Who will be left standing without a chair when the music stops? The metaphor of the game of musical chairs lends itself well to the situation experienced by various societies A league, still looking for a new coach. Above all the Cagliari who, waiting to know the final decision of Paolo Vanoli (with Torino pressing hard) and lost Marco Baroni (enchanted by the European sirens of Lazio), also keeps the profile of warm Mister X, or the name of the possible next coach of Cagliari still unknown because it was well hidden by the sporting director Nereo Bonato. So who will sit on the rossoblù bench next? Claudio Ranieri? After two weeks – to today, Thursday 6 June – since the Roman coach’s farewell, the name of his successor still remains shrouded in mystery, also thanks to a domino effect that is paralyzing half of Serie A and making the task of all sporting directors difficult of the teams involved. With the “new” names added in the last few hours by the radio market to the dance of suitors for a rossoblù chair which also leads to the names of Aurelio Andreazzoli And Vincenzo Vivarini.
Vanoli
Calmness is the virtue of the strong. Especially if you know you shouldn’t make mistakes, given the increasingly fierce (and rich, see Como and Parma) competition. The Cagliari management knows they have to fill a void as cumbersome as the post-Ranieri era, and has been working on various profiles for some time: some known, others hidden. The favorite name for some time was that of Vanoli, an emerging coach who brought back the Venice in Serie A after two years of relegation, which the Sa Ruina club has liked since ancient times and over which a duel with Torino is still underway. On the one hand the good relationship between Sardinians and lagoon residents, demonstrated by the Altare-Lella affairs in the summer of 2023, on the other the desire – declared above all by the Turin press – of Vanoli to replace Ivan Juric on the Granata bench. On the table there is a one million euro clause to be paid to Venezia (as confirmed by the orange-green patron Niederauer) who continues to keep the bar straight to free Antonio Conte’s former assistant, without wanting to make concessions to Urbano Cairo who, after the initial complaints, seems to have finally decided to pay to bring Vanoli under the Mole. A head-to-head match that continues to see the Piedmontese ahead, albeit slightly, with Cagliari continuing to keep other leads hot in the meantime. But, it was said, the domino effect continues to impact the choices of many clubs: about a month after the start of the 2024-25 season, it is not only around Assemini that the new coach has not yet been chosen.
Barons
Three important benches were officially occupied: Napoli announced Conte, Bologna replaced Thiago Motta with Italiano, whose place at Fiorentina was taken by Palladino, not welcomed in a triumphal way by the Viola fans, who for months have been heavily contesting the patron Rocco Commisso and his work. Juventus is only missing the official announcement regarding the arrival of Motta himself (the open secret), while Milan should do the same in the next few days with former Roma player Paulo Fonseca. There are still several thorny situations at stake, not just at the bottom of the table. However, another bench is about to be occupied; on the Lazio side of Rome, Tudor’s early farewell has opened up new developments on the front Barons, with the former Verona player saying his definitive yes to Lotito to take the Croatian’s place. The coach from Florence is happy to make a career upgrade by sitting on the Biancoceleste bench and experiencing the emotions of European cups (Lotito’s club will participate in the next Europa League) for the first time in his coaching career. Baroni – a name that is anything but popular in Lazio – won the race with the other candidates for the Biancoceleste bench, with the legend Miro Klose and Paulo Sousa (already him, also linked to Cagliari) among the other longed-for names from the Roman press. And so the former Verona player is no longer a valid option for Cagliari, where he would have represented continuity with Ranieri’s project. Also in this case the rossoblù club remained in the game until the end, but the prospect of coaching in Europe made the difference.
Uncertainty everywhere: the example of Nicola in Empoli
Who knows, without the possibility called Lazio (and more or less unexpected until a few days ago), perhaps Baroni would have already been announced as the new coach of Cagliari. A hyperbole of reasoning, it goes without saying. However, a provocation to support a more solid thesis: the uncertainty on the bench experienced by half of the teams in the next Serie A. If in Rome and Cagliari we live and have lived days of waiting (with increasingly heated social media), the same feeling is experienced a Monza, Verona, Udine and Venice. In Brianza Galliani has chosen Alessandro Nesta, returning from a good season in Reggio Emilia, after the glories at Milan. In Verona the post-Baroni choice seems to have been reduced to the duel between Paolo Zanetti and Andrea Sottil, while in Udine Fabio Cannavaro’s position is in the balance and in Venice Vanoli will have to be replaced. Provided that in Empoli and Lecce the reality does not surpass the words of circumstance, with Nicola and Gotti for now armored at a contractual level thanks to the salvation achieved but, especially the former, far from certain of continuing their adventure. In Tuscany, Pietro Accardi, sporting director of Empoli since 2016, is on his way to Genoa on the Sampdoria side. And also the position of the Turin coach, strongly supported by Accardi last winter to make the Azzurri change course, as filtered from Empoli (HERE the in-depth analysis of colleagues from Pianeta Empoli) would not be so defined, with the real possibility of arriving at early greetings. In short, the lack of certainties is certainly not just a problem for Cagliari but an aspect that affects all of Italy’s footballing world. An example to confirm what was said previously: there is nothing clear and certain in these first days of summer heat, in which it seems like we are watching a game of chairs. In which every interested club, including Cagliari, is dancing while waiting for the music to stop, determined to sit down in time and leave their rivals standing.
Continuity
In this difficult to predict context, the profiles of have emerged in the last few hours Aurelio Andreazzoli And Vincenzo Vivarini. The first is a great expert on the bench and by age (70 years) not far from Ranieri’s cumbersome shadow. Beyond the experience, however, Andreazzoli guarantees a good adaptation to the work group, an excellent sense of team spirit and above all the ability demonstrated in Empoli and not only in his career to know how to work, and well, with young people and to enhance them in market key. An aspect that is greatly appreciated by sporting director Nereo Bonato and above all by owner Tommaso Giulini who would like to form the rossoblù’s next season by focusing on young players, both those in the squad and those who will arrive on the market. Vivarini has less experience in weight categories like Serie A, but he has worked hard and with excellent results and above all since 2021 he has created a practically perfect machine in Catanzaro. And it is precisely the ability to work with the human capital available and the skill in giving continuity to a project that the rossoblùs like about him (and not only them, with Udinese and Venice interested). In short, will two more suitors for a single seat also be the last before a final choice in the Asseminello area?
Francesco Aresu
