Cagliari play coaches' merry-go-round

It is a known fact that Cagliari chief Massimo Cellino has a short fuse when it comes to handling coaches. But, in this initial phase of the 2005/06 Serie A season, the longest-serving president in Cagliari's club history went a step further by changing coach twice in less than a month.

In the meantime, Cagliari are still looking for their first win and have only two points to show from their first three games which they have played under three different coaches.

These things happen in Italy only as clubs there have a tendency to blame the coach when things go wrong. Many presidents and club owners argue that it is far easier to change the coach than a whole team.

But is this the proper solution? And, in Cagliari's case, who has caused this chaotic situation?

In the close season, Attilio Tesser was acclaimed by many as the coach who would start a new era for Cagliari. However, Cagliari's plans received a setback when club icon and captain Gianfranco Zola decided to hang up his boots, thus leaving a huge void in the team.

Average signings

In the summer transfer window, Cagliari's signings of note were Alessandro Conticchio (Torino), Claudio Ferrarese (Salernitana), Michele Canini (Sambenedettese), Andrea Cossu (Verona) and Fabian Carini (Inter).

Cagliari's modest transfer campaign definitely did not complement their bid to make a leap in quality, particularly after Zola's retirement.

Repeating last season's mid-table finish would have been their most realistic target considering all these handicaps.

On the first day of the season, Cagliari went down to fellow strugglers Siena in Tuscany and this defeat compromised Tesser's future.

Not that Cagliari played badly against Luigi De Canio's Siena. On the contrary, Cagliari were by far the best team in the first half. They took the lead through Mauro Esposito after only nine minutes but failed to close out the game. Eventually, an Enrico Chiesa double dismantled all the good work Cagliari had done in the first half. But this is all history now.

The day after this defeat, the ex-Triestina mentor was already packing his bags. What a way to celebrate his debut of fire in Serie A!

The real surprise came a few hours later when Daniele Arrigoni made a headline-grabbing return to Cagliari.

Arrigoni had quit Cagliari at the end of last season to be closer to his family. One wonders how Arrigoni had second thoughts about such an important matter.

This move did not go down with the club's Ultras who immediately branded Arrigoni a traitor.

When the Serie A resumed following the international break, a lacklustre performance against Lazio at the Sant'Elia Stadium produced only a 1-1 draw for Arrigoni's Cagliari.

The ire of the fans became more evident than before and Arrigoni immediately came under severe pressure to resign.

This is in fact what Arrigoni did last Friday, clearing the way for Cellino to engage the coach he had followed so closely in the summer before opting to appoint Tesser - Sambenedettese's Davide Ballardini.

Under Ballardini, Cagliari looked more coherent and determined on Sunday as they came from behind to share the spoils with Messina in a southern derby at the Sant'Elia Stadium.

Doubts still hang over Ballardini's future with Cagliari as Cellino is second to none for excesses.

Although the 47-year-old Cellino, who is also the second-highest official at the Italian League Association behind Adriano Galliani, is aware that he committed a mistake by sacking Tesser after only one Serie A match in charge, he is adamant that Cagliari improve on last year's results despite the departure of Zola.

However, reality is somewhat different to what Cellino thinks.

Life without Zola will be difficult for Cagliari, albeit they have what it takes to keep their status in the top flight not least because there are four to five teams that seem inferior to them.

Lack of planning

Although the Serie A season has only just begun, many things have already happened in Sardinia.

Three different coaches in three games is a notorious coup by Cellino who has now moved to the US. It is definitely the epitome of lack of proper and long-term planning.

In season 1993/94, Cellino had dismissed Gigi Radice after the first day of the season and replaced him with Bruno Giorgi.

That move paid the desired dividends then as that Cagliari team reached the UEFA cup semi-finals - the club's biggest achievement so far since Cellino took over the reigns in 1992.

Who knows if the Tesser-Arrigoni-Ballardini merry-go-round will produce the same positive results for Cagliari this time around?

Serie A statistics

1st ever win for Chievo in eight league visits to Reggina's Oreste Granillo Stadium. Beppe Pillon's side came from behind to chalk their second successive win, 3-1. This was Chievo's first away success since beating Siena (1-0) on May 15. In their first ever league encounter with newcomers Treviso, Lazio continued to show signs of improvement as they recorded their second successive home win which lifted them to second spot, level on points with Palermo and Fiorentina apart from Livorno. A brilliant start to the Serie A trek has led some to suggest that Lazio may be the surprise package of the season but their first three outings are insufficient to make a proper assessment of Lazio's potential. Perhaps, their next five games, against Milan, Palermo, Udinese, Fiorentina and Roma, will shed more light on Lazio's chances.

