Former Italian international Marco Simone was on Monday named as joint-manager with Jean Petit of ailing French giants Monaco.
The Monaco board moved to shake up the coaching staff in the wake of the team's fall from grace, demotion from the topflight at the end of last season and a discouraging 17th place this term in the second tier.
Simone and Petit replace Laurent Banide, who has paid the price for a wretched start to the new campaign that has seen Monaco muster a mere four points out of a maximum 18 with four draws and two defeats.
The final straw came with last Friday's 3-1 home loss to Angers when the players were subjected to jeers from supporters - all a far cry from the team that reached the final of the 2004 Champions League.
Monaco explained in a statement: "After having undertaken the appropriate consultations and met several players the president of Monaco FC has taken the decision, following recent results, including in the League Cup, to undertake a reorganisation of the club's sporting set up, and to confer with immediate effect team responsibility jointly to Jean Petit and Marco Simone."
This is 42-year-old Simone's first managerial post.
The Italian is returning to the club where he enjoyed success as a striker, scoring 21 goals in the 1999/2000 season, a haul that went a long way to lifting Monaco to that season's league title.
He also had spells with Paris Saint Germain but his main success came during his time at AC Milan with whom he won two Champions League titles in 1990 and 1994 and four Serie A titles (1992-94, 1996).
He teams up on the Monaco bench with Petit, 61, the former French international midfielder who switches from his role as Monaco's technical director.
He too won a French title with the club, in 1978, and worked as assistant to numerous coaches at the club including Arsene Wenger, Jean Tigana, Claude Puel and Didier Deschamps.
Source: AFP
