Another One Bites the Dust

By: Martha | November 13th, 2007

NO GIAMPAOLO [If you're looking for information on the death of Gabriele Sandri and subsequent events, go here; the most recent post is on top. Inter-Lazio and Roma-Cagliari will be played on December 5th.]

Cagliari have officially sacked Marco Giampaolo, making him the fourth Serie A coach to lose his job in the first 12 weeks of the season. All four trigger-happy clubs — Cagliari, Livorno, Reggina and Seina — are part of the sticky mess at the bottom of the table, sitting together on nine miserable points. (Along those lines, Gigi Cagni better watch his back: Empoli are the only team in that bottom group who still have the manager with whom they started the season.) As I said yesterday, Reggina’s new guy Renzo Ulivieri has taken four points from two matches and is already nearing sainthood, but he and his fellow newbies still face difficult fights, not only to stay in Serie A but also to keep their jobs until the end of the season.

Cagliari have two wins from eleven matches (their meeting with Roma Sunday night was postponed) and, despite being in the bottom group, probably have some slight hope of surviving. Their goal difference is better than that of the any of the other bottom teams (I mean, it’s -8, but it’s better), and they actually have some players capable of scoring, primarily newly capped Azzurri striker Pasquale Foggia and Milan youth product Alessandro Matri, so whoever takes over isn’t necessarily taking a gig in a ship that’s already sunk.

The man likely to take charge of the club is Nedo Sonetti, who has been out of a job since leaving Ascoli (who, you may recall, went down last season) over the summer and is the reigning king of short-term coaches: So far, he’s managed 24 teams — including Cagliari, who he took over at about this time during the 2005-2006 season and managed to save — most of them for less than a full season. Even if he can’t keep the club up, at least he won’t take it too hard.