Alberto Zaccheroni was voted the top coach in Serie A last season by his Italian league counterparts.

Zaccheroni guided AC Milan to the 1998-1999 season league title in his first year with the club.

But Zaccheroni nearly lost his job days ago as AC Milan was eliminated from the European cup play after losing to Turkish team Galatasaray 3-2.

He quickly put himself on stronger ground on Sunday as AC Milan beat Venezia 3-0 to keep unbeaten in the league.

Zaccheroni said he was happy to get the Golden Bench award but joked that he hopes not to meet the same fate as last year's winner Luigi Simoni.

Simoni was fired by Inter Milan within hours of learning he had been selected the best coach of the season.