Genoa are once again proving that they are not just a football club, but under the presidency of Enrico Preziosi they are as much a circus as they are anything else.
Although they are one of Italy’s most storied clubs, the glories of the late 1890s through to the mid-1920s are nothing more than a memory these days for the Rossoblu, who constantly change coaches and overhaul squads.
Preziosi sacked Grifone tactician Davide Ballardini after they lost 3-1 to Parma in Serie A in early October. Despite hiring the former Cagliari and Palermo coach three times throughout his presidency, the Rossoblu patron still had the nerve to call him “a terrible coach”.
Genoa are level in 10th spot in the Serie A table with four wins as well as three defeats and they have a game in hand against AC Milan. They are just three points from a Champions League spot but the 70-year-old is clearly not content.
Preziosi has decided to bring back Ivan Juric, who will also be returning to the club for the third time as coach, and he has done that because he wants to see some beautiful football. This will require patience to implement properly if things don’t start well and the Genoa president rarely gives his coaches time.
Juric’s return would bring smiles to Sampdoria fans and also to Il Doria tactician Marco Giampaolo, who has won three out of three Derby della Lanterna clashes against the Croatian, and they are expected to face each other on November 25 so it is probable that the Doriani will get the three points again.
Polish striker Krzysztof Piatek was scoring freely under Ballardini but now he will have to adapt to different attacking patterns under the new coach and this could either improve his scoring or reduce it. If the Grifone don’t collect many points soon, do not be surprised if Preziosi brings back Ballardini and retracts on those comments about his coaching.
Genoa seriously need to have their modus operandi questioned, especially the methods of their president. This is a man that had the Rossoblu relegated down to Serie C1 for fixing a Serie B match against Venezia in 2004/05 and he is a notorious mangiallentori, or coach eater. Does he keep bringing these coaches back because he cannot afford to have more tacticians on his payroll?
The motives of Ballardini and Juric also have to be questioned as well because they have returned to the Grifone more than once to coach them. If they keep running back to Preziosi despite his trigger-happy attitude, it does not say much about their ability to coach at stronger clubs or their desire to improve as coaches.
Rossoblu fans celebrated Sampdoria’s relegation down to Serie B in 2010/11 but their club has not improved since then. Samp have discovered better players since returning to Serie A in 2012/13 such as Mauro Icardi, Milan Skriniar, Alessio Romagnoli, and Lucas Torreira, qualified for Europe in 2014/15, won most of the Genoa derbies, and they have a true on-field leader in Fabio Quagliarella.
There have been some questions raised over the previous business dealings of Blucerchiati president Massimo Ferrero and he has an eccentric personality but the club has been able to identify talented players, only Walter Zenga was sacked whereas the other previous coaches left on their own terms, and he has had superb directors running the club admirably.
If Genoa supporters could describe their club in a song, ‘That Joke isn’t Funny Anymore’ by The Smiths would be appropriate whereas Sampdoria and most other football fans on the Italian peninsula would paraphrase Led Zeppelin and sing that the joke remains the same.
