Genoa have sacked Luigi Delneri after the former Juventus boss lost nine matches from 13 during his tumultuous stint with Italy’s oldest football club.
Though one cannot help but think of this move as closing the barn door after the cows have bolted to pasture. Delneri oversaw the club’s fall from mid-table to likely relegation candidates, despite having more talent and potential than several of the clubs around them. Delneri’s time with Genoa will be looked back on with bitterness and resentment by Grifone supporters.
At least the dour faced coach will no longer have his hand in Genoa’s season, but there is still much work to be done, possibly too much to keep the team from the drop. And despite not having his hand in the remainder of the team’s season, the damage could already be done.
In Delneri’s place comes a coach that owner Enrico Preziosi has turned to before. Davide Ballardini returns to the club he managed from November 2010 to June 2011. The Italian tactician led the team to a tenth place finish, but was sacked at the end of the season and replaced by Alberto Malesani. The dismissal of Ballardini could be seen as the beginning of Genoa’s decline, though the wheels of decline were put in motion seasons prior. Ballardini’s return to the club, makes him the fifteenth coach to take the reigns of Genoa since Preziosi took over in 2003.
Ballardini returns to Genoa, where he lead the team to a tenth place finish in 2010-11.
Delneri’s dismissal has been long overdue, but his prolonged stint with Genoa shows the atmosphere of Serie A’s sack culture changing. I had expected this move to happen during the league’s winter break, but with Genoa picking up a draw against Torino and Inter in the last games of 2012, followed by a win against Bologna, it appeared he may steer the club to safety. But with losses to Cagliari and Catania in consecutive weeks, it looks like those results only prolonged the inevitable.
Ballardini, who coached Cagliari from November 2011 to March 2012, will hopefully change the team’s tactics to suit the attacking players he has. Genoa have plenty of firepower in their ranks and Ballardini will need Marco Borriello, Ciro Immobile and new signing Ruben Olivera to fire the club to safety. However, it was Borriello who was guilty of wasting several good chances against Catania last weekend. Ballardini will also need the defence to tighten up as well. Thomas Manfredini was once again at fault for poor defending which led to a goal against Catania.
Olivera returns to Genoa, where he played in 2008-09 on loan, from Fiorentina.
Genoa could have gone down the same road they did last year and re-hired the man the team had fired earlier in the season – which could still happen in the coming weeks. That man was Luigi De Canio, who led Genoa to la salvezza last term and had the team in mid-table as recently as October.
Though many fans may have wanted De Canio to return, Preziosi may have feared the club could go through a similar situation to the one in 2011-12, when Malesani was fired and re-hired within four months. De Canio could have resisted the opportunity to return to the club as well as rumours surfaced of a possible resurrection during Delneri’s darkest hours. But with an owner so easy to react and interfere, De Canio may have baulked at a return.
The good news is Genoa are only four points behind fourteenth place Bologna, but the bad news is the club’s road only gets rocky from here. Genoa face Juventus, Lazio and a very in form Parma side in their next three fixtures. Now that the club has finally changed managers, Genoa desperately need left winger Juan Manuel Vargas back from injury. During the team’s run of three results, Vargas was outstanding and with Olivera now on the right, the team finally have a midfield to propel themselves back up the table.
Genoa may have finally, rightly sacked Delneri. Unfortunately, it may have come 10 matches too late. Fortunately, 17 games and 51 points are still left in the Serie A season and la salvezza is out there, but expect more ups and downs at the Marassi before May 19.
Follow Drew Farmer on Twitter @CalcioFarmer, Drew also hosts the Forzaitalianfootball.com weekly Club Focus podcast and writes his own personal football and travel blog at Excellent Adventure/Bogus Journey.
