Catania chief Pietro Lo Monaco has hit out at their own fans.

Supporters are upset they sold Matias Silvestre to rivals Palermo, especially as the replacement is veteran Nicola Legrottaglie.

"The fans expected a defender? Well, I expected 15,000 season tickets to be sold..." declared Lo Monaco.

"The fans should just shut up! They are in no position to ask for anything. We only have 7,900 season ticket holders and that's not Serie A standard.

"We want to achieve safety as soon as possible, because that is our Scudetto and in this case would be our sixth in a row.

"This project started years ago and is continuing to this day. When we arrived, Catania didn't own a single player."