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Davide Nicola has been sacked by Salernitana for the second time in a month, after being re-hired just two days after his first sacking.
It was January 15th when Atalanta went running wild over Salernitana and defeated them 8-2, with former Everton man Ademola Lookman.
That was enough for the Salerno based team to decide that Nicola should no longer be their manager, with the team having gone six games without a win.
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The club then attempted to bring Rafa Benitez to the club, with the Spaniard having been out of for almost exactly a year, having been sacked by Everton in January 2022.
Roberto D’Aversa and Leonardo Semplici also didn't take the deal on the table, so back Salernitana went, possibly with cap in hand, to ask Nicola back.
Just two days later he was back in the job, saying, “I apologised, taking responsibility for a performance that was not adequate and the resulting heavy defeat. I believe in this team and its men and this great club.
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"I strongly demanded the President reconsider his decision knowing to deal with a human soul that has a deep sensitivity to understanding and strongly wants to build a different football. I love Salerno and strongly believe in this project."
Since then though, things haven't got much better and they've lost two of the next three games, with the weekend's 1-0 defeat to Hellas Verona the final straw.
On Wednesday, club sporting director Morgan De Sanctis confirmed that former Fiorentina manager Paulo Sousa would now take the club forward.
"Paulo Sousa has arrived. The signing is near, there are some details that the lawyers are evaluating. Everything has to be written well. He will sign until June with an option for another two years.
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"Everyone from the club’s staff remains.
Nicola’s official dismissal will arrive shortly. Paulo Sousa has an international profile, great experience and football knowledge. There is conviction that he can give us a hand right away.
"The project could be extended, but we must all be happy in the coming months.
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It is no mystery that we have listened to other candidates, Sousa must be credited with having strongly wanted Salernitana, as well as others. He saw the match in Verona, but he had also followed other competitions.
"Now we’re starting from the fact that in the last part we weren’t performing well in terms of play and results. This is something that made us reflect, we need to improve on the negative trend of the last period.
"The lead over the third-last has narrowed and we need to turn it around.”
Ryan Sidle