Delio Rossi has taken a swipe at his successor at Lazio, Davide Ballardini.

Rossi has declared he's ready to step back into management after his departure from Lazio over the summer.

And he launched a surprise attack on Ballardini, saying: “I have never expressed an opinion on a colleague or the style of play of a team that wasn’t my own. This is why I was very annoyed when Ballardini asked what Lazio had done in recent years.

“I could reply qualifying for Europe three times and winning the Coppa Italia. Instead I’ll simply point out he was training Cagliari while my Lazio played Real Madrid.”