Serie A: Managers on the Hot Seat, Winter Break Edition
Serie A is a dangerous place to be a manager.
Italian chairmen are notorious for having a quick hook where their head coaches are concerned. Not counting interim coaches giving way to full-timers, last season there were 14 managerial changes.
Indeed, tenures like those of Arsene Wenger and Sir Alex Ferguson are almost completely foreign to the peninsula.
Early in the season, Bleacher Report released a list of the five Serie A managers most in danger of losing their jobs at some point in the year. Of the men on that list, one—former Chievo Manager Eugenio Corini—has seen the ax fall.
With the winter break now upon us, we're going to take another look at which managerial seat is hottest and whether or not anyone managed to work their way off of the list and secure their job.
Who is most in danger to get the sack once the season resumes? Read on to find out.
Rafael Benitez
1 of 5
Rafael Benitez has likely insulated himself from dismissal for on-field occurrences with his win in the Supercoppa on Monday. Whether or not he stays at Napoli will depend more on off-field matters.
Benitez was reportedly bitterly disappointed that club president Aurelio De Laurentiis refused to make a major play in the summer transfer window unless the team progressed. The general feeling is that he thought the decision cost the team a place in the Champions League after their embarrassing crash-out to Athletic Bilbao in the playoff round.
Reports of a rift have been coming since as early as September, and Benitez has been linked to numerous other jobs that may soon be vacant due to a sacking. A week ago, La Gazzetta dello Sport reported (h/t Football Italia) that "the probabilities that Benitez will stay [at Napoli] are close to zero."
The likely decider here will be the January transfer window. ESPNFC reports that Manolo Gabbiadini is closer than ever to arriving from Sampdoria and will be a boon in helping to replace the injured Lorenzo Insigne, but Benitez may need another, larger addition in order to stay confident in the team.
If he does leave, it will be either of his own accord or because of a knock-down, drag-out fight with De Laurentiis on transfer strategy. We'll have to wait a month to see what will happen.
Likelihood to go: 35 percent
Stefano Colantuono
2 of 5
A newcomer on this list, Colantuono is actually one of the longest-tenured managers currently in the league. He's been with Atalanta since the beginning of the 2010-11 season. La Dea had been relegated the season before, but Colantuono guided them right back to the top flight by winning Serie B.
The next year, his team was docked six points for their involvement in the Calcioscommesse scandal, but he still guided the side to a comfortable 12th-place finish—and would have been as high as ninth, if the penalty had not been assessed.
This year, though, has not gone as planned in Bergamo. The team has won only once since October 19. Long-time talisman German Denis is misfiring in front of goal, and without creative force Giacomo Bonaventura—sold to AC Milan on deadline day this summer—the team is starving for goals. They sit on the bottom of the scoring chart, having potted only 11 through 16 games.
Colantuono has bought himself some capital given his longevity and relative success. But if the team keeps hovering around the relegation zone—they currently sit in the last position of safety, only three points above Cagliari—he could be the one to pay the price.
If Denis keeps misfiring, young Juventus loanee Richmond Boakye might need an extended run in the first XI. If that fails, Colantuono may be job hunting.
The beginning of 2015 will be key for him. Of the team's five games in January, three are winnable contests against Chievo, Verona and Cagliari. If he can manage points out of those games and steer clear, he's safe. If not, things get much hotter.
Likelihood to go: 50 percent
Giuseppe Iachini
3 of 5
If you aren't well-versed in calcio, you might be wondering why Giuseppe Iachini is on this list. He got Palermo promoted last season. After a shaky start—which included a ghastly 3-0 home loss to Serie B side Modena in the Coppa Italia—he has the Rosaneri in 10th place, solidly above the relegation zone.
All this is true—but it could mean nothing when you consider the man he works for.
That man is Maurizio Zamparini. Maurizio Zamparini is a crazy person. Seriously, borderline certifiably insane.
Hyperbole aside, he is certainly one of the most unstable owners in Serie A. Since he took over the club 11 years ago, he has changed managers 28 times. Some coaches have lasted as few as four games before giving way to their inevitable replacement.
