Why did Sampdoria fail so spectacularly this season? It's truly bizarre

Italian World Cup winner Andrea Pirlo was hired as coach for the 2023-24 season.

After a poor start, his team won seven of their final 11 games, securing a seventh-place finish in Serie B and a spot in the promotion play-offs, where they lost 2-0 to Palermo in the preliminary round.

The club invested approximately £45m during their first season, but results fell short this term.

Just before Sampdoria's play-off exit, Manfredi described Pirlo as 'a key part of the project' - yet he was dismissed after only three games into the current campaign, following two defeats and a draw.

Andrea Sottil replaced him and, although he led the team to a Coppa Italia penalty shootout victory against Genoa in the first Derby della Lanterna in two years, he was sacked after just four wins in 14 games.

Leonardo Semplici took over in December, but with the club in the relegation zone, a 3-0 home defeat to Frosinone in late March was the last straw for the fans.

After the match at the Luigi Ferraris Stadium, the team bus carrying Semplici and his players was attacked with stones and flares by furious supporters.

Semplici was dismissed in April, with Alberico Evani becoming the club's fourth coach of the season, tasked with avoiding relegation.

Evani started promisingly with club legend Attilio Lombardo as assistant and another icon, Roberto Mancini, providing unofficial help.

He began with a 1-0 win over fellow strugglers Cittadella, but subsequent results - three draws, a defeat, and just one win - were not enough to save the team from relegation.

For Tavallaey, Sampdoria must now embark on a 'proper project' to restore the club to its former glory.

'They need to build a proper project with a solid sporting directorship and a capable manager to help them return to Serie A. They're a sleeping beauty.'

This article was first published in March 2025.