Franco Baldini (born 3 October 1960) is an Italian former professional
footballer
A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...
and former technical director for English club
Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...
of the
Premier League
The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...
.
Playing career
Born in
Reggello
Reggello is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Florence in the Italian region of Tuscany, located about southeast of Florence, between the north-western side of Pratomagno and the Upper Valdarno.
The municipality borders ...
, Baldini most notably played for
Bari
Bari ( , ; nap, label= Barese, Bare ; lat, Barium) is the capital city of the Metropolitan City of Bari and of the Apulia region, on the Adriatic Sea, southern Italy. It is the second most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy a ...
and
Bologna
Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nat ...
.
In 1981, he was called up to the
Italian under-21 national team, but did not go on to make a competitive appearance.
Managerial career
Roma
Baldini became director of football at
Roma
Roma or ROMA may refer to:
Places Australia
* Roma, Queensland, a town
** Roma Airport
** Roma Courthouse
** Electoral district of Roma, defunct
** Town of Roma, defunct town, now part of the Maranoa Regional Council
*Roma Street, Brisbane, a ...
in 1999, where he remained until his resignation in March 2005.
He joined
Fabio Capello
Fabio Capello (; born 18 June 1946) is an Italian former professional football manager and player.
As a player, Capello represented SPAL 1907, Roma, Milan and Juventus. He played as a midfielder and won several trophies during his career which ...
at
Real Madrid
Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid.
Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...
in 2006,
and when Capello took over as the
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
manager in December 2007, Baldini became
assistant manager
Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business.
Management includes the activities o ...
.
His role at the national team of England involved scouting, managing the supporting staff (e.g. the doctors, physiotherapists, masseurs and kit managers) and generally making the job as easy as possible for Capello. He left England after their successful
UEFA Euro 2012
The 2012 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2012 or simply Euro 2012, was the 14th European Championship for men's national football teams organised by UEFA. The final tournament, held between 8 June and 1 ...
qualification and joined Roma before the start of 2012, but was assisting the team well before then.
Since then, former Roma manager
Luis Enrique
Luis Enrique Martínez García (; born 8 May 1970), known as Luis Enrique, is a Spanish football manager and former player.
A versatile player with good technique, he was capable of playing in several different positions, but usually played as ...
, Director
Walter Sabatini
Walter Sabatini (born 2 May 1955) is an Italian former football player turned director of football, who last worked as sporting director at Serie A club Salernitana.
Playing career
Sabatini made his professional debut with Perugia in 1973, playin ...
and himself have undergone a major revolution at the club alongside new owner
Thomas R. DiBenedetto Thomas Richard DiBenedetto (Boston, 3 June 1949), is an American entrepreneur and was the 22nd chairman of the Italian football club A.S. Roma, since September 27, 2011 to August 27, 2012, when he was succeeded by James Pallotta.
DiBenedetto is a ...
to try and instill a system of running a football club similar to that of
Barcelona
Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...
. However, his time at Roma was criticised by removing Luis Enrique as manager and replacing him with
Zdeněk Zeman, which Baldini believes appointing Zemen was a mistake and said the club wanted to give the fans a spectacle. Baldini left his post at Roma by mutual consent on 5 June 2013.
On 19 June 2013, Baldini was confirmed in the role of technical director of
Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...
.
[Baldini Appointed Technical Director THFS website](_blank)
Retrieved 19 June 2013
Tottenham Hotspur
At the end of the
2012–13 Premier League
The 2012–13 Premier League (known as the Barclays Premier League for sponsorship reasons) was the 21st season of the Premier League, the English professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 1992, and the 114 ...
season, then-Tottenham manager
André Villas-Boas
Luís André de Pina Cabral e Villas-Boas (; born 17 October 1977) is a Portuguese football manager, who most recently was the manager of Ligue 1 club Marseille. He is one of a growing number of top-level managers who have never played football ...
openly pushed for someone to be employed as a technical director, "someone who has experience of dressing rooms, represents the club, and is able to link up with players and agents." Soon after, on 19 June 2013, Baldini was appointed to the role.
He immediately oversaw the departures of Spurs players
Steven Caulker
Steven Roy Caulker (born 29 December 1991) is a professional footballer who plays as a centre back for Süper Lig club Fatih Karagümrük. Born in England, he represents and captains the Sierra Leone national team.
