Moratti fires criticism at Gasperini and Forlan

Moratti, widely criticised for his handling of the Italian club since Jose Mourinho's departure at the end of the 2009/10 season, also took a swipe at forward Diego Forlan.

He then described Claudio Ranieri, who parted company with the Serie A club on Monday after six months as coach, as a gentleman and named eccentric Athletic Bilbao coach Marcelo Bielsa as a possible long-term replacement.

"I'm not at all satisfied with Gasperini," Moratti was widely quoted as saying on a number of Italian websites including Gazzetta dello Sport and Corriere dello Sport.

"The blame for this disaster of a season lies with him, he has spoiled everything, he was continually complaining about the players, it was really bad."

Gasperini was appointed in the close-season and sacked after winning only one of his five first competitive games.

Ranieri replaced him in late September and, although Inter won seven league games in a row at the turn of the year, that was followed by a slump which has left them eighth in the table, 10 points adrift of Lazio in the Champions League playoff place.

Forlan, signed at the age of 32 from Atletico Madrid, also failed to impress Moratti.

"Forlan hasn't played very often but when he has been on the pitch, he has played badly and failed to meet expectations," he said.

Moratti said that caretaker coach Andrea Stramaccioni was talented and a good tactician, but then started talking about a long-term coach for next season.

"I've always spoken well of Bielsa, he's very well prepared and very entertaining," he said of the former Argentina and Chile coach. "But I speak well of a lot of coaches."

Stramaccioni is Moratti's fifth coach since Mourinho's departure, with the list also including Rafael Benitez and Leonardo.

Inter have been criticised for signing Forlan while apparently unaware that he was ineligible to play in this season's Champions League group stages.

Several days after signing the Uruguayan, Inter said he had already played for Atletico in Europa League qualifiers, ruling him out of the Champions League under UEFA laws.