I Present To You, Mr. Ballardini

By: cathal | June 16th, 2009

Davide Ballardini, our new coach was officially unveiled and presented to the public today; an occasion which signals a new dawn for our club. Many fans are excited about his appointment as they should be, but there’s another sector who just want to know who on earth he is. Well, I have done my research and found all you need to know about the guy.

Firstly, if you wish to see his press conference, check out CorriereDelloSport. I have a video on our Facebook page and I’ll post a few other links in the comments section.

I think the footage shows an intelligent and mysterious fellow. He strikes me as having great confidence and belief in himself; he looks unflustered and focused. His approach to management reflects his personality. You may have already noticed his tendency to wear rather dark shades. This helps contribute to an unmistakable appearance and his teams are the same on the pitch; they play a unique and entertaining brand of football. A very different character to Rossi I am sure you will degree.

Some people will question his credentials but they really shouldn’t. As a professional player, he was at an AC Cesena team that was managed by Osvaldo Bagnoli and listed Arrigo Sacchi as a youth coach. He has learned off to of the best managers in the history of soccer for starters. He also has worked at Parma and Milan as a youth coach, effectively bringing many of the top talents we now know in Italy to the fore. In 2004, he took his first job as head coach, taking charge of Serie C1/B side Sambenedettese Calcio. He led that side to the promotion play-offs and although there may not have been many stars in that side, it did feature a rather youthful Luca Cigarini whom he borught to the club. Also, it was Ballardini who discovered Bogliacino (who we have been linked with today).

He moved to Cagliari the following season but that didn’t last long as he got off to a poor start. He took charge of Pescara the next season only for the same thing to happen again. However, he was called back to the Sardinians during the 2007/2008 season where he managed to pick up a significant number of points and steer the side away from what was likely relegation. This season, he replaced Colantuono who was sacked after one game and led Palermo to eighth in Serie A. Many will argue that he has had a topsy turvy career thus far but this is someone who is highly rated within calcio. In fact, there was a rumour that Sacchi tried to convince Milan to take him on, such is how highly his mentors regard him. We may have got our hands on a real gem here but only time will tell.

What happens now? Well, nearly all our players are possible sales. Only the likes of Muslera, Kolarov, Lichtsteiner, Foggia and Zarate are definitely staying along with the majority of our youth. Potential targets? Apparently, Acquafresca is number one on the list and Fabio Simplicio must also be likely as he has played under Davide and Lotito is said to be a fan of his. After this duo, who knows what they will decide on but one thing is certain, this is a ‘new’ Lazio with a new policy; to take every day as it comes and hopefully grow a young bunch of winners in time. Forza Lazio!