Cagliari have fired Eusebio Di Francesco as a result on a never-ending losing streak, even though they gave him an extension a month ago. After reaching out to few candidates, they have appointed Leonardo Semplici, who previously guided SPAL in their climb from Lega Pro to Serie A and successfully avoided relegation twice. He has been without a team since being dismissed in February of 2020.
Despite the January additions, the Sardinians are in third-to-last position in the standings, five points behind Torino after the defeat in the head-to-head clash on Friday. They have collected just one point in the last ten matches, scoring one goal in the most recent six. Di Francesco was hired this summer to try to elevate the team above the relegation race, but things went sideways from November on.
Semplici has penned an 18-month contract but will have an easy out in the summer if they get relegated and if a Serie A team tries to poach him, Gianluca Di Marzio reported. Roberto Donadoni and Aurelio Andreazzoli were also in the running. The club wanted to keep some of Di Francesco’s assistants on the staff, but only athletic trainer Mauro Baldus will stay on as that aspect had become sticking point in the negotiations.
Cagliari have also decided to bring back former sporting director Stefano Capozucca, who spent time here from 2015 to 2017, to help out Pierluigi Carta, who was promoted from the youth system when they parted ways with executive Marcello Carli in August.