The name Gian Piero Gasperini returns to the football world. The last time the name was heard wasn’t really for the best reasons, but instead was a synonym for criticism and insults.
For those who don’t remember, he was THAT Inter manager who was sacked with only five matches played thanks to his terrible results while in charge. Of those five games, he lost four, including Champions League fixtures, the Supercoppa Italiana vs rivals AC Milan and of course, Serie A encounters.
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Inter president Massimo Moratti couldn’t have been more embarrassed with such poor results and fired him after a scandalous 3-1 loss against a newly promoted team at the time, Novara. Gasperini left through the back door and his name wasn’t heard until these last few days, when he was appointed as Palermo manager, a team which he played for in his footballing days and commands huge respect at. He comes in to replace Giuseppe Sannino, who managed only one point in his three Serie A matches played.
Gasperini’s career as a manager is not all nightmares. In fact, his move to Inter is the sore stain of a career filled with great milestones. He managed Crotone in 2003, where he managed to promote the team to the Serie B and maintained their position in his presence, and then, Genoa, oh sweet Genoa…
His move to the Rossoblu is what makes the name Gian Piero Gasperini ring a few bells for football pundits all around the world. He took charge, promoted them into Serie A in 2006, and Genoa all of a sudden, in 2008 became a team to fight for the Scudetto.
Gasperini was nothing without his Genoa, and Genoa was nothing without its Gasperini. When these two parted ways, they went downhill, both of them. Genoa went from a team who fought for the Scudetto to a team who miraculously were saved from relegation to the Serie B, while Gasperini… we all know the story.
Gasperini became notorious in Genoa for his signings and his style of football. He brought players at the time, who funnily enough, play now at Inter, like Diego Milito and Rodrigo Palacio. Thiago Motta passed through Gasperini’s team too, who played attractive football which led to even bigger things, including Europa League participation and historic records.
In 2008-2009, Genoa reached 5th place in Serie A, the highest position ever reached in Genoa’s history, and even Rossublu’s president, Enrico Preziosi, nicknamed Gasperini as “Gasperson”, claiming he was Genoa’s own Alex Ferguson.
Today, he is somewhere around Palermo trying to get his name back. It’s amazing how one false move destroyed almost everything he had done so far. His debut on Sunday vs Atalanta wasn’t the most encouraging thing to see for a Rossanero fan.
I think the players are there and his talent as a manager should be around too, but two things will be crucial for him if he wants to return – time and patience.
Hopefully at Palermo, he can bring some players to reinforce his style of football, and get the name Gian Piero Gasperini back into the game, as it was during his old glory days in Genoa.
