Davide Nicola

Davide Nicola
Nicola with Livorno in 2012
Personal information
Full name Davide Nicola[1]
Date of birth (1973-03-05) 5 March 1973 (age 51)
Place of birth Luserna San Giovanni, Italy
Height 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s) Defender
Team information
Current team
Cagliari (head coach)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1992–2001 Genoa 166 (4)
1993–1994Fidelis Andria (loan) 26 (0)
1994–1995Ancona (loan) 27 (0)
1998–1999Pescara (loan) 7 (0)
2002–2005 Ternana 94 (5)
2004–2005Siena (loan) 15 (0)
2005–2006 Torino 35 (1)
2006–2007 Spezia 28 (0)
2007–2008 Ravenna 14 (0)
2008–2011 Lumezzane 49 (1)
Total 461 (11)
Managerial career
2010–2012 Lumezzane
2012–2014 Livorno
2014 Livorno
2014–2015 Bari
2016–2017 Crotone
2018–2019 Udinese
2019–2020 Genoa
2021 Torino
2022–2023 Salernitana
2024 Empoli
2024– Cagliari
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Davide Nicola (born 5 March 1973) is an Italian professional football manager and former player, and the current head coach of Serie A club Cagliari.

Club career

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Nicola was born in Luserna San Giovanni.

During his time with Genoa, he was noted for kissing a policewoman on the sideline after a goal.[2] He also helped the club to lift the 1996 Anglo-Italian Cup.

In the Serie B 2005–06 playoffs, he scored a goal that gained Torino promotion to Serie A. In the 2006–07 Serie B season, his good performances for Spezia in the last few games contributed to Spezia avoiding relegation.

He only played in the Serie A for one season in the 2004–05 season (15 games for Siena).

Managerial career

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In July 2010, Nicola retired from playing for Lumezzane in order to replace the outgoing head coach Leonardo Menichini.[3] On 28 June 2011, his contract was renewed.[4]

During the 2012–13 season, Nicola became the head coach of Livorno in Serie B. In January 2014, Livorno sacked Nicola, with the club second-from-bottom in Serie A.[5]

On 21 April 2014, Nicola was re-appointed as manager of Livorno.[6]

On 17 November 2014, Nicola became the new manager of Bari.[7]

On 23 June 2016, Nicola was appointed manager of Serie A newcomers Crotone.[8] Nicola promised to ride a bicycle from Crotone to his home in Turin if they avoided relegation. Crotone finished in 17th place, two points above the relegation zone, and ahead of Empoli on the final matchday of the season, in what was hailed as a football miracle, as Crotone had collected only nine points in the whole first half of the season. Fulfilling the promise, Nicola rode 1300 km from Crotone to Turin on a bicycle.[9]

On 13 November 2018, Nicola was appointed manager of Udinese.[10]

On 28 December 2019, Nicola was appointed manager of Genoa.[11]

On 19 January 2021, following the sacking of Marco Giampaolo, Nicola was appointed manager of Torino.[12] In his first game in charge, Simone Zaza scored two second-half goals to help Torino draw 2–2 with Benevento, having been two goals down.[13] After guiding Torino to escape relegation narrowly, he left the club at the end of the season.[14]

On 15 February 2022, Nicola was appointed as the new head coach of Serie A relegation-battling club Salernitana until the end of the season.[15] Under Nicola's tenure, Salernitana obtained 18 points in the remaining 15 matches and avoided relegation, another escape hailed as a miracle by the media. Nicola signed a new two-year contract with the club on 3 June 2022.[16] He was later dismissed by the club on 16 January 2023, after a 8–2 loss away at Atalanta;[17] only to be re-appointed just two days later.[18] However, as results did not improve, Nicola was dismissed once again on 15 February 2023.[19]

On 15 January 2024, Nicola was hired as the third head coach of the season for struggling Serie A team Empoli.[20] After guiding Empoli to a last-minute escape from relegation, Nicola departed from the club by the end of the season.

