Inter Milan Sack Claudio Ranieri and Continue the Club's Managerial Instability

Inter Milan President Massimo Moratti has sacked his second manger of the year. On the same day Moratti told manager Claudio Ranieri he would last until the end of the season, Ranieri was finally dismissed due to Inter's poor results. 

Inter is now in eighth place following their 2-0 Derby d'Italia loss to Juventus last Sunday. They are 10 points behind Lazio, who sit in the last Champions League spot, and seven points behind the last Europa League slot occupied by Udinese 

Moratti is no stranger to sacking managers. Ranieri was the club's second of the term, and just last season the club cycled through Rafael Benitez and Leonardo. However, that pales in comparison to Moratti's 1998-99 sacking of four mangers in a season. 

That was the last time Inter failed to make a European competition, which looks highly likely this season. 

Moratti has gone through 18 managers during his reign as Inter president. Under Moratti's stewardship, Inter's most successful spell began under manager Roberto Mancini and ended under Jose Mourinho.

That was a six-year span that brought numerous trophies and titles to the club. Moratti's tenure as president has been about spending money to win football matches. Until the arrival of Mancini, it was the equivalent of flushing money down the toilet. 

Under Mancini the club won its first domestic trophy since 1989, and three consecutive Serie A Scudetti followed. Unfortunately for Inter fans, Moratti wasn't impressed, and he sacked the Italian in favour of Mourinho. For once Moratti's plan worked out, and Mourinho led the club to the treble in 2009-10, before fleeing in the night to Madrid.

Since Mourinho departed and left an over-the-hill squad in his place, Inter has struggled to recapture the form they displayed during that six-year span of trophies. Amazingly, the club still has remnants of the team Mancini inherited when he joined the club in 2004. While there are numerous leftovers from Mourinho's time at the San Siro as well. 

Last summer Inter sold star striker Samuel Eto'o to Russian club Anzhi Makhachkala, and attempted to strip their wage bill further by selling Wesley Sneijder—though there were no takers for one of the highest earners in Serie A. Inter possess the highest wage bill in Italian football at nearly $267 million a year.

Inter reportedly lost around $114.8 million last season, second only to Juventus who built a brand new stadium, and with UEFA's Financial Fair Play coming into effect next season, Inter could be the first big club affected. 

Only nine matches remain in the Serie A season, and the club will need a strong push and a little luck to make Europe. With a large wage bill and high reported losses, a season without Champions League football maybe financially devastating for the club. 

Moratti has installed Andrea Stramaccioni as caretaker boss. Stramaccioni was the manager of Inter's Primavera side—the club's youth team—and will now take over the senior side for an undetermined amount of time.

It is already rumoured Moratti wants to sign former Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas to manage the club. Though numerous Italian managers such as Catania's Vincenzo Montella may be better suited for the job.  

Moratti has gotten his managers wrong to begin the past two seasons—Rafael Benitez in 2010-11 and Gian Piero Gasperini in 2011-12—and it's important he chooses as wisely as he did in 2004 with Mancini. 

Earlier this month some fans called for Moratti's head rather than Ranieri's, and in the future perhaps it will be the Italian supremo that steps down. However, until then Inter fans will suffer much like they did throughout the 1990s.