3rd coach in charge of Cagliari after only the third day. The Sardinians had started under the charge of Attilio Tesser - a novice to the division. After Cagliari's narrow defeat at the hands of Siena on the opening day, Tesser was sacked and Daniele Arrigoni, the coach who led Cagliari to a creditable mid-table spot last season, was re-instated. But the club's fans were not pleased with Arrigoni's return and on Friday, the ex-Torino mentor handed in the resignation and Davide Ballardini, formerly of Sambenedettese, was given the job. Ballardini's debut of fire in Serie A coincided with Cagliari's second consecutive home draw. After Lazio, on Sunday it was Messina's turn to share the spoils with Cagliari. For the interest of statistics, Messina have not beaten Cagliari at the Sant'Elia Stadium since November 17, 2002 (2-0 in Serie B). In an exciting encounter between two of the most in-form teams, Fiorentina overcame Udinese for the first time since April 29, 2001 (2-1 in Serie A). Udinese's most recent of four wins in 31 league visits to Florence dates back to May 11, 1997 (3-2 in Serie A).

4 times in 15 Serie A visits have Ascoli come out of Turin unbeaten against Juventus. On Sunday, Juve were not at their best but still managed to win and remained the only Serie A team with maximum points. Fabio Capello's decision to deploy Alessandro Del Piero from the start paid the desired dividends as the ex-Padova striker scored Juve's two goals that condemned minnows Ascoli to their first defeat of the season following successive draws against Milan and Lecce. This was Juve's first home win over Ascoli since April 1992 (1-0) whereas Ascoli's only win in Turin came on December 30, 1979 (3-2). UEFA cup hopefuls Palermo continued to show signs of strength as they overcame Siena for the first time in eight league visits to Tuscany. This was Palermo's first away league success since beating Fiorentina 2-1 on February 2 (2-1). Livorno and Roma shared the spoils in the only goalless draw of the day. This was the first draw between these two sides since April 14, 1935 (1-1). Livorno's most recent of eight wins in 15 home meetings with Roma goes back to June 1, 1952 (1-0 in Serie B).

9 years had to pass for Sampdoria to return to winning ways against Milan at their Luigi Ferraris Stadium. Samp recovered from a goal down to condemn Milan to their first defeat of the term. The Rossoneri are without an away league success since beating Fiorentina 2-1 on April 30 whereas Sampdoria's most recent home setback came against Inter (0-1) on May 22. Sunday's win was the first one for Walter Novellino in nine meetings with Milan mentor Carlo Ancelotti. For the record, the ex-Roma and Italy midfielder currently leads with six victories. In a slow-burning encounter, Mario Beretta's Parma bounced back from their narrow defeat against Chievo by condemning bottom-of-the-class Empoli to their third straight defeat. This was Parma's first win of the season. Troubled Lecce were no match for Inter who made up for their defeat against Palermo by registering their second home win. Angelo Gregucci's side have only one point to show from their first three outings.

29 goals were scored on the third day: 18 coming from the hosts and the remaining 11 from the visitors, who managed two wins. Foreigners contributed with eight goals while there were 20 first-half goals. Neither hat-tricks nor own goals were recorded. Total number of goals hit so far amount to 78. Three players - Daniele Franceschini (Chievo), Alessandro Del Piero (Juventus) and Luca Toni (Fiorentina) - grabbed a brace each. Inter's Julio Ricardo Cruz continued with his fantastic start to the season by scoring his side's third goal against Lecce. In the weekend's fixtures, the lanky Argentine striker was the only player who came on as a substitute and found the net. Italy international Toni currently leads the goalscorers' list with four goals. Three penalties were awarded by referees from which Vincenzo Iaquinta (Udinese), Del Piero (Juventus) and Massimo Oddo (Lazio) made no mistake. Meanwhile, two players, Lorenzo D'Anna (Chievo) and Samir Handanovic (Treviso), received marching orders. Udinese mentor Serse Cosmi became the latest coach to be ordered off his bench.