Paolo Mandelli (born 4 December 1967 in

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 ...

) 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 ...

coach and former player. After retiring as a player, he coached youth teams at clubs including

Sassuolo Sassuolo (; egl, label=Modenese dialect, Modenese, Sasól ) is an Italian town, ''comune'', and industrial centre of the Province of Modena in Emilia-Romagna. Standing on the right bank of the river Secchia some southwest of Modena, the town ...

Club career

Originally a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

from the

Inter Inter may refer to: Association football clubs * Inter Milan, an Italian club * SC Internacional, a Brazilian club * Inter Miami CF, an American club * FC Inter Sibiu, a Romanian club * FC Inter Turku, a Finnish club * FK Inter Bratislava, a forme ...

youth system, Mandelli played only one senior game with the ''Nerazzurri''; after a season on loan at

Lazio it, Laziale , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

, he then spent the rest of his career with minor teams such 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 1956 ...

Messina Messina (, also , ) is a harbour city and the capital of the Italian Metropolitan City of Messina. It is the third largest city on the island of Sicily, and the 13th largest city in Italy, with a population of more than 219,000 inhabitants in ...

, Reggiana,

Monza Monza (, ; lmo, label=Lombard language, Lombard, Monça, locally ; lat, Modoetia) is a city and ''comune'' on the River Lambro, a tributary of the Po River, Po in the Lombardy region of Italy, about north-northeast of Milan. It is the capit ...

Foggia Foggia (, , ; nap, label= Foggiano, Fògge ) is a city and former ''comune'' of Apulia, in Southern Italy, capital of the province of Foggia. In 2013, its population was 153,143. Foggia is the main city of a plain called Tavoliere, also known ...

and

Modena Modena (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language#Dialects, Modenese, Mòdna ; ett, Mutna; la, Mutina) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern I ...

. He retired in 2003 after two seasons with

Coaching career

After his retirement, Mandelli agreed to stay at Sassuolo as youth coach and head of the under-19 team. In 2011, he was appointed as temporary head coach on a caretaker basis, in place of sacked

Angelo Gregucci Angelo Adamo Gregucci (born 10 June 1964) is an Italian football coach and former player. Career Player Born in San Giorgio Ionico, Province of Taranto, Gregucci started his playing career in 1981 with Taranto, before moving to Alessandria ...

, to guide the relegation-threatened club until the end of the season and keep it into

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 ...

. The attempt turned out to be successful, as Mandelli led Sassuolo in 15th place, and out of the relegation playoffs. He then returned to his previous duties by the end of the season and was replaced by new head coach

Fulvio Pea Fulvio Pea (born 10 February 1967) is an Italian football coach. Career Coaching The first experiences Pea has no playing experience whatsoever, as he entered directly into coaching in 1989 as youth coach of Fanfulla, when aged 22. He then to ...

References

1967 births Living people Italian men's footballers Italy men's youth international footballers Serie A players Serie B players Inter Milan players SS Lazio players US Sambenedettese players ACR Messina players AC Reggiana 1919 players Calcio Foggia 1920 players AC Monza players Modena FC 2018 players US Sassuolo Calcio players US Sassuolo Calcio managers Men's association football forwards Italian football managers Footballers from Milan {{Italy-footy-forward-1960s-stub