Latest news with #Evani
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Sampdoria relegated to Serie C for first time
Sampdoria have been relegated to Serie C for the first time in their 78-year history after a season dogged by managerial upheaval. The Genoa-based club were held to a goalless draw at Juve Stabia in their final Serie B match. That ensured they finished in 18th place, a point behind Salernitana who secured a relegation play-off place with a 2-0 victory over Cittadella. Sampdoria, who won their only Serie A title in 1991 with a star-studded team, had been playing in Italian football's second tier since they were relegated at the end of the 2022–23 season. Italian World Cup winner Andrea Pirlo was hired as coach in June 2023 but was unable to secure an immediate return to the top flight after they lost in the play-offs. Rangers approach Ancelotti but other names in mix Inter win rain-delayed match to close gap on Napoli Listen to the latest Football Daily podcast The month before Sampdoria's play-off exit Pirlo was called "a key part of the project" by the club's owners, but three games into the current campaign he was dismissed following two defeats and a draw. Andrea Sottil replaced him and oversaw a Coppa Italia penalty-shootout victory against Genoa in the first Derby della Lanterna in two years. However, he too was jettisoned in October 2024 after just four wins in 14 games and replaced by Leonardo Semplici. With the club in the drop zone, a 3-0 home defeat by Frosinone at the end of March was the tipping point for the fans as patience with Semplici ran out. The team bus carrying Semplici and his Sampdoria players was pelted by stones and flares by angry supporters after the match at the Luigi Ferraris Stadium. Semplici was relieved of his duties in April with Alberico Evani - the club's fourth coach of the season - tasked with keeping them up. Things began promisingly for Evani with club legend Attilio Lombardo in as assistant and another Sampdoria icon in Roberto Mancini helping in an unofficial capacity. Evani began with a 1-0 win over fellow strugglers Cittadella, but three draws, a defeat and just one win since then have not been enough to keep them up.
Yahoo
20-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Sampdoria fighting relegation disaster as old heroes ride into town
Sampdoria fans are rallying behind their team and against relegation to Serie C (MIGUEL MEDINA) Sampdoria are fighting for Serie B survival as the 1991 Italian champions and former European Cup finalists flirt dangerously with dropping into Italy's third tier for the first time. Sat in the relegation play-off zone ahead of Monday's match at promotion chasers Juve Stabia, Sampdoria have a huge battle on their hands -- and they have called on some heroes from their golden age of the late 1980s and 1990s to save the day. Advertisement Former Italy midfielder Alberico Evani, flanked by assistant Attilio Lombardo, became Samp's fourth coach of the season earlier this month as the club moved desperately to turn around the team's fortunes and stop a groundswell of fan protests. Evani began with a 1-0 win over fellow strugglers Cittadella at Samp's tense Stadio Luigi Ferraris in Genoa, in which around 27,000 fans roared on their ailing team after a pre-match mass march to the ground in a renewed show of support. A fortnight before the team bus had been pelted with stones and flares by furious supporters following a 3-0 home thumping at the hands of mid-table Frosinone, and the following week's 2-0 loss to fellow Riviera outfit Spezia seemed to signal the beginning of the end. But the atmosphere has changed with the appointment of Evani and Lombardo -- and the arrival of Sampdoria icon Roberto Mancini at a training session -- and the sense of hope was palpable both on the march and in the stands last weekend, when Samp won for just the third time since the end of October. Advertisement "The club have been very good actually," says Emanuele Vassallo, the president of supporters association Federazione Clubs Blucerchiati and one of the organisers of the march. "We've given the club hell over the past few weeks and they've responded in the right way, in my opinion. "Bringing in people who were a part of our golden age has really galvanised the fans and given us hope that we can stay up. It shows that they're listening." Crowds for Samp home fixtures this season average over 22,000, the highest in Serie B, despite a rough few years which have been characterised by serious financial problems and poor performances on the pitch. Advertisement - Doom, gloom and debt - Samp were close to going bust after relegation to Serie B in 2023, but were saved that summer by current president Matteo Manfredi and former Leeds United owner Andrea Radrizzani, who has since exited the club. Previous owner Massimo Ferrero left Samp in such a parlous state that the incoming owners had to strike a debt restructuring agreement with the Court of Genoa. That deal does not take in account relegation to Serie C, meaning Samp's continued existence would be uncertain should they go down. Samp posted a loss of 29.8 million euros ($34 million) in their most recently published accounts, for 2023, with debts totalling 136.7 million euros even though players went unpaid during their most recent Serie A campaign. Advertisement However, the club's majority shareholder, Singaporean businessman Joseph Tey, said in a recent interview with Channel News Asia that Samp could be worth the investment if