Gattuso sends Taylor packing as Lazio training ground row erupts | OneFootball

Lazio’s uneasy pre-season took another turn on Thursday, as new head coach Gennaro Gattuso ordered midfielder Kenneth Taylor off the training pitch following a heated exchange at Formello.

According to calciomercato.com, tempers frayed a little over an hour into the morning session. Taylor, who joined from Ajax in January, complained about a knock he had taken and bristled at a rebuke from his manager. Gattuso, never a coach to let backchat pass, reacted on the spot.

The 48-year-old halted the session, pointed towards the exit and dismissed his player, barking “Vai fuori!”, or “Get out!” as Taylor left the field.

BERGAMO, ITALY – MARCH 26: Gennaro Gattuso of Italy looks on prior to the FIFA World Cup 2026 European Qualifiers KO play-offs match between Italy and Northern Ireland at Stadio di Bergamo on March 26, 2026 in Bergamo, Italy. (Photo by Marco Luzzani/Getty Images)

Gattuso and Taylor set for clear-the-air talks at Lazio

Radio Laziale reported the details of the flashpoint, while Il Messaggero indicated Lazio are unlikely to impose any serious sanction on the 24-year-old.

Taylor is instead expected to sit down with Gattuso and the club’s sporting department before the day’s second training session, with the matter treated as an internal one to be smoothed over rather than escalated.

It is hardly the calm build-up the Biancocelesti would have wanted.

Gattuso, appointed in the summer to steady a club that endured a turbulent campaign under Maurizio Sarri, has made no secret of his demand for intensity and discipline, and the early signs suggest his standards will not always be the most popular in the dressing room.