Caulker started his profe ...
,
Tom Huddlestone
Thomas Andrew Huddlestone (born 28 December 1986) is an English professional Association football, footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder and coach for Premier League club Manchester United F.C., Manchester United.
Having progressed th ...
,
Clint Dempsey
Clinton Drew Dempsey (; born March 9, 1983) is an American former professional soccer player who played as a forward and midfielder. During his career, he played in the Premier League for Fulham and Tottenham Hotspur and in Major League Soccer ...
,
Scott Parker
Scott Matthew Parker (born 13 October 1980) is an English professional football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. He is currently the head coach of Club Brugge in Belgium.
Parker began his career at Charlton Athletic, and ...
and
Gareth Bale
Gareth Frank Bale (born 16 July 1989) is a Welsh professional footballer who plays as a winger for Major League Soccer club Los Angeles FC and the Wales national team. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wingers of his generation ...
, the latter for a
world record fee of £85.3 million to
Real Madrid
Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid.
Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...
.
Baldini was also thought to be responsible for signing several replacement players during the same summer, including
Paulinho Paulinho is a Portuguese nickname for people named ''Paulo'' (Paulo -inho, little Paulo). People known as Paulinho include:
Music
*Paulinho da Costa (born 1948), Brazilian percussionist
*Paulinho da Viola (born 1942), Brazilian sambista
*Paulinho ...
,
Nacer Chadli
Nacer Chadli (born 2 August 1989) is a Belgian professional footballer who currently plays as a winger for Belgian First Division A club K.V.C. Westerlo on loan from Turkish Super Lig club İstanbul Başakşehir and the Belgium national footbal ...
,
Étienne Capoue
Étienne René Capoue (born 11 July 1988) is a French professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for La Liga club Villarreal.
He is a French youth international, having earned caps at under-18, under-19, and under-21 level, ...
,
Roberto Soldado
Roberto Soldado Rillo (; born 27 May 1985) is a Spanish professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Striker (association football), striker for Segunda División club Levante UD, Levante.
After emerging through Real Madrid CF, ...
,
Vlad Chiricheș
Vlad Iulian Chiricheș (; born 14 November 1989) is a Romanian professional footballer who plays for club Cremonese and captains the Romania national team. Primarily a centre-back, he can also be deployed as a right-back or a defensive midfield ...
,
Christian Eriksen
Christian Dannemann Eriksen (born 14 February 1992) is a Danish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Premier League club Manchester United and the Denmark national team. He is renowned for his vision, technique, passing, and fr ...
and
Erik Lamela
Erik Manuel Lamela Cordero (born 4 March 1992) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or winger for La Liga club Sevilla and the Argentina national team.
Lamela began his career at River Plate and in 201 ...
. Later in 2013, however, Villas-Boas was sacked by the Tottenham Board on 16 December following a humbling 5–0 home defeat to
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
. It is thought that Baldini offered his resignation, perhaps as a sign of accepting culpability for the poor form of the team. It was widely discussed in the media at the time that most of the players signed by Baldini were not performing as well as had been expected.
Baldini, however, remained in his post after new manager
Tim Sherwood
Timothy Alan Sherwood (born 6 February 1969) is an English professional football manager and former player who played as a midfielder.
As a player, he was a midfielder from 1987 until 2005, notably as captain of Blackburn Rovers' Premier Leag ...
replaced Villas-Boas.
Baldini left his role as technical director on 28 September 2015 to spend time outside football.
References
External links
Issue lawful interception between Baldini and Mazzini former
FIGC
The Italian Football Federation ( it, Federazione Italiana Giuoco Calcio; FIGC), known colloquially as ''Federcalcio'', is the governing body of football in Italy. It is based in Rome and the technical department is in Coverciano, Florence.
It ...
vice president (ITA)
Some interviews with Italian television
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baldini, Franco
1960 births
Living people
Italian men's footballers
Men's association football midfielders
SSC Bari players
Bologna FC 1909 players
Delfino Pescara 1936 players
Calcio Foggia 1920 players
SSD Varese Calcio players
ASD Olimpia Colligiana players
Italian sporting directors
Footballers from the Metropolitan City of Florence
Tottenham Hotspur F.C. non-playing staff
Real Madrid CF non-playing staff