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How much is a half-time team-talk worth? Not a lot perhaps if you're a Palermo footballer.

The relationship between Palermo manager Davide Ballardini and his players has become so strained of late that he refused to speak with them before, during or after Sunday's Serie A match at fellow strugglers Verona. And they won 1-nil to move six points clear of the relegation zone.

The club's president Maurizio Zamparini has put Fabio Viviano in temporary charge.

Football journalist Benny Giardina says the problems problems between coach and player date back to an Italian Cup tie in early December.

Picture: Palermo manager Davide Ballardini. Credit: Getty Images.