their clubs as legends and come out of their reign to much derision by the same fans who used to love them. If this is Reagan's calling then it's certainly something he needs to deeply consider, taking into account his current stature with Milan fans.

Milan are a club that in the recent history have give the job to former players, especially members of that 2007 Champions League winning side, the managerial job. Gattuso and Seedorf, two of Reagans midfield partners have been there and tried, could Reagan go and do what the rest of them couldn't!? Excited to see what comes next!

Un nuovo capitolo

14 October 2019, Milan, Italy

“Connelly announced as new AC Milan manager.”
AC Milan have put former club captain Reagan Connelly in charge for the remainder of the season. Connelly was already active at the club as a first team coach and has now been named manager. Connelly played over 400 games for I Rossineri between 2003 and 2017.

After Seedorf, Inzaghi and Gatusso, Connelly is the newest former AC Milan player to be named manager of the club. Connelly’s first game in charge will be against Lecce as he returns back at San Siro.

When asked about the appointment Reagan Connelly told the press: “I’m incredibly happy to have received the chance to manage this team. This club needs to return to where it deserves to be. AC Milan has been below their standards for too long and I hope I can help in the return of the side.”

Congrats to Reagan, hopefully he can turn it around at Milan.

Well, Reagan certainly needs to turn Milan's fortunes on it's head to live up to his playing legacy.

Who'd have guessed it?

Get em back to the top Rae

Capitolo Uno

14October 2019, Milan, Italy

As we take over the league table looks as follows:

Juventus is currently top, with 19 points from the first 7 games, Antonio Conte’s Inter follow them closely on 18 points. Atalanta and Napoli complete the top 4 at this point in time. AS Roma and their rivals Lazio Roma follow Napoli closely in 5th and 6th with Cagliari, the biggest surprise of the season, in 7th. Fiorentina, Torino and AC Milan complete the top half. We’re currently in 10th, 3 points ahead of SPAL in 18th, which is a place that’d mean relegation at the end of the season. Sampdoria are currently bottom with only 3 points from their first 7 games.

The Squad:

There's a good squad to choose from at Milan. Hopefully Reagan can rejuvenate the club and get the very best from this crop of players.

A balanced team of youth and experience there for Reagan to work with. Certainly going to be reliant on a few players, namely Piatek, Romagnoli and Donnarumma at times this season but a good January window and I can see you pushing into the Europa League spots. Hopefully you don't lose some of those key men despite the interest in them.

Ottobre 2019

31 October 2019, Milan, Italy
Gabriella Berardi: “Welcome everyone, to the monthly AC Milan show, I’m your host Gabriella Berardi, with me tonight are former player Daniele Bonera alongside our regular guest journalist Pietro Scola.”

“Of course the main talking point of the month is obviously the sacking of Marco Giampaolo and the return of former club captain Connelly. Pietro what does this appointment mean for the club going forward.”

Pietro Scola: “With Connelly, AC Milan seem to go back to former players taking over. I would’ve liked to see us go in for a manager like Allegri, but Connelly is low-risk and I believe he’ll easily be capable to form this group into a great side.”

Daniele Bonera: “Connelly is someone who has always been a great captain in my eyes and I think he will do just fine. I hope that he’ll do well enough to get himself a contract longer than 9 months, I truly do.”

Gabriella Berardi: “The first signs have looked promising, wouldn’t you both agree. If we look at the games that have been played under Connelly.”


Pietro Scola: “Yes and no. At home against Lecce and SPAL are both games you’d expect to win, they did just that, but were second-best for the entire Roma game.”

Daniele Bonera: “I have to disagree Pietro. The way we beat both Lecce and SPAL were incredibly convincing, frankly, we should’ve scored more. Yes, we were worse than AS Roma, but that’s to be expected. A fairly new manager away against AS Roma is a tough game for any team. Next month will be a real test.”

Pietro Scola: “I get what you’re saying. I just believe we should always beat those sides. I do agree with you on your second part. Home games against Lazio and Napoli and an away trip to Juventus. Scheduling has not been kind there. I’d hope to get 6 points there, but I wonder if we can actually manage that.”

Gabriella Berardi: “The fans have voted for Krzysztof Piatek as player of the month, would you agree.”

Pietro Scola: “Of course, Piatek has been fantastic under Connelly. Only Cristiano Ronaldo has scored as many goals as Piatek this month with 4, so yes I’d be inclined to agree with the fans.”

Daniele Bonera: “I agree, Piatek has been astonishing this month. So important, with goals and his hold-up play, he did so much work on and off the ball. However, Suso has been nothing short of phenomenal since Connelly came in, he’s been a spark of joy.”

Gabriella Berardi: “As we round up today we’ll take one final look at the league table.”


Gabriella Berardi: “As we can see, we’re still 10th and still 2 points behind 7th, which could see us get into Europe. Like Pietro said, next month we’ll see San Siro host games against Lazio and Napoli, while in-between we’ll visit Juventus. A tough month ahead for us, but I’m confident of a strong showing. Anything ether of yo would like to add onto that?

Pietro Scola: Not a lot can be added. Of course it's a shame no progress has been made, but we're winning games and if we keep doing that I'm sure we can get Europa League football in San Siro next year.

Gabriella Berardi:That's all the time we have for today. See you next month Rossineri, Ciao.”
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Scott and TheLFCFan: It's definitely a squad that can push for a place in Europe. It'll be tough but it's possible