Sottil started his career with Torino and made his Serie A debut on 6 December 1992, in a 1–1 draw to Foggia. In 1994, he left Torino to join Fiorentina, then moved to Atalanta later in 1996. In 1999, he moved to Udinese, where he also had the opportunity to play at continental level in the UEFA Cup.
Sottil was signed by Regginainco-ownership deal in summer 2003, along with teammate Gonzalo Martínez. In the summer of 2005, he was signed by Catania, where he was the regular starter in the first two-season, but only played 7 games in 2007–08 Serie A.
In August 2008, he was signed by Rimini.[2] In July 2009 he left for Alessandria.[3][4] He retired at the end of the 2010–11 season, having managed over 200 games in Serie A throughout his career.
Soon after retirement, Sottil passed the category 2 (UEFA A) coaching exam in June 2011.[5] Later in the summer, he was appointed new head coach of Lega Pro Prima Divisione club Siracusa, with the goal of leading the ambitious Sicilians into the battle to promotion in the Serie B league.[6]
In 2015, Sottil returned to newly-promoted Siracusa, leaving the club in the summer of 2017.[10]
He was re-hired by Livorno on 8 April 2018, after getting fired earlier in the same season.[11]
On 5 July 2018, he was appointed the new coach of Catania. He was fired from Catania on 2 July 2019.[12]
On 7 July 2020, he took his first Serie B managerial role, being named Nicola Legrottaglie's successor at the helm of Pescara in a last-ditch attempt to save the club from relegation. He guided Pescara to safety after defeating Perugia on penalties in a two-legged playoff, and was eventually not confirmed for the next season.
On 23 December 2020, he took over as the new head coach of relegation-threatened Serie B side Ascoli,[13] becoming the third manager of the season for the Bianconeri.[14] After guiding Ascoli for two seasons, and reaching the promotion playoffs in his final one in charge of the club, on 6 June 2022, Sottil left the Picchio by mutual consent.[15] The following day, he was announced as the new head coach of Serie A club Udinese.[16]
After guiding Udinese to a mid-table placement in the 2022–23 Serie A campaign, Sottil was dismissed on 24 October 2023 after failing to achieve any wins in the first nine games of the season, leaving Udinese in the relegation zone.[17]
On 20 June 2024, Sottil signed a two-year contract with Serie B club Salernitana.[18] However, he parted ways with Salernitana just a few days later, on 2 July, following the collapse of a planned club takeover and the subsequent decision to shrink the budget for the upcoming season.[19]
