Massimo Donati (born 26 March 1981) is an Italian football

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

, pundit and former professional player, who played as a central or

defensive midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundari ...

. He is the manager of Legnago Salus in

Serie D The Serie D () is the top level of semi-professional football in the country. The fourth tier of the Italian league system, the competition sits beneath the third professional league, Serie C. It is administered by the Lega Nazionale Dilettant ...

. Born in

San Vito al Tagliamento San Vito al Tagliamento ( fur, San Vît dal Tiliment) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Pordenone in the Italian region Friuli Venezia Giulia, located about northwest of Trieste and about southeast of Pordenone. Main sights It i ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, Donati began his career 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 ...

, before joining

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

in June 2001. After spending time on loan at

Parma Parma (; egl, Pärma, ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, music, art, prosciutto (ham), cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,292 inhabitants, Parma is the second mos ...

Torino Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. T ...

Sampdoria Unione Calcio Sampdoria, commonly referred to as Sampdoria (), is an Italian professional football club based in Genoa. The club was formed in 1946 from the merger of two existing sports clubs whose roots can be traced back to the 1890s, ...

, Messina and Atalanta, he signed for Scottish club

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

in June 2007. While at Celtic, he won one Scottish Premier League medal and one

Scottish League Cup The Scottish League Cup (also known as the Viaplay Cup for sponsorship reasons) is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League Cup in existen ...

medal. He returned to Italy in August 2009, to join Bari, where he remained until January 2012, when he signed for Palermo. He joined

Hellas Verona Hellas Verona Football Club, commonly referred to as Hellas Verona or simply Verona, is a professional Italian football club based in Verona, Italy, that currently plays in Serie A. The team won the Serie A Championship in 1984–85. His ...

in June 2013, before going back to Bari in August 2014. He returned to Scotland in July 2016, to sign for

Hamilton Academical Hamilton Academical Football Club, often known as Hamilton Accies, or The Accies, is a Scottish football club from Hamilton, South Lanarkshire who currently compete in the Scottish Championship, having been relegated from the 2020–21 Scotti ...

and then moved to St Mirren in February 2018. Donati represented Italy at under-16, under-18, under-20 and under-21 levels.

Playing career

Atalanta and Milan

Donati started his club career at

, before moving to

in June 2001 along with Cristian Zenoni for 60 billion lire in a cash-plus-player deal. However, due to the competition at the club, Donati was unable to retain a first team place after his first season, spending the 2002–03 season on loan at

and then

. The 2003–04 season, his third as a Milan player, saw him join

on loan, before enjoying a successful spell at Messina for the 2004–05 and 2005–06 seasons. Despite finding his form at Messina, Donati still found himself out of favour at Milan and was again sent on loan, this time returning to his first club Atalanta for the 2006–07 season. Donati was a youth international, representing Italy at under-16, under-18, under-20 and under-21 levels.

Celtic

On 29 June 2007, Celtic confirmed the signing of Donati on a four-year contract for a fee of €2 million. Donati was given the number 18 jersey, vacated by ex-captain

Neil Lennon Neil Francis Lennon (born 25 June 1971) is a Northern Irish football coach and former player. During his playing career he represented English clubs Manchester City, Crewe Alexandra and Leicester City. Lennon moved to Celtic in 2000, where he ...

and was unveiled at

Celtic Park Celtic Park is the home stadium of Celtic Football Club, in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, Scotland. With a capacity of 60,832, it is the largest football stadium in Scotland, and the eighth-largest stadium in the United Kingdom. It is al ...

. He made his Celtic debut in their first league game of the season on 5 August, a 0–0 draw with Kilmarnock. In Celtic's next league game against Falkirk, Donati was involved in his side's equaliser when his shot hit Kenny Milne and went into the net; Celtic won the game 4–1. The following week, Donati grabbed his first competitive Celtic goal with an equalising goal against

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

and later added an assist for

Kenny Miller Kenneth Miller (born 23 December 1979) is a Scottish professional football coach and former player. Miller, who played as a striker, is one of only five post-war players to have played for both Rangers and Celtic. Miller began his career at ...

as Celtic won 3–1. On 28 November, Donati won the match for Celtic in the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...

fixture against

Shakhtar Donetsk Football Club Shakhtar Donetsk ( uk, Футбольний клуб «Шахтар» Донецьк , short nickname "miners") is a Ukrainian professional football club from the city of Donetsk. In 2014, due to the War in Donbass, the club was f ...

, netting in the 92nd minute to win the match 2–1. This result meant Celtic only needed a point away to Donati's former club Milan at the

San Siro Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, commonly known as San Siro, is a football stadium in the San Siro district of Milan, Italy, which is the home of A.C. Milan and Inter Milan. It has a seating capacity of 80,018, making it one of the largest stadiums i ...

to qualify for the last 16 stage of the tournament. Celtic lost 1–0 to Milan, but still qualified for the last 16 as runners-up in their group after Benfica defeated Shakhtar in

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

. As the season went on, Donati's form began to dip, resulting in the central midfield positions being changed with

Barry Robson Barry Gordon George Robson (born 7 November 1978) is a Scottish football coach and former player who currently works for Aberdeen in the Scottish Premiership. Robson played as a midfielder for several clubs in Scotland, England and Canada and r ...

and

Paul Hartley Paul Hartley (born 19 October 1976) is a Scottish professional football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. He is the manager of Scottish Championship side Cove Rangers. As a player, Hartley won trophies with both Hearts and ...

in place of Donati and

Scott Brown Scott Brown may refer to: Sportsmen *Scott Brown (American football), American college football coach of Kentucky State * Scott Brown (baseball) (born 1956), former Major League Baseball pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds *Scott Brown (footballer, bor ...

