da betsul： Hiring Rudi Garcia to succeed Luciano Spalletti always looked like a disastrous move – and so it's proved for the Scudetto holders

da 888： The boos began before kick-off at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona, the home fans furious that Napoli coach Rudi Garcia had left both Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Piotr Zielinski out of his starting line-up for Sunday's Serie A clash with Empoli.

By half-time, president Aurelio De Laurentiis was so displeased with the Partenopei's performance that he felt compelled to enter the dressing room – not for the first time this season – and speak with Garcia and his players.

Kvaratskhelia and Zielinski, two of the protagonists of last season's title triumph, were introduced just eight minutes into the second half of a game that was still scoreless – and the former very nearly broke the deadlock in the 89th minute with a low strike that Etrit Berisha somehow saved with his outstretched left leg.

However, while there was to be a late winner in Naples, it came at the other end of the field, with Viktor Kovalenko brilliantly sweeping home a cut-back from fellow Empoli substitute Tyronne Ebuehi.

The boos began again in earnest, with Napoli whistled off the field by their own supporters after a third home defeat of the Serie A season that left the champions fourth in the table, 10 points behind leaders Inter, and made Garcia's dismissal inevitable. All that's missing is the official confirmation. But the Frenchman boarded a flight to Nice on Monday and if he returns to Napoli at all, it will only be to collect his things.

So, how did it come to this? How did things unravel so quickly for a team that enchanted Europe last season? Garcia only took over in June, after all. But, truth be told, he never looked like a worthy successor to Luciano Spalletti, and it was actually somewhat surprising that he lasted this long…

Getty Images'A new era with Spalletti…'

After Napoli had clinched the title with a draw with Udinese at the Dacia Arena on May 4, De Laurentiis took to the stage at the Maradona and told the delirious 50,000 fans in attendance who had been watching the title-clinching match on giant screens that a first Scudetto in 33 years was merely just a taste of things to come.

"The project never stops," he declared. "This is a starting point for me; not an arrival. We resume next season with Spalletti." The very next day, De Laurentiis revealed that he had activated the one-year extension clause in the coach's contract.

"Spalletti is someone I had been chasing for years and finally I managed to bring him to Napoli," De Laurentiis told . "He got us back into Europe and now I would like to open up a new era with him, because he is a great leader."

Spalletti, though, was not in the least bit impressed by the fact that his contract had been extended without warning. According to reports, he was keen to stay at Napoli, but wanted to know the club's summer transfer plans before committing himself to them – which was fair enough, given it was already clear that Cristiano Giuntoli, the sporting director who had constructed Napoli's Scudetto-winning squad on a shoestring budget, was leaving for Juventus.

Spalletti and De Laurentiis decided to clear the air over dinner. Everything was decided inside 15 minutes. Spalletti explained he was exhausted and wanted to step down. "Am I hurting myself by leaving Napoli? Yes, but I'm not leaving because I stopped loving," he explained. "I'm leaving because I loved and gave everything. I am not someone who changes his mind easily after making a decision. And I don't want there to be friction with president De Laurentiis. I don't want there to be a division."

AdvertisementGetty ImagesSpalletti on sabbatical…

Napoli fans were devastated, but De Laurentiis argued that it wouldn't have been right to stand in the coach's way. "Spalletti is a free man," he told . "When someone comes to you and says that he has done all he can and an era of his life has concluded… He told me that he would prefer to have a sabbatical year. What do you do then? Do you oppose it?"

However, the pair's comments on the matter did little to quell the suspicion that they had fallen out; that they could simply no longer work with another. They certainly didn't seem to be on the same page anymore, that was for sure – because less than a month after quitting Napoli, Spalletti was contradicting De Laurentiis' claim that he wanted to go on sabbatical.

"I only said that I needed to take a breather and sort some things out," he told reporters in July and, less than two months later, he was back in the game, unveiled as Italy's new coach after Roberto Mancini's shock departure.

GettyUnderwhelming Garcia appointment

By that stage, De Laurentiis had surprisingly turned to Garcia, pointedly remarking that it was "a pleasure" to announce the former Roma coach as Napoli's new boss "having got to know and spend time with him during the past 10 days" – which was widely interpreted as a reference to his strained relationship with Spalletti.

The fans were less enthused by the news, though. Antonio Conte, Roberto De Zerbi, Julian Nagelsmann and Luis Enrique were all linked with the role so they rather understandably expected the newly-crowned champions of Italy to attract a higher calibre of coach than Garcia, who hasn't lifted a trophy since 2011, at Lille.

Garcia's use of a Spalletti-like 4-3-3 formation had played a big role in De Laurentiis' thinking, as it would, in theory, mean less tactical disruption for the players. However, the input of Carlo Verdone had also been key. As well as being a good friend of De Laurentiis, Verdone is also a Roma supporter and was full of praise for Garcia, who twice led the Giallorossi to second-placed finishes during his three years at Stadio Olimpico.

Garcia's work since then, though, was far less noteworthy, and Napoli supporters were rightly concerned that De Laurentiis was entrusting Napoli's new immortals to a man who had effectively been sacked by Al-Nassr for failing to sustain a Saudi Pro League title tilt with Cristiano Ronaldo up front.

GettyPlayer unrest

In that context, Garcia's struggles came as little surprise. There were mitigating factors, of course. The loss of South Korea centre-back Kim Min-jae to Bayern Munich was a hammer blow to the backline, while an injury to Victor Osimhen robbed Napoli of their most reliable source of goals.

However, even before the Nigerian was sidelined with a hamstring problem, it was clear that Osimhen, who still hasn't signed a new contract, wasn't entirely happy with some of Garcia's decisions. Last season's capocannoniere reacted furiously to his substitution in the 0-0 draw with Bologna in September – and there were similar touchline tantrums from Kvaratskhelia and Mateo Politano during the games against Genoa and Fiorentina, respectively.

After the 3-1 loss at home to Fiorentina, which came just before the last international break, Garcia appeared a dead man walking – and he was only granted a stay of execution because Conte reportedly turned De Laurentiis down because he was unwilling to take over a team midway through the season.