Nedo Sonetti (born 25 February 1941) 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 and former player, who played as a defender.

Biography

Sonetti was born in

Piombino Piombino is an Italian town and ''comune'' of about 35,000 inhabitants in the province of Livorno (Tuscany). It lies on the border between the Ligurian Sea and the Tyrrhenian Sea, in front of Elba Island and at the northern side of Maremma. Ove ...

, southern

Tuscany Tuscany ( ; it, Toscana ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of about 3.8 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence (''Firenze''). Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, art ...

and lives now in Gorle.

Playing career

As a defender, Sonetti played in

Serie B The Serie B (), currently named Serie Balkrishna Industries, 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 ...

and

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 ...

for Spezia Calcio 1906 and

Reggina Reggina 1914 S.r.l., commonly referred to as Reggina, is an Italian football club based in Reggio Calabria. Founded in 1914, they currently play in Serie B, and play their home matches at the 27,763 seater Stadio Oreste Granillo. They are n ...

Managing career

As a manager, Sonetti has had a long career at the helm of several

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 Coppa ...

and

teams in the whole country. Among the several teams he led, he had his major successes with

Atalanta B.C. Atalanta Bergamasca Calcio, commonly referred to as Atalanta, is a professional football club based in Bergamo, Lombardy, Italy. The club plays in Serie A, having gained promotion from Serie B in 2010–11. Atalanta was founded in 1907 by Lice ...

, which he led from Serie B to a ninth place in Serie A, coaching the team for four seasons. He is often considered a "replacement" coach, as he was often appointed in his career to replace fired managers from Serie A teams fighting to avoid relegation, or Serie B teams which managed to promote. More recently, Sonetti joined Cagliari in November 2005, replacing

Davide Ballardini Davide Ballardini (born 6 January 1964) is an Italian football manager. He formerly played professionally for Cesena as a midfielder. He is currently the head coach of club Cremonese. Playing career A former midfielder, Ballardini spent seve ...

, becoming the fourth coach appointed by the Sardinian team in a couple of months. He succeeded in maintaining his job until the end of the tournament, and in leading the ''rossoblù'' to maintain a place in the next

; he left Cagliari at the end of the season. On 14 November 2006, Sonetti was appointed to replace

Attilio Tesser Attilio Tesser (born 10 June 1958) is an Italian association football manager and former defender, who is currently the head coach of Modena. Playing career Tesser, a defender, started his playing career with Treviso. He moved to Napoli in 19 ...

at the helm of then last-placed relegation-battling Serie A

Ascoli Ascoli may refer to: Places in Italy *Ascoli Satriano, a town and ''comune'' in the province of Foggia in the Apulia region *Province of Ascoli Piceno, a province of the Marche region ** Ascoli Piceno, a city which is the seat of the province above ...

. He did not manage to save his side from falling to Serie B, and ended his experience in Ascoli at the end of the season with a second-last place. In November 2007 he returned at Cagliari for his third time, as he was appointed to replace

Marco Giampaolo Marco Giampaolo (; born 2 August 1967) is an Italian coach (sport), manager, and former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Midfielder (association football), midfielder. He was most recently the head coach of Serie A cl ...

at the helm of the Sardinians. He resigned from his post on 19 December, but was confirmed by the club the next day after

rejected to return at the helm of the club. However, Sonetti was sacked only a few days later, after a 5–1 loss to

Fiorentina ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional football club based in Florence, Tuscany, Italy. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while the actual club was refounded in August 2002 fol ...

, leaving the team last-placed in the league table, being replaced by

. From 25 September 2008, he has been called back to

Brescia Brescia (, locally ; lmo, link=no, label= Lombard, Brèsa ; lat, Brixia; vec, Bressa) is a city and ''comune'' in the region of Lombardy, Northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Garda and Iseo. ...

replacing

Serse Cosmi Serse Cosmi (born 5 May 1958) is an Italian football coach, most recently in charge of Rijeka. Career Early career Cosmi was born in 1958 in Ponte San Giovanni, a Perugia ''frazione''. His father, a cycling fan, called him Serse after Faust ...

. On 19 May 2009 he was sacked himself, following a 2–1 loss to promotion rivals

Grosseto Grosseto () is a city and ''comune'' in the central Italian region of Tuscany, the capital of the Province of Grosseto. The city lies from the Tyrrhenian Sea, in the Maremma, at the centre of an alluvial plain on the Ombrone river. It is the m ...

that left Brescia in fourth placed, but with only a two-point lead to 7th-placed

Triestina Unione Sportiva Triestina Calcio 1918, commonly referred to as Triestina, is an Italian football club based in Trieste, Friuli-Venezia Giulia. Originally founded in 1918, the club has been re-established several times in its history. As of the ...

. On 28 March 2010, 69-year-old Sonetti returned to management, replacing

Rolando Maran Rolando Maran (born 14 July 1963) is an Italian Association football, football coach (sport), manager who was most recently the head coach of Pisa S.C., Pisa. His playing career as a Defender (association football), defender was spent mostly wit ...

as head coach of Serie B relegation battlers

Vicenza Vicenza ( , ; ) is a city in northeastern Italy. It is in the Veneto region at the northern base of the ''Monte Berico'', where it straddles the Bacchiglione River. Vicenza is approximately west of Venice and east of Milan. Vicenza is a th ...

. His stint as Vicenza head coach, as he was sacked on 15 April after only three games in charge, ended with respectively two draws and a loss.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sonetti, Nedo 1941 births Living people People from Piombino Association football defenders Italian footballers Spezia Calcio players Reggina 1914 players U.S. Salernitana 1919 players Serie B players Serie C players Serie D players Italian football managers Cosenza Calcio managers A.S. Sambenedettese managers Atalanta B.C. managers Udinese Calcio managers U.S. Avellino 1912 managers Ascoli Calcio 1898 F.C. managers Bologna F.C. 1909 managers U.S. Lecce managers A.C. Monza managers Torino F.C. managers U.S. Cremonese managers Brescia Calcio managers U.S. Salernitana 1919 managers Cagliari Calcio managers Palermo F.C. managers A.C. Ancona managers Catania S.S.D. managers L.R. Vicenza managers Serie A managers Sportspeople from the Province of Livorno Footballers from Tuscany