. In May 2008, it was reported that Donati wanted to go back to

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 Cop ...

. In the 2008–09 season, Donati made only a handful of appearances for Celtic, though he started in the home game against Kilmarnock on 12 November 2008 and won the

man of the match In team sport, a player of the match or man of the match or woman of the match award is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chosen from the winn ...

award. After the appointment of

Tony Mowbray Anthony Mark Mowbray (born 22 November 1963) is an English former professional footballer who is currently the manager of Sunderland. Mowbray played for Middlesbrough, Celtic and Ipswich Town as a defender. He began his coaching career with Ip ...

as Celtic manager, Donati won back his place in the Celtic midfield alongside new signing Landry N'Guémo. Donati played in most of the pre-season games and scored in a 5–0 win over

African Champions League The CAF Champions League, known for sponsorship purposes as the TotalEnergies CAF Champions League and formerly the African Cup of Champions Clubs, is an annual football club competition organized by the Confederation of African Football and co ...

winners Al-Ahly in the

Wembley Cup The Wembley Cup was an invitational football tournament. The only edition for professional teams was the first edition of the tournament which took place between 24 and 26 July 2009 at Wembley Stadium, Wembley Park, London, United Kingdom. The w ...

. He started the 2009–10 campaign in fine form and scored from a spectacular volley in Celtic's 3–1 loss to Arsenal in the Champions League

play-off The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

Bari

On 27 August 2009, Donati left Celtic and signed a four-year contract with Serie A newcomers Bari.

Palermo

On 18 January 2012, Donati left Bari for Palermo in

Hellas Verona

In June 2013, Donati was signed by

Bari

On 26 August 2014, Donati returned to Bari. He scored his first goal in the

2014–15 Serie B The 2014–15 Serie B was the 83rd season since its establishment in 1929. A total of 22 teams contested the league: 14 of which returning from the 2013–14 season, 5 of which promoted from Prima Divisione, and three relegated from Serie A. Th ...

season on 13 September 2014, during a 1–1 draw with

Frosinone Frosinone (, local dialect: ) is a town and ''comune'' in Lazio, central Italy, the administrative seat of the province of Frosinone. It is located about south-east of Rome close to the Rome-Naples A1 Motorway. The city is the main city of the ...

Hamilton Academical

On 18 July 2016, Donati returned to Scotland to sign for

. He scored on his debut as Hamilton won 3–0 against St Mirren in the

. On 9 November 2016, Donati signed a new contract, keeping him at the club until 2019. In January 2018, Hamilton announced that they had agreed with Donati to cancel his existing playing contract, in order for him to begin a coaching career. Donati had also been coaching the Hamilton under-15 team.

St Mirren

Donati signed a short-term contract with St Mirren in February 2018. He was released by St Mirren at the end of this contract.

Media career

In 2018, Donati was unveiled as a new color commentator and pundit for

DAZN DAZN ( "da zone") is a global sports entertainment platform. Different to traditional linear and satellite broadcasting, DAZN is an over-the-top (OTT) streaming service meaning that it is delivered directly to viewers via the internet. The ...

, a role he left in June 2021 following his appointment as

Sambenedettese A.S. Sambenedettese S.r.l. is an Italian association football club, based in San Benedetto del Tronto, Marche. Sambenedettese currently plays in Serie D. History Foundation The club was founded in 1923 as ''U.S. Sambenedettese''. In 195 ...

's new head coach. He briefly resumed his role at DAZN between August and September 2021, leaving again after Sambenedettese was successfully readmitted into Serie D.

Coaching career

In June 2019, Donati joined the coaching staff at Kilmarnock under Angelo Alessio. On 25 June 2021, he was appointed as the new head coach of

. The club, originally scheduled to play

Serie C The Serie C () is the third-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie B and Serie A. The Lega Italiana Calcio Professionistico (Lega Pro) is the governing body that runs the Serie C. The unification of the Lega Pro ...

in the 2021–22 season, was successively demoted to

due to financial irregularities; nevertheless, in September 2021 Donati was confirmed he would stay at Sambenedettese also in the lower tier. On 31 October 2021, Donati was dismissed from his role following a negative start in the club's Serie D campaign. On 16 June 2022, Donati was appointed as the new manager of Legnago Salus, who had just been relegated to

Career statistics

Honours

Club

;Celtic * Scottish Premier League: 2007–08 *

: 2008–09

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Donati, Massimo 1981 births Living people People from San Vito al Tagliamento Italian footballers Italy under-21 international footballers Italy youth international footballers Atalanta B.C. players A.C. Milan players A.C.R. Messina players Parma Calcio 1913 players Torino F.C. players U.C. Sampdoria players Celtic F.C. players S.S.C. Bari players Palermo F.C. players Hellas Verona F.C. players Hamilton Academical F.C. players Serie A players Serie B players Scottish Premier League players Scottish Professional Football League players Association football midfielders Italian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Scotland Italian expatriate sportspeople in Scotland Hamilton Academical F.C. non-playing staff St Mirren F.C. players Kilmarnock F.C. non-playing staff Footballers from Friuli Venezia Giulia