EX-RANGERS star Gennaro Gattuso gave his own Italy players ‘a few SLAPS’ as they laboured against Estonia on Friday.
Last night, it was an opposition player – recently linked with his own move to Ibrox – who was very much in the fiery boss’ sights!
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Gattuso, 47, was appointed Italy manager in June in a bid to kick-start the country’s faltering World Cup qualifying campaign.
Luciano Spalletti was sacked following a 3-0 thumping by Norway that saw the Italians start their quest to reach next year’s finals in dire fashion.
The former Napoli boss remained in charge for the 2-0 win over Moldova a few days later despite already knowing his fate.
Gattuso was installed shortly after and his first game was Friday’s clash with Estonia in Bergamo.
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A poor first-half saw Italy go in at the break goalless and it’s fair to say Gattuso read the riot act.
Defender Alessandro Bastoni revealed the former AC Milan star gave the players “a fair few slaps” as a “wake-up call.”
It seemed to work as Italy scored five times in the second half to record a 5-0 victory.
Last night, Italy faced Israel in Debrecen, Hungary and once again scored five goals.
This time around, it was far from straightforward as Israel themselves netted four in a remarkable qualifying match.
With Italy leading 4-2 after 81 minutes, Israel scored twice in the dying minutes and looked to have nicked a point.
But Newcastle’s Sandro Tonali fired home in the 91st minute, with his goal turning out to be the winner.
Gattuso, who played for Rangers between 1997 and 1998, described the match as “the craziest game I’ve been involved with.”
But things threatened to get even more crazy – and perhaps unsurprisingly, the hot-headed Ibrox cult hero was right in the thick of things.
Emotions were understandably high after the incredibly dramatic game, and tempers threatened to boil over at the final whistle.
Players from both sides confronted each other at full-time.
Gattuso initially sought to diffuse the situation, with footage showing him running towards where the melee was ongoing.
TV cameras picked him up shouting “stop, stop, stop” as he attempted to calm things down.
Israel striker Dor Turgeman was a bystander as things were threatening to kick-off.
The 21-year old was a transfer target for Rangers during the recent transfer window.
However, no deal was forthcoming and he ended up joining New England Revolution in the MLS instead.
While Turgeman wasn’t getting involved in the fracas, he decided it would be a good idea to open his mouth towards Gattuso!
He could be seeing telling the Italy boss: “Control your players!”
Perhaps not the most sensible course of action.
Like a red rag to a bull, Gattuso suddenly switches from calm to irate and seems less than impressed with Turgeman’s comment.
Gattuso can be seen turning towards the striker and giving him a piece of his mind.
Players from both sides can then be seen pulling Gattuso AWAY from the frontman.
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The Italy boss – showing-off some of the dialect he perhaps picked up during his time in Scotland – can be heard blasting: “Shut the f*** up!”
Things did eventually calm down between the players.
With three wins from their four games, Italy sit second in qualifying group I.
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They’re three points behind the in-form Norwegians who have won all four of their games.
It could call come down to a final game shoot-out between the nations in Milan on November 16.
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