New Salernitana coach hoping good things come in threes

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This article was published 28/03/2024 (918 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

MILAN (AP) — New Salernitana coach Stefano Colantuono will be hoping a popular Italian expression applies to him at the start of his third spell in charge of the Serie A team.

“Non c’è due senza tre” loosely translates as “Everything comes in threes.”

Colantuono won his first away match during both previous times he coached Salernitana. His third stint starts on Monday with a daunting trip to Bologna.

Bologna is having a fantastic season and, at fourth place, is on course to qualify for the Champions League for the first time. Its only previous experience in the old European Cup was in 1964, when it was eliminated in the preliminary round.

Salernitana is at the bottom of Serie A and seemingly destined for the second division next season. Moreover, it is on its fourth coach of the campaign.

Paulo Sousa started the season until October, when Filippo Inzaghi took over, but the World Cup-winning forward was replaced in February by Fabio Liverani, who lasted barely a month. Salernitana fired him, too, and hired 61-year-old Colantuono before the international break.

“(Sousa) is a great professional, someone who knows how to do his job well … but with us a lot of things didn’t work,” Salernitana president Danilo Iervolino said. “I liked Inzaghi a lot, unfortunately he encountered a team full of doubts that was reduced by injuries.

“Liverani arrived at the moment of greatest urgency, you can’t change everything immediately if you come in. Colantuono has brought his great experience and unconditional love for the club, the city, the team and the fans.”

Colantuono was coached Salernitana from December 2017 and led the team to a mid-table finish. He resigned after a year in charge. He was rehired in October 2021 with Salernitana at the bottom of the table, but fired four months later after failing to improve the team’s fortunes.

Colantuono was back at Salernitana just a few months later as director of its youth system, a position he occupied until he was handed the reins again.

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Salernitana — which has only two wins this season — is 11 points from safety, with nine matches remaining.

“I’ve never been a moaner and I don’t want to start now, but we never had any good luck,” Iervolino said. “Most of our matches have been spoiled by certain episodes … we had so many penalties given against us, we conceded so many goals in the last minutes, hit so many posts … that’s soccer.

“Now we’re lacking confidence and positive energy. But until we’re mathematically relegated we have to fight.”

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer