 Delneri asAtalanta manager in 2007 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Luigi Delneri[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1950-08-23)23 August 1950 (age 75) | ||
| Place of birth | Aquileia, Italy | ||
| Position | Midfielder | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1967–1968 | Aquileia | ||
| 1968–1972 | SPAL | 66 | (0) |
| 1972–1974 | Foggia | 51 | (5) |
| 1974–1975 | Novara | 33 | (1) |
| 1975–1978 | Foggia | 92 | (6) |
| 1978–1980 | Udinese | 59 | (7) |
| 1980–1981 | Sampdoria | 33 | (1) |
| 1981–1982 | Vicenza | 31 | (4) |
| 1982–1983 | Siena | 24 | (1) |
| 1983–1984 | Pro Gorizia | 32 | (8) |
| 1984–1985 | Opitergina | ||
| Managerial career | |||
| 1985–1986 | Opitergina | ||
| 1986–1989 | Pro Gorizia | ||
| 1989–1990 | Partinicaudace | ||
| 1990–1991 | Teramo | ||
| 1991–1992 | Ravenna | ||
| 1992–1994 | Novara | ||
| 1994–1996 | Nocerina | ||
| 1996–1998 | Ternana | ||
| 1998 | Empoli | ||
| 1998–1999 | Ternana | ||
| 2000–2004 | Chievo | ||
| 2004 | Porto | ||
| 2004–2005 | Roma | ||
| 2005–2006 | Palermo | ||
| 2006–2007 | Chievo | ||
| 2007–2009 | Atalanta | ||
| 2009–2010 | Sampdoria | ||
| 2010–2011 | Juventus | ||
| 2012–2013 | Genoa | ||
| 2015–2016 | Hellas Verona | ||
| 2016–2017 | Udinese | ||
| 2020 | Brescia | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Luigi Delneri (born 23 August 1950), often incorrectly written asDel Neri,[2] is an Italianfootball manager and a former player.
After a playing career as amidfielder including for severalSerie A clubs, he began managing in the lower leagues, and tookTernana to consecutive promotions intoSerie B. He then spent four years atChievo, helping theVerona neighbourhood club into Serie A for the first time and 5th place andUEFA Cup qualification in their first season at the top.
Delneri left Chievo in 2004 forUEFA Champions League holdersPorto, but was dismissed within weeks and before a competitive game. He subsequently managed several Serie A clubs in the following years, including one season withJuventus after takingSampdoria to fourth place in 2010.
Born atAquileia,Udine, Delneri made his professional debut as player at the age of 16 forSPAL,Ferrara's football team, for which he had worked as storer. After playing forFoggia andNovara, he moved toUdinese, with whom he gained promotion toSerie A, Italy's top division. He was later traded toSampdoria and then toVicenza,Siena,Pro Gorizia and Opitergina, an amateur team fromOderzo, where he ended his playing career at 34.
After his retirement as a player, Delneri stayed at Oderzo, appointed by chairman Ettore Setten (now owner ofTreviso) as head coach. In 1986, he signed forSerie D teamPro Gorizia. He then coached Partinicaudace, a minor Sicilian Serie D team, in 1989,Teramo,Ravenna, Novara andNocerina ofSerie C2; with this last team he won the league and promotion toSerie C1. He then moved toTernana of Serie C2, guiding it toSerie B after two consecutive promotions.
In 1998, after his second consecutive promotion, Delneri was signed bySerie A'sEmpoli, but was fired before starting the championship and was subsequently recalled by his former team Ternana in Serie B.
In 2000, Delneri signed withChievo of Serie B, a team representing a small quarter of the city ofVerona. It was the beginning of the so-called "Chievo miracle" in which the team was promoted for the first time to Serie A, where they topped the league for the first half of the season and then qualified for theUEFA Cup by coming 5th.[3]
In June 2004, Delneri signed a three-year contract to succeedJosé Mourinho atUEFA Champions League holdersPorto.[4] He was sacked on 7 August, without even managing a competitive game, allegedly for missing training sessions.[5]
Delneri becameRoma's third manager of the season in October 2004, afterCesare Prandelli andRudi Völler. His team failed to advance from their Champions League group, and he dropped young forwardAntonio Cassano after a dispute.[6] He resigned from his two-year contract in March 2005, with the team in 7th, and handed the job over toBruno Conti.[7]
In June 2005, Delneri signed forPalermo, succeedingFrancesco Guidolin who had quit for new challenges after qualifying them for the2005–06 UEFA Cup.[8] He was fired on 28 January 2006 with the team in 10th after a 3–1 home loss toSiena, having taken them into the knockout stages of the UEFA Cup.[9]
On 16 October 2006, Delneri returned to coach Chievo, replacingGiuseppe Pillon at the 15th-place club.[10] Despite a strong start, he did not manage to save his side from relegation, losing a spot in the following season's Serie A with a 2–0 loss toCatania on the final matchday.[11]