On 5 July 2024, Nicola was announced as the new head coach of fellow Serie A club Cagliari on a two-year contract with an option to extend for one further year.[21]

Personal life

[edit]

Nicola had a son, Alessandro, who died in a road accident in 2014, aged 14.[22]

Managerial statistics

[edit]
As of match played 4 November 2024
Managerial record by team and tenure
Team From To Record
G W D L GF GA GD Win %
Lumezzane 13 July 2010 6 June 2012 77 28 20 29 78 80 −2 036.36
Livorno 6 June 2012 13 January 2014 69 29 18 22 103 87 +16 042.03
Livorno 19 April 2014 30 June 2014 4 0 0 4 3 10 −7 000.00
Bari 17 November 2014 31 December 2015 50 20 13 17 53 53 +0 040.00
Crotone 1 July 2016 6 December 2017 56 13 10 33 48 92 −44 023.21
Udinese 13 November 2018 20 March 2019 15 4 4 7 13 22 −9 026.67
Genoa 28 December 2019 26 August 2020 22 8 5 9 31 39 −8 036.36
Torino 19 January 2021 30 June 2021 20 5 9 6 24 34 −10 025.00
Salernitana 15 February 2022 15 February 2023 38 9 12 17 41 69 −28 023.68
Empoli 15 January 2024 2 July 2024 18 6 5 7 18 19 −1 033.33
Cagliari 5 July 2024 Present 13 4 3 6 13 20 −7 030.77
Career total 382 126 99 157 425 525 −100 032.98

References

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  1. ^ "Comunicato Ufficiale N. 283" [Official Press Release No. 283] (PDF). Lega Serie A. 30 July 2020. p. 4. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 October 2020. Retrieved 6 December 2020.
  2. ^ "Archivio Corriere della Sera". archivio.corriere.it.
  3. ^ "UFFICIALE: Nicola nuovo tecnico del Lumezzane" (in Italian). TuttoMercatoWeb. 13 July 2010. Retrieved 13 July 2010.
  4. ^ http://www.aclumezzane.it/news.php?id=700
  5. ^ "Davide Nicola sollevato dall´incarico" (in Italian). A.S. Livorno Calcio. 13 January 2014. Archived from the original on 13 January 2014. Retrieved 14 January 2014.
  6. ^ Sargeant, Jack (21 April 2014). "Livorno sack Di Carlo, bring back Nicola". SBNation.com.
  7. ^ "Nicola è il nuovo tecnico del Bari. Rissa sfiorata tra un ultrà e Sciaudone". La Gazzetta dello Sport - Tutto il rosa della vita. 17 November 2014.
  8. ^ "Crotone name Nicola as new head coach". ESPN.com. 23 June 2016.
  9. ^ "Crotone coach Davide Nicola fulfils promise and finishes 1,300km bike ride". the Guardian. 18 June 2017.
  10. ^ "Udinese official: Velazquez out, Nicola in". Football-italia.net. 13 November 2018. Retrieved 13 November 2018.
  11. ^ "Official: Genoa appoint Nicola". Football Italia. 28 December 2019. Retrieved 28 December 2019.
  12. ^ "Official: Torino announce Nicola". Football Italia. 19 January 2021. Retrieved 21 January 2021.
  13. ^ Azzi, Marco (21 January 2021). "Benevento-Torino 2-2: rimonta targata Zaza, pari al 93'" [Benevento 2-2 Torino: Zaza makes a comeback in the 93rd minute]. la Repubblica (in Italian). GEDI Gruppo Editoriale. ISSN 0390-1076. Retrieved 21 January 2021.
  14. ^ "Grazie Nicola" (in Italian). Torino FC. 28 May 2021. Retrieved 28 May 2021.
  15. ^ "DAVIDE NICOLA È IL NUOVO ALLENATORE DELLA SALERNITANA" (in Italian). Salernitana. 15 February 2022. Retrieved 16 February 2022.
  16. ^ Campanale, Susy (3 June 2022). "Official: Nicola signs new two-year Salernitana contract". Football Italia. Retrieved 29 June 2022.
  17. ^ Salernitana 1919, U. S. "Comunicato Stampa – US Salernitana 1919 | Sito ufficiale della U.S. Salernitana 1919" (in Italian). Retrieved 16 January 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  18. ^ Salernitana 1919 (18 January 2023). "Dietrofront Salernitana: dopo 48 ore Iervolino richiama Nicola" (in Italian). La Gazzetta dello Sport. Retrieved 18 January 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  19. ^ Salernitana 1919, U. S. (15 February 2023). "Comunicato Stampa – US Salernitana 1919 | Sito ufficiale della U.S. Salernitana 1919" (in Italian). Retrieved 15 February 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  20. ^ "Davide Nicola è il nuovo allenatore dell'Empoli" (in Italian). Empoli FC. 15 January 2024. Retrieved 15 January 2024.
  21. ^ "IL NUOVO MISTER È DAVIDE NICOLA" (in Italian). 5 July 2024. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
  22. ^ http://www.gazzetta.it/Calcio/14-07-2014/davide-nicola-livorno-tragedia-incidente-bici-muore-figlio-14enne-801236821554.shtml Gazzetta
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