Serie B’s Revolving Door Continues to Swing as Sampdoria, Brescia and Sudtirol Ring the Changes

The only constant in life, so the old adage goes, is change. That is certainly the case in Serie B, where the managerial revolving door never stops moving.

On average, a manager loses his job every two weeks in calcio‘s second tier, an alarmingly high rate even by modern football’s volatile standards.

This weekend alone saw three more changes, with Sampdoria pulling the plug on Andrea Sottil’s miserable spell at Marassi, while Brescia and Sudtirol parted ways with Rolando Maran and Marco Zaffaroni respectively.

It should come as no surprise that two of the trio had themselves been parachuted into their jobs mid-season.

Sottil replaced Andrea Pirlo at the helm after the former Juventus manager was sacked following two defeats in the first three matches, but never managed to get a tune out of his team.

Sunday’s 5-1 shellacking at the hands of league leaders Sassuolo left the Blucerchiati 15th in the table, just one point clear of the relegation zone with 16 points after 17 matches.

Sottil’s reign began steadily enough with a draw against Bari and a win against Sudtirol in his first three matches in charge, before the high point of knocking Genoa out of the Coppa Italia on penalties at the end of September.

It briefly felt as victory in the Derby della Lanterna was the springboard Sampdoria’s season had needed all along, as wins against Modena, Cesena and Mantova followed over the next four weeks.

It proved to be the most misleading of false dawns, with the Blucerchiati picking up a meagre three points over the past six matches, conceding three against Pisa and Catanzaro in the process before shipping five against Sassuolo.

The abysmal run spelt the end for Sottil, who always seemed an odd appointment given his football philosophy was in stark contrast to that of his predecessor.

Even before his sacking, Sampdoria ultras had made their feelings abundantly clear, booing the players off the pitch and then blocking the team bus inside Marassi for almost three hours following the 3-3 draw against Catanzaro two weeks ago.

Plainly, this was not where Sampdoria expected to be. The Blucerchiati forked out just over €6m on players this summer and made 15 signings overall, bringing in two of the division’s best strikers in the shape of Gennaro Tutino and Andrea Coda.

The pair have so far delivered with five goals apiece, but their form in front of goal can’t mask the brittle nature of Sampdoria’s defence, which has conceded 27 goals so far – the second-worst record in Serie B after Sudtirol and Cittadella.

It is no surprise the pair are bottom of the table and it is no surprise that, like Sampdoria, Sudtirol are also on their third manager of the season after dispensing with Zaffaroni on Monday and appointing Fabrizio Castori in his place.

Second-bottom in Serie B on goal difference, Sudtirol have picked up just one point in the past seven matches and their losing streak extended to five games with a 2-1 defeat against Juve Stabia on Friday.

Of those five defeats, four came under Zaffaroni’s stewardship after the former Feralpisalo manager replaced Federico Valente at the beginning of November.

It is hard to overstate the difficulty of the task facing Castori, who has won 10 promotions across four divisions in his career.

Sudtirol scored just three times since the middle of October and have conceded a league-high 29.

And to think it all started well for the Tyroleans, who mounted a surprising play-off in the early stages of the season, flying under the radar to head into the October international break sixth in Serie B, just four points behind then second-placed Spezia.

Maran, meanwhile, must be sick of the sight of Catanzaro.

Appointed in November last year with Brescia plummeting down the table, he led the Rondinelle to the play-offs and was minutes away from reaching the semi-final before Catanzaro equalised in the 96th minute and then won the tie in extra time.

Another injury time goal against the Calabrians, this time in the 98th minute on Saturday, cost Maran his job as it condemned Brescia to a fourth match without a win.

And yet, of the three clubs going through a managerial change this week, the Lombards are in much better shape than their counterparts.

Pierpaolo Bisoli will take charge of a team that remains two points away from the last play-off spot, as he returns to the club he played for under Carlo Mazzone in the early 2000s and where he will manage his son, Dimitri.