As we all know, Serie A presidents love to hire and fire coaches and Livorno coach Davide Nicola was nearly another victim of the coaching roundabout after his side lost 3-0 to Chievo last weekend.
Amaranto president Aldo Spinelli was reportedly furious after he saw his side thumped 3-0 and according to various reports in the Italian media, was considering sacking Nicola and hiring either Edy Reja or Domenico Di Carlo.
Although Spinelli later played down the rumors saying, “I never thought about changing coach.”
Despite being given a vote of confidence by the president and also a noted improvement against AC Milan – they drew 2-2 – it’s rumoured that the ex-Genoa player is still on thin ice. All this leaves one question: Is Nicola the right man for the job?
The players must also take part of the blame for their poor run of form in recent months as they have dropped many silly points, points that are priceless when it comes to the relegation battle.
The game against Juventus was a prime example of this. The Tuscan side had numerous good chances on the counter-attack which they threw away and it of course came back to bite them with the Bianconeri scoring twice shortly after the missed chances.
The lack of cutting edge in the final third is a major problem for the Amaranto and unlike in Serie B they are getting punished for small mistakes and missed chances.
The main bulk of this current squad played in Serie B last season or are very young and inexperienced and it is clear some are finding the transition and step up in quality hard to deal with.
It must also be remembered that top scorer Paulinho was missing against Juventus and if he was playing it could have been a different game.
There is no doubt that Nicola has a lot of potential and that he has created a good team spirit, but the inconsistency in the results could ultimately cost him his job.
The truth is that he doesn’t have a huge amount of quality in the squad and he can only work with what he has got at his disposal.
The best plan is to see where the team is at Christmas and try to reinforce in the January transfer window. The number one priority will without a doubt be a proven goalscorer who can play along side Paulinho. Nicola still has Innocent Emeghara at his disposal but he has been out of form in recent weeks.
It would be extremely harsh if Nicola was to get fired and it could be a decision they could come to regret. After all, it was Spinelli who once compared him to ex-Livorno and now Inter boss, Walter Mazzarri.
Of course he is still a novice compared to Mazzarri but it is easy to see the comparisons with the two both playing the 3-5-2/3-5-1-1 formation and also because Nicola’s team is always very well drilled and organised, just like Mazzarri’s teams.
Although, saying all this, it is unfortunately the coach that takes the majority of the blame and is usually first the first out the door. Nicola’s days may very well be numbered at Livorno.
