Serie A 2007-08

2007-08 events

*Atalanta: on June 9, 2007 Luigi Del Neri was announced as new head coach following Stefano Colantuono's departure to Palermo.
*Cagliari: on November 13 Cagliari chairman Massimo Cellino sacked Marco Giampaolo and replaced him with veteran coach Nedo Sonetti, who already served twice with the "rossoblu" before this new appointment. On December 19 Sonetti tendered his resignation, after he managed to achieve only one point in three matches in charge, and Cellino called Giampaolo to serve again as "rossoblu" head coach.cite news |title=Sonetti si è dimesso|url=http://www.cagliaricalcio.net/news/notizia.asp?idNotizia=4824&type=0&id_menu=1 |publisher=Cagliari Calcio |date= 2007-12-19 |accessdate=2007-12-19 |language=Italian ] However, Giampaolo, still linked to Cagliari by a contract, turned down the opportunity to return. [cite news|url=http://www.channel4.com/sport/football_italia/dec19j.html|publisher=Football Italia|accessdate=2007-12-19|date=2007-12-19|title=Giampaolo rejects Cagliari call] The next day, the club announced that it had rejected Sonetti's resignation. [cite news|url=http://www.cagliaricalcio.net/news/notizia.asp?idNotizia=4828&type=0&id_menu=1|publisher=Cagliari Calcio|language=Italian|title=Respinte le dimissioni di Sonetti|date=2007-12-20|accessdate=2007-12-20] Sonetti was ultimately sacked only a few days later, on December 27, following a crushing 5–1 loss to Fiorentina, and replaced by Davide Ballardini, who served as Cagliari head coach in the early weeks of the 2005–06 season.
*Catania: on June 3, 2007 Silvio Baldini was announced as new head coach. The team initially enjoyed a good shape, notably gaining a spot in the Coppa Italia semi-finals, but lost position with time, being in 16th place as of Week 31, only three points ahead of last-placed Empoli, convincing Baldini to leave the club with mutual consent on March 31, 2008. He was replaced the next day by Walter Zenga, former head coach of Red Star Belgrade and Steaua Bucharest, at his first coaching experience with a Serie A team.
*Empoli: on November 26, 2007 the Tuscan side chose to sack Luigi Cagni, who achieved only ten points in fourteen matches (18th place in the league table) and failed to win the UEFA Cup 2007-08 first round, replacing him with Alberto Malesani. On March 31, 2008, after a 2–0 home loss to Sampdoria which left Empoli alone in last place, the board decided to sack Malesani, reinstalling Cagni in charge.
*Juventus: on June 4, 2007 former Parma head coach Claudio Ranieri was unveiled as new boss.
*Livorno: on October 9, 2007 Fernando Orsi was sacked following a string of poor results that brought the team down to bottom place in the league with two points and no win after seven games. The position was then filled by Giancarlo Camolese the next day. Camolese initially managed to improve Livorno's performances; however in the final part of the season Livorno entered into a deep result crisis that led them down to the league bottom, with three matches remaining, and Camolese being ultimately sacked on April 28, 2008, with Orsi re-appointed back at the helm of the "amaranto".
*Palermo: on June 7, 2007 Stefano Colantuono of Atalanta was announced to be the next "rosanero" boss for the 2007-08 season. However, on November 26 Colantuono was sacked following a 5–0 defeat to Juventus, and club chairman Maurizio Zamparini appointed Francesco Guidolin as his replacement, inaugurating a fourth spell with Palermo for the tactician. However, results did not improve under Guidolin, and three consecutive losses, followed by some controversial post-match comments in a 2–3 home loss to Genoa on March 22, 2008 led Zamparini to re-appoint Colantuono at the helm of the "rosanero" on March 24.
*Parma: on June 12, 2007 Domenico Di Carlo was announced as new boss following the departure of Claudio Ranieri. However, as Parma struggled to keep themselves off the relegation battle, Di Carlo was sacked on March 10, 2008 following a 1–2 home defeat to Sampdoria. The next day the club announced to have appointed Héctor Cúper as new head coach. The Argentine boss did not manage to improve results, with Parma finding themselves in 18th place with only one remaining match to be played at home against first-placed Internazionale, only two points behind the last Serie A spot. On May 12 Parma chairman Tommaso Ghirardi then surprisingly announced to have sacked Cúper, replacing him with youth team coach Andrea Manzo for the final league matchday in a desperate attempt to escape relegation.
*Reggina: on June 23, 2007 news reports announced Massimo Ficcadenti as new boss following the departure of Walter Mazzarri. [cite web |url=http://www.channel4.com/sport/football_italia/jun23n.html |publisher=Football Italia |title=Reggina appoint Ficcadenti |accessdate=2007-06-24 |date = 2007-06-23 |format= |work= ] However, on June 27 Verona announced they were not giving Ficcadenti permission to leave the club and move to Reggina. [cite web |url=http://www.hellasverona.it/news.php?id=5422 |publisher=Hellas Verona FC |title=Hellas Verona Football Club smentisce di essere alla ricerca di un nuovo allenatore |accessdate=2007-06-27 |date = 2007-06-27 |language=Italian] [cite web |url=http://www.channel4.com/sport/football_italia/jun27r.html |publisher=Football Italia |title=Reggina coach poached! |accessdate=2007-06-27 |date = 2007-06-27] On July 1, Reggina finally announced on their website to have appointed Ficcadenti as coach, after he successfully rescinded his contract with Verona. Ficcadenti was however sacked on November 1, following a 3–1 home loss to last-placed Livorno and no wins in the first ten league days, and veteran coach Renzo Ulivieri was appointed to replace him. However, on March 3, 2008 the club management decided to dismiss Ulivieri from his post following a 0–0 home draw to Palermo, as Reggina was filling the 19th place with 22 points, and replaced him with team scout and former youth team coach Nevio Orlandi.
*Sampdoria: on May 31, 2007 Walter Mazzarri was named new Samp boss.
*Siena: on June 12, 2007 Andrea Mandorlini was confirmed new head coach following separation by mutual consent between the club and its boss Mario Beretta. [cite news |title=Beretta ends Siena spell |url=http://www.channel4.com/sport/football_italia/jun7n.html |publisher=Football Italia |date=2007-06-07 |accessdate=2007-06-07 ] However Mandorlini was sacked on November 12, after a 2–3 home loss to Livorno which left the team in last place, and Beretta accepted to return at Siena.
*Torino: on June 6, 2007 former Sampdoria boss Walter Novellino was announced head coach for the new season, replacing Gianni De Biasi. On April 16, 2008, following a string of disappointing results that left the "granata" only four points ahead the relegation zone, leading to heavy criticisms from the supporting fanbase, Torino president Urbano Cairo chose to sack Novellino and reappoint De Biasi, a fan favourite, as head coach.
*Udinese: on June 5, 2007 former Catania boss Pasquale Marino was officially unveiled as new head coach.

Footnotes