For the past few years now, some clubs in Italy have being trying to copy the Barcelona module of appointing a young and budding coach with the hope of intro-ducing fresh ideas and motiva-tions to the team.

Since taking over from Frank Rijkaard in 2008, Pep Guardiola led the Catalans to a remarkable 12 trophies in just over three years, making Barca the top team in the world at the moment.

In the Serie A, Ciro Ferrara (Juventus), Leonardo (Milan and Inter) and Vincenzo Montella (Roma) were also given the chance to shine but with scant success.

This trio had something in common – their stints were short-lived with Leonardo’s entire season in charge of Milan in 2009/10 being the longest of the three.

In general, coaches in Italy tend to have a short time span in a job.

Usually, they are the ones who pay the price for their clubs’ underachievements.

It seems that planning does not feature in the vocabulary of Italian club bosses. Instant success is the name of the game as some owners give the short-term strategy more weight and bigger consideration than the medium and the longer term.

For sure, coaches like Arsene Wenger, who has now gone six seasons without a trophy at Arsenal, would not have survived so long had he been in charge of an Italian club.

Same with Alex Ferguson. He won his first major piece of silverware in his fourth season in charge at Manchester United in 1990.

But, how patient could Italian clubs be? How many coaches did Massimo Moratti sack in a decade before Roberto Mancini heralded a new era at the San Siro in 2005?

The 2011/12 campaign is still in its embryonic stage and yet some coaches, including Gian Piero Gasperini (Inter), Luis Enrique (Roma) and Pierpaolo Bisoli (Bologna), are already facing the prospect of an early sack.

Not surprisingly, before the first real kick of the ball two coaches had already been fired.

The first to be shown the backdoor was Roberto Donadoni. He was dismissed by Cagliari on August 12.

Later, it was Stefano Pioli’s turn to be axed by Palermo.

The Sicilians endured a terrible summer, culminated by their premature exit from the Europa League qualifiers at the hands of Swiss unknowns Thun.

At Palermo, boss Maurizio Zamparini is renowned for having a short fuse when it comes to dealing with coaches.

He is a shrewd businessman with a knack for signing quality players (like playmaker Javier Pastore) at basement prices to later sell them to the highest bidder making a huge profit in the process.

However, Zamparini is ruthless when it comes to dealing with coaches as he fires one after the other without showing respect.

Age does not matter in a profession like that of a coach. Experience, though not vital, counts.

In recent years, the Serie A lost much of its allure. Gone are the days when Italian clubs used to dictate matters in Europe.

Now, it is a completely different story and as from this season only three teams qualify for the Champions League.

Italian clubs have to invest in youth academies and start plan-ning long-term.

Barcelona’s real strength is not Guardiola alone but, perhaps more importantly, an efficient youth policy that over the years produced numerous world class players.

Barca’s real forte lies in the fact that seven of their starting 11 players in last May’s Champions League final were club products.

In Italy, if the process of signing over-rated foreigners, sometimes dumped by the more-quoted English and Spanish clubs, persists the days of gloom and doom are set to remain.

Serie A statistics

0 points collected by Bologna and Cesena so far. Last weekend, Bologna were soundly beaten at home by Lecce for the latter team’s first win after four straight defeats in Bologna. Catania, despite not being up to their best, were still good enough to beat Cesena by a solitary goal. Cesena have a truly dire record in Sicily where they have lost all of their last four matches without scoring a single goal.

1 goalless draw recorded in the weekend fixtures. Inter and Roma figured in a dull stalemate which epitomised the two sides’ stuttering starts. Roma have last beaten Inter in Milan in April 2007 (3-1). Atalanta brought Palermo back down to earth with a deserved 1-0 victory in Bergamo. For Atalanta, this was their first home win against Palermo since a similar 1-0 success in April 2005.

2 penalties were taken last weekend. Antonio di Natale made no mistake from the spot to give Udinese a head-start against Fiorentina. Elsewhere, a Maxi Lopez penalty was enough for Catania to see off Cesena in a potential basement clash at the Massi-mino Stadium. Parma’s Sebastian Giovinco was the only player who saw red.

4 sides have maximum points from two games. Juventus overcame Siena 1-0 for their third successive win in Tuscany. Siena’s only home win against Juve came in May 2008 (1-0). Udinese found little, if any, resistance to beat Fiorentina as they scored twice inside the opening 29 minutes to keep their perfect record intact. The last time these two sides shared the spoils was in January 2006 (0-0). Cagliari, buoyed by their 2-1 away win at Roma, edged newcomers Novara by the same scoreline and Napoli came from behind to beat champions Milan for the first time since May 2008 (3-1).

20 goals were scored on the second day. There were six home wins and a draw. Foreigners contributed with 13 goals. Sebastian Giovinco (picture) was twice on target for Parma to help them beat Chievo at the Tardini Stadium. He is currently joint top-scorer with Napoli’s Edinson Cavani with three goals. The Uruguayan international grabbed the first hat-trick of the season to help Napoli floor Milan. Two players – Joaquin Larrivey (Cagliari) and Alberto Paloschi (Chievo) – came on as substitutes and scored.