As Alberto Malesani turns 66, Football Italia looks back at the nomadic career of the former Parma and Fiorentina boss, from winning the UEFA Cup to his crazy press conferences.
Alberto Malesani was born on June 5, 1964 in the Veronese district of San Michele Extra and made his name managing local team Chievo in 1993.
Helping lay the foundations for the Flying Donkeys’ historic promotion to Serie A, he took Fiorentina to fifth place before joining Parma in 1998.
As Alberto Malesani turns 66, Football Italia looks back at the nomadic career of the former Parma and Fiorentina boss, from winning the UEFA Cup to his crazy press conferences.
Alberto Malesani was born on June 5, 1964 in the Veronese district of San Michele Extra and made his name managing local team Chievo in 1993.
Helping lay the foundations for the Flying Donkeys’ historic promotion to Serie A, he took Fiorentina to fifth place before joining Parma in 1998.
He enjoyed his best success at the Tardini, winning the Coppa Italia, UEFA Cup and Supercoppa by the start of the 1999-00 campaign.
However, fans and ultimately board members were unhappy with Parma’s failure to fight for the Scudetto and Malesani was sacked in January 2001.
From there, his stock plummeted as he failed to keep Verona and Modena in Serie A, the former spawning the first mad moment of his career.
After Verona beat Chievo 3-2 in the first Derby della Scala of 01-02, Malesani didn’t hold back in his celebrations, even throwing his jacket into the crowd, despite his decade-long association with the Bentegodi’s other club.
He moved to Greek side Panathinaikos in February 2005 and qualified them for the Champions League group stage the following season.
Yet the wheels fell off midway through 05-06 and – after a 2-2 draw with Iraklis in December – he vented his fury at journalists during a press conference.
Accusing them of trying to sabotage his team’s performances, Malesani uttered a certain expletive in Italian beginning with the letter ‘C’ no less than 21 times.*
He returned to Italy with Udinese in January 2007 but lasted less than a year in the role, although he soon resurfaced at Empoli, Siena and Bologna.
His spell with Siena saw him told by veteran presenter Enrico Varriale on live TV, after a 1-1 draw with Cagliari that he was on the verge of being sacked, but the coach admirably kept calm.
Instead, he saved his next rant for Genoa, when he hit out at suggestions that he was a ‘chicken’ before a match against Milan in December 2011.
“I’ve read that someone called me a chicken, but what does being a chicken mean? If you’re a chicken, you don’t do this job.
“What do you mean, chicken? A chicken, you say? I’m a respectful person who has never made controversies about what you [journalists] write. But I’m not a chicken. Someone else will be the chicken.”
Malesani earned his 100th win as a Serie A coach two weeks later against Bologna but paid the price for a 4-1 home defeat to Siena, which was suspended for 40 minutes after angry ultras forced Genoa’s players to take off their shirts.
His managerial career ended on a bum note after he failed to win any of his eight games in charge of Palermo and Sassuolo between 2013 and 2014.
Malesani has since devoted himself to producing wines from his vineyard in Verona, but football is certainly a duller place without him.
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