Serie A side Salernitana appointed a familiar face as their new coach on Wednesday, bringing Davide Nicola back to the club only two days after sacking him.
Nicola was relieved of his duties on Monday, a day after a chastening 8-2 defeat at Atalanta, but club president Danilo Iervolino took the remarkable step of recalling him to the position on Wednesday to give the coach “another chance.
“You only realise how much you love someone when they leave,” Iervolino told a news conference.
“It was the only way we could clear the air. So for the good of the club, the players and everything, it’s only right that the coach has another chance, with the promise the team will never again suffer such a humiliating defeat.”
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Nicola thanked Iervolino and sporting director Morgan De Sanctis for taking him back.
“This means that the new football is made of passion and heart, and I want to repay his trust with all my love,” Nicola wrote in a message on Facebook.
“We have weeks of hard work ahead to reach our targets.”
Salernitana are 16th in Serie A after 18 matches. The first match of Nicola’s second spell in charge of the team is at home to runaway leaders Napoli on Saturday.