Davide Nicola (born 5 March 1973) is an Italian professional football manager and former player. He was most recently head coach of

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Copp ...

club Salernitana.

Club career

Nicola was born in Luserna San Giovanni. During his time in Genoa C.F.C. he was noted for kissing a policewoman on the sideline after a goal. He also helped the club to lift the

1996 Anglo-Italian Cup File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

. In the

Serie B 2005–06 Series may refer to: People with the name * Caroline Series (born 1951), English mathematician, daughter of George Series * George Series (1920–1995), English physicist Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Series, the ordered sets used i ...

playoffs he scored a goal that gave his Torino F.C. a promotion to

. In the 2006–07 season of Serie B his good play for

Spezia Calcio Spezia Calcio is a professional football club based in La Spezia, Liguria, Italy. Spezia Calcio was founded in 1906 by the Swiss banker Hermann Hurni (or Hurny in some documents), who played for the early Crystal Palace amateur teams in London ...

in the last few games contributed to Spezia avoiding relegation. He only played in the

for one season in the 2004–05 season (15 games for

A.C. Siena Associazione Calcio Robur Siena 1904, commonly referred to as Siena, is an Football in Italy, Italian football club based in Siena, Tuscany. The club was re-incorporated in 2020 after the bankruptcy of the previous legal entity Robur Siena, whi ...

Managerial career

In July 2010 Nicola retired from playing for Lumezzane in order to replace the outgoing head coach

Leonardo Menichini Leonardo Menichini (born 11 December 1953) is an Italian football manager and former player. He is currently in charge of Serie C club Monterosi. Career Playing A defender, Menichini played for several top-flight teams, including AS Roma and Cat ...

at the helm of the club. On 28 June 2011, his contract was renewed. During the 2012–13 season, Nicola became the head coach of Livorno in

Serie B The Serie B (), currently named Serie BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 season. It had been ...

. In January 2014, Livorno sacked Nicola with the club second-from-bottom in the

table. On 21 April 2014, Nicola was appointed manager of Livorno again. On 17 November 2014, Nicola became the new manager for F.C. Bari. On 23 June 2016, Nicola was appointed manager of Serie A newcomers

Crotone Crotone (, ; nap, label= Crotonese, Cutrone or ) is a city and ''comune'' in Calabria, Italy. Founded as the Achaean colony of Kroton ( grc, Κρότων or ; la, Crotona) in Magna Graecia, it was known as Cotrone from the Middle Ages unti ...

. 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. On 13 November 2018, Nicola was appointed manager of Udinese. On 28 December 2019, Nicola was appointed manager of

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of t ...

. On 19 January 2021, following the sacking of

Marco Giampaolo Marco Giampaolo (; born 2 August 1967) is an Italian manager, and former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He was most recently the head coach of Serie A club Sampdoria. Playing career Although born in Bellinzona, Switzerland, ...

, Nicola was appointed manager of Torino. In his first game in charge, Simone Zaza scored two second-half goals to help Torino draw 2–2 with

Benevento Benevento (, , ; la, Beneventum) is a city and '' comune'' of Campania, Italy, capital of the province of Benevento, northeast of Naples. It is situated on a hill above sea level at the confluence of the Calore Irpino (or Beneventano) and t ...

, having been two goals down. After guiding Torino to narrowly escape relegation, he was not confirmed for the new season. On 15 February 2022, Nicola was appointed new head coach of Serie A relegation-battling club Salernitana until the end of the season. 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. He was later dismissed by the club on 16 January 2023, after a 8–2 loss away at

Atalanta Atalanta (; grc-gre, Ἀταλάντη, Atalantē) meaning "equal in weight", is a heroine in Greek mythology. There are two versions of the huntress Atalanta: one from Arcadia (region), Arcadia, whose parents were Iasus and Clymene (mythology ...

; only to be appointed back at the helm of the club just two days later. However, as results did not improve, Nicola was dismissed once again on 15 February 2023.

Personal life

Nicola was the father of Alessandro, who died in a road accident in 2014, aged 14.http://www.gazzetta.it/Calcio/14-07-2014/davide-nicola-livorno-tragedia-incidente-bici-muore-figlio-14enne-801236821554.shtml Gazzetta

Managerial statistics

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nicola, Davide 1973 births Living people Association football defenders Italian footballers Serie A players Serie B players Serie C players Genoa C.F.C. players S.S. Fidelis Andria 1928 players A.C. Ancona players Delfino Pescara 1936 players Ternana Calcio players A.C.N. Siena 1904 players Torino F.C. players Spezia Calcio players Ravenna F.C. players F.C. Lumezzane V.G.Z. A.S.D. players Italian football managers U.S. Livorno 1915 managers F.C. Crotone managers Udinese Calcio managers Genoa C.F.C. managers Torino F.C. managers U.S. Salernitana 1919 managers Serie A managers People from Luserna San Giovanni Footballers from Piedmont Sportspeople from the Metropolitan City of Turin