Genoa Roll the Dice by Sacking Alberto Gilardino and Reuniting Patrick Vieira With Mario Balotelli

“You’ll never walk alone,” reads a giant banner that regularly adorns Marassi’s Gradinata Nord when Genoa play at home.

Gerry and the Pacemakers’ hit blares through the PA system at the Luigi Ferraris before kick-off just as it does at Anfield and Celtic Park. 

But Alberto Gilardino felt increasingly isolated before the international break, directly blaming the club for a lack of support.

“We have to give credit to the lads, they’re all we’ve got, but I don’t care about that. We’re going to fight until the end, I’ll defend them to the death,” he said after the Rossoblu won 1-0 in Parma on November 4.

“The support is lacking: that’s the reality, and that’s what a coach feels during the week. 

“I don’t want to go into specifics, I’m focused on working on the pitch with the team, isolating them from other situations.”

Those concerns turned out to be justified as the 2006 World Cup winner was sacked on Monday, just under two years after being appointed. 

Gilardino took Genoa back to Serie A in his first season in charge and signed a new contract extension after finishing 11th last season.

Further improvement was expected from the Rossoblu this term, with La Gazzetta dello Sport suggesting in August that Genoa could no longer be considered the Serie A’s surprise package.

The early signs were good, as Genoa held reigning champions Inter to a 2-2 draw at Marassi on the opening weekend and won 1-0 away at Monza, extending a run of form that had seen them win 10 points from a possible 15 in the final five games of last season.

That was as good as it got for Genoa, who racked up just two points from the next eight Serie A matches and were knocked out of the Coppa Italia by arch-rivals Sampdoria.

And yet, there were mitigating circumstances for that horrendous run. 

The Rossoblu have been beset by injuries this season.

Ruslan Malinovskyi is expected to be sidelined until the end of February after breaking his fibula at the end of September, while Junior Messias has been out for two months with a soft tissue injury and is not expected to return before December.

Next month, the Grifone should also welcome back Vitinha, a €16m signing in the summer who has already missed nine matches with a muscular injury, and goalkeeper Pierluigi Gollini who has been ruled out since October with a hip problem.

There is also the fact Genoa appeared to have turned a corner before the international break, with the win in Parma and a home draw against Como lifting them up to 10 points, one clear of the relegation zone.

The recent upturn in form makes the timing of Gilardino’s sacking all the more curious, as is the choice of Patrick Vieira as his replacement.

The former Arsenal captain is well-acquainted with Serie A, having spent five seasons in Italy and won the Scudetto four times with Inter Milan.

But Vieira’s managerial career has failed to reach the same heights. 

After making his managerial debut in the MLS with New York City FC, the 1998 World Cup winner led Nice to seventh place in Ligue 1 in his first season in charge but was sacked halfway through his second campaign.

A similar scenario unfolded when he returned to the Premier League, where he won the title three times with Arsenal as a player, with Crystal Palace.

Vieira took the Eagles to the FA Cup semi-final in his first season in 2022, but was sacked in March of the following year after a 12-game winless run.

His spell at Strasbourg, meanwhile, lasted a single season, before he parted ways with the Ligue 1 club in the summer.

But it’s Vieira’s relationship with Mario Balotelli which is likely to command far more attention than his tactics, at least to begin with.

Super Mario, who signed for Genoa as a free agent last month, and Vieira were teammates at Inter and Manchester City, and the former played under the latter at Nice.

“I first met him as a kid at Inter, and then I played with him again at City,” Vieira said of Balotelli during an interview with Sky Sports back in 2022.

“He’s a fantastic guy and I love him.”

The feeling was not exactly reciprocated as Balotelli stormed out of Nice in January 2019, just three months into Vieria’s reign.

Having scored 17 and 26 goals in all competitions in the previous two seasons, Super Mario failed to find the net in 10 matches under Vieira.

The seeds of discontent were sown in the summer, when Balotelli refused to attend Nice’s pre-season training in a bid to force a move to Marseille, which ultimately broke down.

Any hopes of a reconciliation with Vieira were immediately quashed as the Italy international lashed out at his new manager. 

“I don’t agree with the new tactical approach, and the constant substitutions have to stop,” Balotelli reflected after being substituted twice against Guingamp and Angers.

For his part, Vieira did not pull any punches either. 

“When I arrived,” he explained to La Gazzetta dello Sport, “Mario’s head was already elsewhere. 

“When that’s the case, everything becomes more difficult. […] I expected more from him both on and off the pitch. In the end, we mutually agreed that it was best for him to leave.”

Speaking to the Daily Mail in 2020, Vieira was even more explicit about Balotelli.

“His mentality doesn’t fit the team-oriented nature of football,” he told the Daily Mail. 

“At Nice, I wanted to build a team based on unity and hard work. 

“It was incredibly difficult for me to work with a player like him.”

Genoa will be hoping Balotelli and Vieira can put their differences aside.