Giuseppe Iachini (Italian pronunciation:[dʒuˈzɛppejaˈkiːni]; born 7 May 1964) is an Italian professional football manager and former player in the role of midfielder.
Iachini was born in Ascoli Piceno. He started his playing career at Ascoli and made his Serie A and professional debut at the age of 17 during the 1981–82 season. He played for Ascoli until 1987, when he signed for Verona.
In 1989, Iachini left Verona, moved to Fiorentina, and played five seasons with the viola, four in Serie A. From 1994 to 1996, he played for PalermoofSerie B. After a single Serie B season with Ravenna, in 1997, Iachini transferred to Venezia, where he played for three years, two of them in Serie A. He retired in 2001, after a Serie C1 season with Alessandria.
As a player, he represented the Italy Olympic side at the 1988 Summer Olympics at international level, where they finished in fourth place.
Iachini started his coaching career in October 2001, when he was called to coach VeneziaofSerie A, despite not having a coaching license yet. Assisted by "official" head coach Alfredo Magni, Iachini left his position as assistant coach at Piacenza to join Venezia, despite the Italian football regulation laws and was successively disqualified for six months because of that. Ultimately, Venezia were relegated to Serie B.
He coached Piacenza, another Serie B club, from 2004–05 to 2006–07 with good results, including a notable fourth place, only behind Juventus, Napoli and Genoa, in his latest season with the biancorossi.
He was announced in June 2007 as the new Chievo Verona boss for their 2007–08 Serie B campaign and successfully led the Gialloblu to become league champions and promptly mark their return in the top flight.
On 4 November 2008, following an unimpressive start in the 2008–09 Serie A campaign, and two days after a 3–0 loss to Palermo, Iachini was dismissed from his coaching post by the club management.[2]
On 4 October 2009, he was appointed new head coach of Serie B outfit Brescia, replacing Alberto Cavasin.[3] Under his tenure, Brescia ended the regular season in third place, missing automatic promotion in the final game of the season. The team, however, went back to win the promotion playoffs and claim a place in the 2010–11 Serie A after defeating Torino in the finals.
After a wave of bad results, resulting in the team's dropdown to the relegation zone near the winter, on 6 December 2010, he was sacked;[4] However, he was called back at the helm of Brescia boss less than two months later, following the dismissal of his successor Mario Beretta on 30 January 2011.[5]
On 14 November 2011, Iachini was named as the new head coach of Sampdoria, after a disastrous start to the season in Serie B, in place of the sacked Gianluca Atzori.[6] He charged the team, strongly depressed under the psychological profile and in winter market with radically revised to players motivated and adapted to the category. On 9 June 2012, the team, ranked only 6th in the league with an incredible recovery, was promoted after playoffs to Serie A, defeating Varese in the finals.
On 17 December 2012, Iachini was appointed the new coach of SienainSerie A in place of the sacked Serse Cosmi.[7] He left the club by the end of the season.
On 25 September 2013, he was announced as the new head coach of Palermo, a former team of his as a player, signing a two-year contract and taking over from dismissed Gennaro Gattuso. During his tenure, he succeeded in turning the Sicilians' fortunes, eventually winning his fourth top-flight promotion, guiding Palermo to be crowned Serie B champions on May 3, five matches before the end of the season. He was successively confirmed as Palermo's head coach for the upcoming 2014–15 Serie A season. He was sacked on 10 November 2015.[8]
Following a confusing period where Palermo owner Maurizio Zamparini appointed four different managers in a month after the sacking of Davide Ballardini, Iachini returned as manager of the club on 15 February 2016,[9] but was sacked once again on 10 March.[10]
On 27 November 2017, Iachini was named manager of Sassuolo following the sacking of Christian Bucchi.[13] He left the club on 5 June 2018 by mutual consent.[14]
On 6 November 2018, he was appointed manager of Empoli, replacing Aurelio Andreazzoli, who was sacked the day before.[15] He was sacked on 13 March 2019.[16]
On 23 December 2019, Iachini was unveiled as the new manager of Fiorentina, his former club as a player. He succeeded Vincenzo Montella.[17] On 9 November 2020, Iachini was sacked.[18]
On 24 March 2021, Iachini was rehired as Fiorentina manager after Cesare Prandelli resigned.[19]
On 23 November 2021, Iachini returned into management as the new head coach of Serie B club Parma, replacing Enzo Maresca.[20]
On 17 May 2022, after failing to ensure qualification to the promotion playoffs, despite being touted as title favourites before the start of the season, Parma announced their decision not to continue with Iachini as their manager.[21]
On 6 February 2024, Iachini was hired by Serie B club Bari, signing a contract until 30 June 2025.[22] He was however dismissed only two months later, on 15 April 2024, leaving Bari in the relegation zone.[23]
^"Comunicato Ufficiale N. 148" [Official Press Release No. 148] (PDF). Lega Serie A. 17 January 2020. p. 3. Archived from the original(PDF) on 6 December 2020. Retrieved 6 December 2020.