Following the relegation, Delneri was announced as newAtalanta boss in June 2007.[12] He led the team fromBergamo to 9th and 11th place in his two seasons; he announced in April 2009 that he would leave at the end of the season.[13]
Delneri left to take over atSampdoria on 1 June 2009, a team that had just finished 13th. He guided Sampdoria to a surprising fourth-place finish, and a spot to the third qualifying round of the2010–11 UEFA Champions League, leaving the next day.[14]
On 19 May 2010, two days after leaving Sampdoria, Delneri was appointed as coach of Juventus.[15] At the end of the2010–11 season, having finished 7th and not qualified for Europe, Delneri was sacked by the Juventus board of directors.[16]
On 22 October 2012, Delneri was named new head coach of tenth-placeGenoa in Serie A, succeeding sacked coachLuigi De Canio atSampdoria's rivals.[17] On 20 January 2013, however, Delneri was himself sacked following a 0–2 home loss to Catania and a string of bad results for the team, which recorded only two wins in his 13 matches with the club.[18]
Delneri was hired at another of his former club's rivals, this time Chievo's adversariesHellas Verona, replacingAndrea Mandorlini on 1 December 2015; the team had not won once all season.[19] He left by mutual consent after theseason ended in relegation for the club on 23 May 2016.[20]
On 3 October 2016, Delneri signed a one-year deal with the option of a second atUdinese, succeedingGiuseppe Iachini who had won two of seven games.[21] He finished the campaign in 13th, earning a second year, but took 12 points from the first 12 games and lost his job on 21 November 2017 when three points above the relegation places.[22]
On 4 September 2020, Delneri was officially appointed manager ofBrescia, following their relegation to Serie B.[23] On 6 October 2020, after one draw and one loss, positioned in last place, Delneri was sacked.[24]
As a manager, Delneri is known for using a spectacular, offensive-minded style of football, which is heavily influenced byArrigo Sacchi's tactics at Milan, as well as Dutchtotal football. His teams are known for their work-rate, strength, heavy running, and aggressive use of pressing when defending off the ball, while they are known for their movement off the ball, ability to change positions, and make overlapping runs when attacking.[25] A tactically intelligent manager, his preferredformation is the4–4–2, which relies on a high defensive line, although he has also been known to adopt other systems which better suit the characteristics of his players, including the4–3–3.[26][27]
| Team | Nat | From | To | Record | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % | ||||
| Teramo |  | 10 June 1990 | 12 June 1991 | 40 | 16 | 16 | 8 | 38 | 22 | +16 | 040.00 |
| Ravenna | | 12 June 1991 | 30 June 1992 | 46 | 21 | 19 | 6 | 57 | 36 | +21 | 045.65 |
| Novara | | 30 June 1992 | 20 June 1994 | 74 | 27 | 31 | 16 | 80 | 57 | +23 | 036.49 |
| Nocerina | | 24 October 1994 | 18 June 1996 | 68 | 31 | 26 | 11 | 70 | 34 | +36 | 045.59 |
| Ternana | | 18 June 1996 | 30 June 1998 | 83 | 43 | 29 | 11 | 98 | 56 | +42 | 051.81 |
| Empoli | | 1 July 1998 | 17 August 1998 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | +0 | !— |
| Ternana | | 6 November 1998 | 26 January 1999 | 9 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 12 | −6 | 000.00 |
| Chievo | | 14 June 2000 | 4 June 2004 | 154 | 65 | 48 | 41 | 213 | 182 | +31 | 042.21 |
| Porto |  | 4 June 2004 | 7 August 2004 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | +0 | !— |
| Roma | | 29 September 2004 | 14 March 2005 | 31 | 11 | 8 | 12 | 48 | 46 | +2 | 035.48 |
| Palermo | | 31 May 2005 | 29 January 2006 | 31 | 11 | 11 | 9 | 47 | 43 | +4 | 035.48 |
| Chievo | | 16 October 2006 | 11 June 2007 | 36 | 9 | 13 | 14 | 37 | 44 | −7 | 025.00 |
| Atalanta | | 11 June 2007 | 1 June 2009 | 79 | 26 | 20 | 33 | 100 | 109 | −9 | 032.91 |
| Sampdoria | | 1 June 2009 | 17 May 2010 | 40 | 20 | 10 | 10 | 56 | 45 | +11 | 050.00 |
| Juventus | | 19 May 2010 | 23 May 2011 | 50 | 20 | 19 | 11 | 72 | 57 | +15 | 040.00 |
| Genoa | | 22 October 2012 | 20 January 2013 | 13 | 2 | 2 | 9 | 11 | 22 | −11 | 015.38 |
| Hellas Verona | | 1 December 2015 | 23 May 2016 | 26 | 6 | 7 | 13 | 25 | 42 | −17 | 023.08 |
| Udinese | | 4 October 2016 | 21 November 2017 | 44 | 15 | 8 | 21 | 62 | 69 | −7 | 034.09 |
| Brescia | | 4 September 2020 | 6 October 2020 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | +0 | 033.33 |
| Total | 827 | 324 | 273 | 230 | 1,024 | 880 | +144 | 039.18 | |||
