Napoli soar to dizzy heights

Italian club owners are notoriously known to have a short fuse when it comes to dealing with coaches. Whenever results are not forthcoming, the coach is the one who pays the price first.

At Napoli, Roberto Donadoni received the sack late last year after a dismal run and Walter Mazzarri took over at the San Paolo hot seat.

Donadoni only lasted seven matches and despite the season being in its infancy it was clear team spirit was bitterly lacking, making the sacking of the former Italy mentor a natural consequence.

Napoli's fortunes turned around the moment Mazzarri took over. He started with a home victory over Bologna.

On that day, the modest visitors were leading 1-0 but two late goals marked the start of a new dawning for Napoli, still unbeaten since beating Bologna on Mazzarri's debut.

The buzz in the Serie A is all about Milan lately, but, in their last 12 outings Napoli amassed 26 points and are currently joint-third, level on points with crisis-hit Juventus.

With Donadoni as coach, Napoli conceded 13 goals but they only let in 11 in their last 12 matches. Along with Inter, Palermo and Sampdoria, Napoli are the only side still unbeaten at home.

Indeed, if any proof was ever needed that a new coach could be beneficial at times, then the arrival of Mazzarri at Napoli epitomises that in a very clear way.

Away victories over the quoted sides of Fiorentina (1-0) and Juventus (3-2) and a 2-2 home draw with in-form Milan followed the victory over Bologna.

The fans were returning to the stands and to quash doubts that such an encouraging start was no fluke, Napoli continued with their bold march. Now, the critics are giving them a fair chance of a challenge for a Champions League berth.

But, are Napoli good enough to keep the momentum going or will they fade away and settle for a less ambitious spot in the Europa League?

Difficult to answer but for sure Napoli have an ambitious president in Aurelio De Laurentiis and in Mazzarri a competent coach who can lead the team to dizzy heights... given that he can work without pressure and in ideal surroundings.

Meanwhile, Riccardo Bigon has plugged in the hole left by the departure of the shrewd Pierpaolo Marino as the club's sporting director.

Marino joined Napoli in 2004 when the team was in Serie C. In a few years, he re-established Napoli in the top flight after years in the doldrums and financial woes.

Marino eventually quit his post in September.

Even in season 2008/09, Napoli were off to a blistering start only to experience a dip in form in the second half of the campaign that saw the team missing out on a place in Europe.

Edy Reja, now at Hajduk Split, was shown the backdoor in March 2009 but the appointment of Donadoni as coach did not bring the consistency and results the club was craving for.

Napoli's freefall last season should act as an ideal eye-opener for Mazzarri who needs to keep his players on their toes and make sure that complacency does not erode the good work done so far.

Assuming that Inter and Milan will finish at the top two places in the standings and Juve continue to misfire badly, the race for the other two Champions League berths will be tight with Napoli, Roma, Fiorentina and Palermo also joining the hunt.

Mazzarri should be given great credit for transforming Napoli from a mediocre outfit into a team to reckon with.

Since October, Napoli have risen from the ashes but they need to stay consistent all the way not to let a top-four place slip out of their grasp.

Statistics

1 goalless draw (vs Sampdoria) is all Bari have to show from their last five away fixtures. Last week, Bari forfeited an early lead to go down to Fiorentina who recorded no draws in their last 10 outings.

3rd straight defeat for Chievo (vs Napoli 0-2, Inter 0-1 and Roma 0-1) as Mimmo Di Carlo's side were floored by 10-man Roma. Claudio Ranieri's Roma have now extended their positive run to nine games (six wins and three draws).

4 wins and two draws for Milan in their last six games on the road. On Sunday, the Rossoneri annihilated Juventus 3-0. For Juve this was their third home defeat of the term following the setbacks to Napoli (2-3) and Catania (1-2).

5 positive results in a row (four wins and one draw) saw Palermo back in the running for fourth place. The Sicilians' latest victims were struggling Atalanta who only collected one point (a 1-1 home draw with Inter) out of the last available 15.

6 players - Doni (Roma), Cribari (Siena), Almiron (Bari), Castillo (Fiorentina), Bellusci (Catania) and Garics (Atalanta) - received marching orders.