 A formation of Brescia in the 1971-72 championship Cagni is the first in the lower right corner. | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | (1950-06-14)14 June 1950 (age 75) | ||
| Place of birth | Brescia, Italy | ||
| Position | Defender | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1969–1978 | Brescia | 262 | (3) |
| 1978–1987 | Sambenedettese | 262 | (2) |
| 1987–1988 | Ospitaletto | 8 | (0) |
| Total | 532 | (5) | |
| Managerial career | |||
| 1988–1989 | Brescia (youth team) | ||
| 1989–1990 | Centese | ||
| 1990–1996 | Piacenza | ||
| 1996–1998 | Verona | ||
| 1998–1999 | Genoa | ||
| 1999–2000 | Salernitana | ||
| 2000–2001 | Sampdoria | ||
| 2003–2004 | Piacenza | ||
| 2004–2005 | Catanzaro | ||
| 2006–2007 | Empoli | ||
| 2008 | Empoli | ||
| 2008 | Parma | ||
| 2011–2012 | Vicenza | ||
| 2012 | Vicenza | ||
| 2013 | Spezia | ||
| 2017 | Brescia | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Luigi "Gigi" Cagni (born 14 June 1950 inBrescia) is an Italian formerfootball player, who played as adefender. He most recently served head coach ofBrescia in theSerie B league in the final weeks of the2016–17 Serie B season.
Cagni made his Serie A debut forBrescia in 1970, in a league match lost 4–0 toCagliari. He played only eight Serie A matches, but gained a deep experience ofSerie B, where he played 483 matches and scored 5 goals. Having played 483 matches in Serie B, he is currently the player with the most appearances in Serie B.
After a season as youth team coach in his home teamBrescia, Cagni coachedCentese ofSerie C2 in 1989–90, and successively signed forPiacenza ofSerie C1 in 1990–91, becoming one of the main authors of Piacenza's first appearance in Serie A, in 1993. Cagni stayed at Piacenza until 1996, when he moved toHellas Verona F.C., again inSerie A. However, Cagni was not able to maintain his team to the top division, and Verona was relegated. Since then, Cagni mostly served for Serie B teams, with the exception of Piacenza, who rehired him in 2002–03, in place of sackedAndrea Agostinelli, in an unsuccessful attempt to avoid relegation.
In January 2006, after the dismissal ofMario Somma,Empoli appointed Cagni as head coach. Under his tenure, the experienced boss was able to lead the team up to tenth place, then become seventh following theCalciopoli scandal. His contract with Empoli was extended in March 2007 for another year, following impressive performances which led the team to fight for and eventually gain a spot in thenext UEFA Cup, the first appearance in a continental competition for both the small Tuscan club and Cagni himself. However a poor start in theSerie A 2007–08, and a UEFA Cup elimination in the first round toFC Zurich convinced Empoli's management to sack Cagni, appointingAlberto Malesani as replacement.[1] On 31 March 2008 he was re-called at the helm of Empoli, following the club board's decision to fire Malesani too,[2] but he did not manage to save the club from last matchday relegation. He resigned after the verdict.
On 29 May 2008, it was announced that Cagni signed a two-year contract withParma and was to coach the club in their first season inSerie B in 18 years.[3] However, on 30 September 2008 he was fired by his team,Parma, and replaced byFrancesco Guidolin.
On 6 October 2011 he became the new coach ofVicenza[4] inSerie B, in place of the sackedSilvio Baldini.[5] On 4 March 2012 he was sacked, but on 29 April 2012 he was recalled byVicenza, but he could not save the team from relegation.[6]
He then served asWalter Zenga's assistant at Sampdoria for a short period at the beginning of the 2015–16 season, being sacked from his position in September 2015.
On 12 March 2017, he was named new head coach of his hometown clubBrescia in theSerie B league, taking over from outgoing managerCristian Brocchi.[7] Under his tenure, he managed to save Brescia from relegation, and left by the end of the season to make room for new head coachRoberto Boscaglia.