Giovanni Solinas, also known as Gianni Solinas, is an Italian

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

manager. He has managed teams in Algeria, Saudi Arabia and South Africa. He is the current

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 ...

of Saudi Arabian club Al-Najma.

Managerial career

Solinas obtained his coaching license UEFA A and

UEFA Pro Licence UEFA, the governing body for football in Europe, mandates several coaching licences for professional managers, each valid for coaching at a certain level. These include the UEFA Pro Licence, the UEFA A Licence, and the UEFA B Licence. They are iss ...

with the

Italian Football Federation 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 ...

at the prestigious school of Italian coaches FIGC settore tecnico Coverciano. He Coached several clubs in

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

including

ES Sétif Entente Sportive Sétifienne ( ar, الوفاق الرياضي السطايفي), known as Entente de Sétif, commonly referred to as ES Sétif or ESS for short, is an Algerian professional football club based in Sétif. The club was founded in ...

CR Belouizdad Chabab Riadhi de Belouizdad S.s.p.a (Classical Arabic: الشّباب الرّياضيّ لبلوزداد, English Translation: Sporting Club of Belouizdad), known as ''Chabab Belouizdad'' or ''CR Belouizdad'' or simply ''CRB'' for short, is a ...

JSM Bejaia JSM may refer to: Media and publications * Joseph Smith—Matthew, a book of the ''Pearl of Great Price'' of the Latter Day Saint movement * ''Journal for the Academic Study of Magic'' * ''Journal of Sexual Medicine,'' a peer-reviewed academic jour ...

and

MC Oran ( ar, نادي مولودية وهران), known as , commonly referred to as MC Oran for short, is a football club based in Oran, Algeria. Founded on 1 January 1917 and formed again on 14 May 1946, the club was known as Mouloudia Chaâbia Ouah ...

. He also managed

Al-Faisaly FC (Harmah) Al-Faisaly FC ( ar, نادي الفيصلي) is a Saudi Arabian football team playing in the Saudi Professional League, based in Harmah City with a population of around 15,000 people. The club is named after King Faisal (r. 1964–75); he wa ...

in Saudi Arabia.

ES Sétif

In 2010, Solinas moved to Africa where he was appointed as head coach of Algerian club

when the president of the club

Abdelhakim Serrar Abdelhakim Serrar (born 24 April 1961 in Sétif) is an Algerian former professional football player who won the African Nations Cup in 1990 and is one of a few that won the Afro-Asian Cup for both club and country. Serrar played as a central d ...

, offered him the managerial role. On 27 August 2010, he made his debut with a brilliant 3–0 in the return leg the group stage of

2010 CAF Champions League The 2010 CAF Champions League was the 46th edition of Africa's premier club football tournament organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF), and the 14th edition under the current CAF Champions League format. The winner, TP Mazembe q ...

against Zimbabwe side

Dynamos F.C. Dynamos Football Club (also referred to as The Glamour Boys or De-Mbare) is a Zimbabwean professional football club based since 1963 at Rufaro Stadium, Mbare, Harare. The team currently participates in Zimbabwe's top-tier, the Premier Soccer ...

In December 2010, Solinas led ES Sétif to win the

North African Cup Winners Cup The North African Cup Winners Cup was a competition organised by the Federation of North African Football, that contains the winners of the domestic cups around North Africa. The competition contains representatives from Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco ...

, also known as the

UNAF Nessma Cup The UNAF Club Cup ( ar, كأس إتحاد شمال إفريقيا للأندية) is a tournament designed by the Union of North African Football Federations (UNAF) that puts together the top three best finishers of the domestic leagues and the t ...

, beating Libyan side

Al-Nasr Benghazi Al-Nasr Sports, Cultural and Social Club () or simply Al-Nasr Benghazi is a Libyan professional football club based in Benghazi. Honours National titles * Libyan Premier League :Winners (2): 1987,2017–18. :Runners-up (4): 1977–78, 1983� ...

in the final. After the success, on 22 December 2010, he resigned citing family reasons. Despite the team was at the top of the league table.

CR Belouizdad

In July 2011, he came back to North Africa where he reached an agreement with Algerian club

to become the head coach of the club succeeding at the Argentine

Miguel Angel Gamondi --> Miguel is a given name and surname, the Portuguese and Spanish form of the Hebrew name Michael. It may refer to: Places *Pedro Miguel, a parish in the municipality of Horta and the island of Faial in the Azores Islands * São Miguel (disamb ...

but in November 2011, he resigned.

