Ferrero defends Samp boss Zenga

Sampdoria president Massimo Ferrero threw his support behind embattled coach Walter Zenga and urged patience.

Zenga oversaw an embarrassing 4-0 defeat to Vojvodina in the first leg of Sampdoria’s third round UEFA Europa League qualifier last week – the Italian’s first match in charge since replacing Sinisa Mihajlovic.

Sampdoria’s players and staff were subjected to abuse by their own fans following the full-time whistle, and Zenga approached the disgruntled supporters in an attempt to shoulder the blame.

However, Ferrero took to Twitter on Monday to defend the 55-year-old.

“If you love Samp like I do, leave Zenga alone!” Ferrero posted ahead of Thursday’s return leg in Serbia.

“If that game had gone differently, what would we be talking about now? Woe betide anyone who attacks my lads!”

Ferrero’s tweet comes after he promised to buy more players in the wake of Sampdoria’s humiliation.

“We deservedly lost and I can only apologise. This is not my Samp, it is not the strong team that we built and intend to reinforce,” the 63-year-old said last week.

“Perhaps it was written in the stars that we would not go into the Europa League. In any case, we have a second game to play and in football you must never say never.

“I am sure this team is strong. We will make more buys, but they cannot play in the return leg. I repeat, the fans were the only winners, once again they were generous and extraordinary.”