Ex Saints striker Graziano Pelle was sent home from the Italian squad after the Azurri's draw with Spain in the World Cup qualifyers.

When he was at Saints Graziano Pelle never struck you as a petulant man or one prone to tantrums, ut this morning he finds himself thrown out of the Italian squad for the World Vup qualifyers and his International future in doubt.

The issue arose when Italian coach Gianpiero Ventura substituted him after an hour of the game against Spain which eventually finished 1-1, Pelle stormed off and refused to shake the coach's hand.

He afterwards apologised but the damage had been done and it was announced that he had been sent home and would not play any part in the weekend's game against Macedonia.

“Unfortunately, it’s happened again, I’ve messed things up,” Pelle wrote on Instagram.

“It was unacceptable behaviour, firstly against the coach and also, towards my team mates, who have always shown me to have important values in this fantastic Italy group we belong to.

“Like any great mistake, I accept the consequences. And it is only right that I take responsibility. I must ask offer my apologies from my heart to everyone.”

Ventura himself played down the incident saying "These things happen, I think Graziano was more angry at himself and the way his performance went than anything else."

But the Italian FA took a far harder line and announced that the former Saints man would be sent home.

A statement read:

"Being part of the national team involves the sharing of values of your teammates and the famous blue shirt.

"This starts with respect towards staff, teammates and supporters.

"The player will today return to his club."

However this might just be the tip of the iceberg, back in June at his inaugural press conference Ventura warned Pelle that his move to China might spell the end of his Italian International career.

"Players need to have a desire to win, going to a lesser league doesn't help in that regard,"

"So 50 per cent is China, the rest is the big wages. A player has to be strong psychologically and temperamentally."

"When Alessandro Diamanti went to China he lost the national team, despite his quality."

" The 23 who went to the Euros deserve to make their case because of what they did there. Then there will be many others, because football moves on."

"Pelle, missed penalty aside, had a good Euros. Let's see."

That was an ominous statement for Ventura to make about the player and the writing was on the wall, so perhaps the petulance was more about these comments and the way that Ventura has handled Pelle than just the substitution itself.

Certainly in his two seasons at St Mary's Pelle was a model professional, even when a section of the crowd gave him abuse he simply got on with his game and proved them wrong, so much so that when he left those same people suddenly were declaring that his departure was a major catastrophe.

Photo: Action Images

SaintBrock added 10:02 - Oct 10 Astonishing really that the manager seems to have had no understanding of the player's emotions and commitment to the cause. More sensitive man management would have kept everyone on board and happy. Pelle is certainly an emotional guy as we know but 100% committed to the cause whether it be for his club or for his country; let's face it he was called to the colours quite late in his career so it must mean for more to him than for young players who rise through the national team ranks and maybe take their selection for granted on occasion. All players want to play 100% of every match but they can't for physical and tactical reasons and they all understand that even if in the heat of the moment the last thing they want to do is leave the field of play when everything is still buzzing.

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