Sampdoria Club Focus: Life after Sinisa MIhajlovic

Date: 8th May 2014 at 2:22pm
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Losing on the weekend was not such a bad thing for Sampdoria.

The Blucerchiati lost 2-0 to Parma but Serie A survival was achieved weeks ago and therefore Sinisa Mihajlovic’s team had little to play for.

Sampdoria played a slow-tempo possession game and it played into the hands of Roberto Donadoni’s team. Goals from for Doria star Antonio Cassano and Italo-Argentine winger Ezequiel Schelotto were enough for the Crociati to seal the win.

Parma are in contention for a UEFA Europa League unlike their rivals Bologna. The Felsinei are in the relegation zone but it is possible that Sampdoria might hire their former coach for next season.

According to CalcioNews24, former Bologna coach Stefano Pioli is a contender to replace Mihajlovic at Sampdoria in case the Serbian tactician decides to leave at the end of this season.

Hiring Pioli can be either a good thing or bad thing. If his track record is anything to go by, hiring him could be either a step forward or step back for the Blucerchiati. In saying that, those steps won’t be very big.

After a disappointing Serie A stint with Parma in 2006-07, Pioli had a few coaching jobs in Serie B and in 2010-11, he guided Chievo to Serie A survival.

Pioli had a very short spell at Palermo in the summer of 2011, when the Rosanero were eliminated by Swiss club FC Thun in the third qualifying round of the Europa League.

He was sacked by Palermo president Maurizio Zamparini after the Rosanero’s shock elimination but he still found a coaching job at Bologna.

Pioli coached the Felsinei to ninth place in 2011-12 and 13th spot in 2012-13. In the first season, he had Jean-Francois Gillet in goal, he used Gaston Ramirez and Alessandro Diamanti as attacking midfielders and Marco Di Vaio was the main striker.

In the following season, Pioli didn’t have a reliable goalkeeper but Diamanti formed an excellent partnership with Alberto Gilardino and a certain Manolo Gabbiadini played in that team too.

News has been circulating that Gabbiadini will return to Juventus at the end of the season but if the young forward stayed at Sampdoria and Pioli became the coach, he could be used as a left-winger again or play as an out-and-out striker instead of playing as a right-winger.

If Sampdoria president Edoardo Garrone allows Mihajlovic to leave and hires Pioli to replace him, it shows a lack of ambition on Garrone’s part.

Instead of allowing Mihajlovic to put together a project and buy the players he wants, Garrone would probably expect Pioli to work with the players he has at his disposal and expect the club to achieve survival.

Hiring a coach who has achieved salvation at two clubs but flopped horribly in Europe is probably not the type of coach Sampdoria fans want to see coach their team. After two seasons back in Serie A, surely the Doriani faithful deserve to see a team that can achieve more than just Serie A safety.

Garrone should make more of an effort to keep Mihajlovic at the club. Would a coach like Pioli be capable of taking this Samp squad into qualification for Europe?

Follow Vito Doria on Twitter: @VitoCDoria

 

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