promoted back to Serie A. "If you can make it happen, the reward is going to be great, but the risk can be significant. I would not go in if I don't think it was going to be profitable," said Tey, who holds 58 percent of the club. Tey's involvement with Samp was called into question by Norwegian investigative media platform Josimar due to his role with sports gambling operator FUN88, but the Italian Football Federation raised no concerns over his presence. And there has been investment in the team, with 10 players signed in January including some with Serie A experience like former Senegal forward M'Baye Niang, while there is a plan with local rivals Genoa to buy the city-owned Ferraris stadium. Advertisement "All the big Italian clubs are either part-owned or entirely in the hands of investment funds," says Vassallo. "That's the reality for everyone, so it's not what worries us. What worries us is that this type of ownership isn't bringing results on the pitch." td/gj
Associated Press
08-04-2025
- Sport
- Associated Press
Sampdoria turns to players from its golden era to avoid first ever fall to Serie C
ROME (AP) — A Serie A championship. Three European finals including one continental trophy. A run of four Italian Cup titles in nine years. There was a time — 1980s early 1990s — when Sampdoria was at or near the pinnacle of Italian soccer. How times have changed. On the brink of being relegated to Serie C for the first time in its 79-year history, Sampdoria is in full crisis mode. Faced with violent threats from its fans, Sampdoria decided not to return home on Sunday following a 2-0 loss to lesser-known regional rival Spezia in Serie B. The team headed to an undisclosed location instead — which was later revealed to be the national team's training center of Coverciano in Florence. Then on Monday the team made its fourth coaching change of the season, firing Leonardo Semplici and hiring Alberico Evani. Evani played for Sampdoria at the end of its successful run in the 1990s, helping the team to the 1994 Italian Cup title. Attilio Lombardo, another former Sampdoria standout from the golden era, was named Evani's assistant coach. One of the big names missing in the new management is former Italy coach Roberto Mancini, along with the late Gianluca Vialli one of the stars of the Sampdoria team that won the Cup Winner's Cup in 1990 and Serie A in 1991 and lost the 1992 European Cup final to Barcelona in extra time. There were widespread reports that Mancini, whose most recent job was with Saudi Arabia's national team, had taken on an advisory role with Sampdoria. But he issued a warning about the reports on Instagram: 'Before you write things that are completely made up – and I know you have trouble with that – think. Thank you.' Sampdoria began the season with former Italy standout Andrea Pirlo as its coach. He lasted three games. Then Andrea Sottil took over until he was replaced by Semplici in December. Evani, who was Mancini's assistant with Italy, will make his debut against Cittadella on Saturday with Sampdoria third from the bottom. The bottom three clubs will be relegated, while the fourth- and fifth-to-last teams head to a playoff to determine which side remains in Serie B. Making matters more exasperating for Sampdoria's fans is that archrival Genoa is in Serie A (in 12th place). There were violent clashes between rival supporters when Genoa eliminated Samporia from the Italian Cup in September. ___
Yahoo
07-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Official: Sampdoria hire Evani and Lombardo, but free role for Mancini
Official: Sampdoria hire Evani and Lombardo, but free role for Mancini Official: Sampdoria hire Evani and Lombardo, but free role for Mancini Sampdoria have officially appointed former player Alberico Evani as coach, with Attilio Lombardo as his assistant, but Roberto Mancini will only be an unofficial 'consultant' awaiting other jobs. Sky Sport Italia had reported today that the trio of former Samp heroes would return to Marassi to help save the club, which is at genuine risk of relegation into Serie C, the third tier of Italian football. Advertisement That is partly true, because as expected, this evening the Blucerchiati announced the sacking of coach Leonardo Semplici and his staff, along with technical director Pietro Accardi and his assistant Giuseppe Colucci. A few hours later, another statement confirmed the appointment of Evani as the new coach, with Lombardo as his assistant manager. Angelo Gregucci and Paolo Bertelli complete his coaching staff, with their first training session on Tuesday afternoon. Mancini will not sign Sampdoria contract GENOVA, ITALY: The 'twins of goal' Roberto Mancini (R) and Gianluca Vialli – who are now both coaches, the first of Italy' s Fiorentina team, the second of English First division League team Watford – smile as they pose for photographer late Monday, 07 May 2001 during the feast for the 'goodbye' of Mancini to the played soccer However, there is no mention of Mancini, who Sky Sport Italia had reported would be made the new technical director. Advertisement According to the same source, this is because Mancini wants to leave the door open in case he receives a call for a new role as coach. He therefore is ready to work with Sampdoria as a consultant, but without being tied to a contract. Having Mancini, Evani and Lombardo back at the club had been the dream of Gianluca Vialli, who had tried to lead a conglomerate to purchase Sampdoria before ill health and his death in January 2023.
