Coach Ballardini Not Returning-Does it matter?

By: Jeremy | May 28th, 2008

Word out of Sardinia is that Davide Ballardini will not be returning to coach Cagliari for the 2008-09 season. While this was always a possibility as Ballardinis magic in the second half of the season, which helped Cagliari survive yet another year in Serie A, would cause him to expect more offers to come in and for him to want more money. However, once his dream job in Naples no longer was an option, it seemed like a no brainer that he would return to Cagliari. As with most situations with smaller clubs, it involves money. Small clubs wont pay to get what they want while big clubs will so we are in this position where we must find a new coach.

I dont know how much he was being offered for a new contract or how much he wanted and which proposal was in line, but unless he wanted big club type money, Cagliari should have paid a little extra for him. Not only did he make them a bunch of money by keeping them in Serie A, Cagliari is not known for stability in its coaching position. The constant turnover and coaches walking on eggshells with fear of losing their job if they have a run of bad match results is not good so to secure a coach who obviously did something right was vital for next year. However, this will not determine the success of the team as he is no better then Giampaolo who lost his job because the players didnt start well. Now Giampaolo is coaching Siena so it tells me that the players are the key and coaches are just scapegoats.

The immediate thought is to blame management for not coming to a deal with Ballardini, but Ballardini may have overplayed his hand and used his obvious leverage to request too much money which does not work in the football coaching world. This is what needs to be determined and I expect one side or the other to make public how much was offered and how much he wanted. If he was lowballed, shame on Cagliari. If Ballardini thought the sky was the limit then shame on him. Both sides should have known that a serious pay raise was due, but that did not mean Mourinho money as Cagliari is still a small club.

As much as I want Ballardini to stay and think the job he did was tremendous, does this really matter? Probably not. One thing about football is that each year is a new one for all but a few clubs. Most teams lose players and bring in new ones and the changes are enough to be where chemistry from the previous year is lost or chemistry that never existed gets another chance to be established. 5-10 new players are enough to make it look like it is an entirely new team. Whether Ballardini would have success is a new question for a new year that unfortunately depends more on the players. The uncertainty most teams in Serie A face each year, especially those teams in the bottom half of the table, will be no different next year. It is a new year with no players and changes and adjustments are made on the fly. Its all about the good players you get on loan or signing guys cheaply who play well. Its anyones guess in the beginning of the year because too many good players left after success of the previous year.

His return was vital for the fan base, but ultimately he will be forgotten if the team continues to avoid the drop. We certainly cant start as bad as we did last year no matter who the coach is. The key as always is who will be leaving and who will be staying when it comes to the players. That is more important then the coach.

Face it Cagliari fans, as much fun as this past year was and while it is clear we have some real talent on this team, many players we desperately want to return will not be here next year and there will be a new wave of players to replace them. Until Cagliari actually hires a coach, I think they will still be talking to Ballardini as he knows there are only so many Serie A jobs out there and he wants one so maybe he might cave in and coach for the wages Cagliari sees fit. If not, our new coach will survive and thrive based on the players he has, how they gel with each other in the new season, and ultimitately how they play. Previoius years results is not an indication of success or failure the next year for these bottom clubs. The bottom half of the table is really interchangable.

Im still watching with a keen eye what is going to happen to Acquafresca, Storari, and Foggia et al. This is really more important and who the coach is will not make a difference on where they play next year. While its not good to lose a successful coach, its not something to worry too much about.