It also doesn't help that for all his results, Iachini's team is walking a razor's edge. They've given up the fifth-most goals in the league, and according to WhoScored.com, one man—Paulo Dybala—has accounted for 32 percent of the team's goals this season.
If the highly sought-after Dybala is sold in January—or if he hits a dry spell—the draws Palermo have been getting could start turning into losses. If that happens, the beast in Zamparini could rise.
Come to think of it, that could happen whether Palermo starts losing or not. Zampa's fuse is that short, and working for him makes keeping your job a 50/50 proposition. That's the reason Iachini was on the original list, and it's why he's still there now.
Likelihood to go: 50 percent
Pierpaolo Bisoli
4 of 5
Staying up would always be an uphill battle for Cesena. In Italy, relegation strugglers almost always make at least one coaching change. Given their form, it may be coming soon for the Seahorses.
Cesena pulled what was then a minor shock on the opening week of the season by beating Parma 1-0.
As the season has gone on, it's been established that victories against Parma aren't going to be uncommon for anyone this season. The problem for Pierpaolo Bisoli—a newcomer to this list who has replaced Empoli manager Maurizio Sarri—is that he hasn't won a single game since then.
Since that August win, they have managed six draws and lost nine times. The victory kept them out of the relegation zone at first, but they've now been mired in the bottom three for nearly two months.
Cesena are one of the least talented teams in the league, and few believed they would manage to stay up. It's not Bisoli's fault, but the coaches are always the ones that fall here.
Italian clubs are notorious for firing a man only to rehire him a few weeks or months later—it happened twice last year, to Eusebio Di Francesco and Davide Nicola—so Bisoli may well end up finishing the season with the Seahorses. It's very unlikely, however, that there won't be an interruption somewhere.
Likelihood to go: 80 percent
Roberto Donadoni
5 of 5
It's a mild surprise that Roberto Donadoni hasn't already been sacked.
The second half of 2014 has been one massive blow after another for the former AC Milan legend and Italy boss.
Last May, the Crusaders thought that their sixth-place finish—their best since the fall of Parmalat—was good enough to get to the Europa League. But FIGC denied them a UEFA license after they were late on a tax payment.
Deprived of European competition, the team encountered further financial difficulties. They were eventually docked a point and were finally sold last week to a conglomerate reportedly made up of Russian and Cypriot oil businessmen.
The ownership saga only exacerbated what was already a desperate situation on the field. Parma's aging roster wasn't improved over the summer transfer window, and then the injury bug struck.
One of the biggest losses was Jonathan Biabiany, who is out indefinitely with a heart issue. Without the Frenchman, the team's attack has been severely hampered. Francesco Lodi has attempted to replace him, but he has been a shell of the player that for so long led Catania's midfield. That has left Antonio Cassano to shoulder much of the creative burden, and while he's managed five goals and two assists (according to WhoScored.com), he can't carry the entire load.
An even more important hit was Gabriel Paletta, who has missed most of the year with a back problem. The Italy international is the linchpin of Donadoni's defense, and without him, the unit has suffered. Combined with a startling regression from goalkeeper Antonio Mirante—who only months ago was an alternate on Cesare Prandelli's World Cup team—the defense has been sliced open on more than one occasion.
In September, Milan scored at will in a thrilling 5-4 victory for the Rossoneri. Three weeks later, Udinese took them down 4-2. Sassuolo took the Crusaders down 3-1.
The worst, though, came on November 9—the day that Parma travelled to Turin to face Juventus. The three-time defending champions feasted, using their newly minted 4-3-1-2 formation to annihilate their challengers 7-0.
Donadoni was included in the original list on a hunch, based mainly on the fact that his roster was aging. It's been a surprise to see just how prescient that hunch ended up being. Donadoni's time is running out. Unless something absolutely stunning happens, the Crusaders are doomed to relegation. Unless Parma starts January running, Donadoni will be out by the end of the month.
Likelihood to go: 95 percent.