JSM Béjaïa

In January 2013, he was appointed as manager of the club

JSM Béjaïa Jeunesse Sportive Madinet de Béjaïa ( ar, الشبيبة الرياضية لمدينة بجاية), known as JSM Béjaïa or simply JSMB for short, is an Algerian football club based in Béjaïa. The club was founded in 1936 and its colours are ...

in the Algerian Ligue Professionnelle 1, to replace the Frenchman coach Alain Michel. During his time with the club, Solinas guided JSM Béjaïa to a historic qualification into the 1/8th final of the 2013 CAF Champions League beating Ghana champions,

Asante Kotoko SC Asante Kotoko Sporting Club, simply known as Asante Kotoko, is a professional football club founded on 31 August 1935 and based in Kumasi in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. Nicknamed the ''Porcupine Warriors'', they compete in the Ghana Premier Lea ...

with a favorable aggregate score of 2–1, where JSM Béjaïa lost against Tunisia giants

Espérance de Tunis :''See also Esperance (disambiguation)'' Espérance is one of the two French words that can be translated into "hope", the other being "espoir". Whereas the latter is closer to the idea of "dream" or "fantasy" and corresponds to most of the commo ...

relegating them to the Confederation Cup. He finished the season by leading JSM Béjaïa against Tunisian side Etoile du Sahel in an

CAF Confederation Cup The CAF Confederation Cup, known as the TotalEnergies CAF Confederation Cup for sponsorship purposes, is an annual association football club competition established in 2004 from a merger of the CAF Cup and the African Cup Winners' Cup and organi ...

play-off.

MC Oran

In late June 2013, he reached an agreement with Algerian club

to become the head coach of the club, but In November 2013, he was sacked after his defeat 0–1 in the championship against

USM Alger Union Sportive de la Médina d'Alger ( ar, الإتحاد الرياضي لمدينة الجزائر); known as USM Alger or simply USMA for short, is a football club based in the inner suburbs of Algiers. The club was founded in 1937 and its co ...

Al-Faisaly FC (Harmah)

In December 2013, Solinas moved to the Middle East where he was appointed as manager of Saudi club

replacing the Belgian manager

Marc Brys Marc Brys (born 10 May 1962) is a Belgian football manager and former player, who manages OH Leuven in the Belgian First Division A. Career His coaching career took off at Belgian club, Berchem Sport, which he guided to the championship of t ...

. The club was involved in a relegation fight, he saved the club from relegation with a sixth-place finish in the league table. Solinas led Al-Faisaly FC to qualify for the 2015 GCC Champions League formerly known as the Gulf Cup for Clubs.

Free State Stars

In December 2015 South African club Free State Stars F.C. announced Solinas as new head coach, with former Bafana Bafana international

Bradley Carnell Bradley Neil Carnell (born 21 January 1977) is a South African former footballer who played as a defender. He is the current head coach of St. Louis City SC of Major League Soccer. Early career Born in Johannesburg, Carnell attended Parktow ...

as an assistant. He replaced German football manager

Ernst Middendorp Ernst Middendorp (born 28 October 1958) is a German association football coach who coaches South African Premier Soccer League club Maritzburg United. Education Middendorp was born in Freren. In 1984, he enrolled in the University of Bielefel ...

as head coach of the club. Solinas went back as head coach on 30 September 2016, On 11 January, Solinas left Free State Stars with the mutual termination of the contract.

Al-Faisaly FC (Harmah) - return

Solinas returned to Al-Faisaly on 1 March 2017. The club was involved in a relegation fight, he saved the club from relegation.

Kaizer Chiefs

Solinas was appointed the head Coach of Kaizer Chiefs, during the 2018/2019 season. On 7 December 2018, Kaizer Chiefs and Solinas agreed the termination of his contract. He did not finish the season with Kaizer Chiefs.

CS Sfaxien

Solinas was appointed head coach of the club in 2021.

Al-Faisaly FC (Harmah) - return

On 16 March 2023, Solinas was appointed as the manager of Al-Faisaly for the third time.

Al-Najma

On 7 September 2023, Solinas was appointed as manager of Al-Najma.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Solinas, Giovanni 1968 births Living people Italian football managers ES Sétif managers CR Belouizdad managers MC Oran managers Al Faisaly FC managers JSM Béjaïa managers Saudi Pro League managers Saudi First Division League managers Italian expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia Expatriate football managers in Saudi Arabia