Pisa will start leaning on new coach Gattuso

MILAN (Reuters) - Former Italy and AC Milan midfielder Gennaro Gattuso has been appointed coach of third division Pisa, the club said in a statement on Thursday. The 37-year-old, a notoriously hard tackler during his playing days, has so far struggled to get his coaching career off the ground with short stints at Sion, Palermo and OFI Crete.

Gattuso's most recent spell was at Crete where his seven months at the helm included an extraordinary news conference in broken English during which he swore and banged his fist on the table.

His only coaching experience in Italy was at the start of the 2013-14 season when he was in charge of Palermo, then in Serie B, but was fired after six games.

Gattuso began his coaching career at Swiss club Sion where he was dismissed after 11 matches.

(Reporting by Brian Homewood, editing by Tony Jimenez)