Runjaic: ‘A dark evening for Udinese, it’s not up to me to decide on my future’
UDINE, ITALY - OCTOBER 25: Kosta Runjaic, Udinese manager, looks on ahead of the Serie A match between Udinese Calcio and AC Milan at Stadio Friuli on October 25, 2026 in Udine, Italy. (Photo by Timothy Rogers/Getty Images)
Kosta Runjaic is well aware of the risk to his job after suffering a seventh defeat in eight league matches with a 5-2 defeat at home against Roma on Saturday evening, but insists: ‘it’s not up to me to decide’ whether he is still the right man to lead Udinese out of their troubling run of form.
Udinese were beaten 5-2 at home against Roma and were 4-0 down at half-time after goals from Bryan Cristante, Rodrigo Mora, Donyell Maen and Evan Ndicka. Nicolo Zaniolo and Matteo Palma reduced the deficit in the second half, but Daniele Ghilardi put the result beyond any doubt in injury time.
You can see how the action unfolded on the Football Italia Liveblog.
Runjaic speaks after Udinese 2-5 Roma: ‘A dark evening’
Assessing Udinese’s performance during his post-match press conference on Saturday evening, Runjaic said: “I agree, we should have defended much better for the goals we conceded, it was too easy for the opponents.
“It was difficult to assess the second half, we could have opened it up a bit more but we didn’t do it. A dark evening for us, we have to react.”
Runjaic was asked why he decided against making any substitutions when his side were 4-0 down at the break.
He explained: “We had already conceded four goals and we decided to stay as we were. Do you think that we could have made any changes that would have really changed the game? You don’t get anywhere with ifs and buts.
“I know it isn’t a good situation and there are lots of other things I could say. Palma is our youngest guy and he gave everything. Playing against quality players like Roma’s, you can suffer. They exploited our mistakes well. It’s a difficult schedule, now we have to go to Venezia and consider our energy levels. The boys gave everything but it wasn’t enough.”
Runjaic is a man under pressure and will inevitably face questions over his future as Udinese head coach after overseeing seven losses from the last eight league games since the start of September. Udinese are now in 19th place on five points after 10 matches.
“First of all, we have to keep working,” said Runjaic. “We can’t bury our heads in the sand and it’s also useless to just keep talking about it. We played better against Parma and Torino, but we couldn’t find the win today. Today we lost the duels and this is where we conceded the goals. That can happen against a team like Roma.
“I’m still calm, we’re working together. I know that we can change the situation, but it’s not up to me to decide whether I’m the person to do that.”
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