Walter Novellino

Walter Alfredo Novellino (born 4 June 1953; Italian pronunciation: [ˈvalter novelˈliːno]), is an Italian football manager and former player, who played as a midfielder.

Walter Novellino
Personal information
Full name Walter Alfredo Novellino
Date of birth (1953-06-04) 4 June 1953
Place of birth Montemarano, Italy
Position(s) Midfielder
Youth career
Torino
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1970–1971 Torino 0 (0)
1971–1972 Legnano 37 (1)
1972–1973 Torino 1 (0)
1973–1974 Cremonese 30 (2)
1974–1975 Empoli 36 (5)
1975–1978 Perugia 81 (11)
1978–1982 Milan 120 (10)
1982–1984 Ascoli 59 (12)
1984–1986 Perugia 51 (1)
1986–1987 Catania 16 (0)
Total 431 (42)
International career
1978 Italy 1 (0)
Managerial career
1992–1993 Perugia
1993–1995 Gualdo
1995 Perugia
1996–1997 Ravenna
1997–1999 Venezia
1999–2000 Napoli
2000–2002 Piacenza
2002–2007 Sampdoria
2007–2008 Torino
2008–2009 Torino
2009 Reggina
2011 Livorno
2013–2015 Modena
2016 Palermo
2016–2018 Avellino
2019 Catania
2021 Juve Stabia
2022 Juve Stabia
2023 Juve Stabia
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Club career

Novellino was born at Montemarano, province of Avellino. After spending his childhood in São Paulo, Brazil, he later returned to Italy, and started his professional career with Torino, then obtaining his major successes with Perugia and AC Milan, and being nicknamed Monzon (after an Argentine boxer) due to both his physical resemblance to him and his determination on the pitch. Novellino announced his retirement in 1987. In his first season with Milan, he helped the club to their tenth Serie A title in 1979. When the club was relegated following their involvement in the Totonero 1980 match-fixing scandal, he remained with the team and helped Milan win the Serie B title and immediately obtain promotion back to Serie A; during the 1980–81 Serie B season, he notably scored the goal against Monza which secured promotion for the club.[1]

International career

Novellino won one cap for the Italy national football team in 1978.

Style of play

Novellino was a talented yet tenacious and hard-working midfielder known for excellent technical ability, offensive capabilities, fighting spirit, and dribbling skills. Although he was usually played as an attacking midfielder, he was also capable of playing as a winger, as a second striker, or as a forward.[1][2][3]

Managerial career

Novellino debuted in management in 1992 with Perugia of Serie C1, but this was short-lived. Next season, he moved to Gualdo whom he led in two years to win first Serie C2 and then to a spot in the Serie C1 promotion play-off finals which they eventually lost to Avellino. He then went on to Serie B sides Perugia, Ravenna and then in Venezia whom he led to Serie A for the first time in the club history.

In 2000, he led Napoli to a Serie A promotion, and repeated the feat the following season with Piacenza. In 2002, he joined Sampdoria, immediately leading the team to a Serie A promotion, the fourth time he'd helped a team achieve this goal. In his first Serie A season with Sampdoria, they achieved a 5th place and a UEFA Cup qualification, but lost the battle with Udinese for the last UEFA Champions League place. He left Sampdoria in 2007 to join Torino, where he was fired on 16 April 2008 following disappointing results that left the team in the relegation zone; he was replaced by Gianni De Biasi who ultimately managed to save the granata from relegation.

On 8 December, only a few months after his dismissal, he was called back to Torino following the sacking of De Biasi, taking over the team in 18th place and 12 only points achieved in 15 games.[4] He was fired once again on 24 March 2009, after a sequence of negative results that left Torino in deep relegation zone, being replaced by Giancarlo Camolese.[5]

In July 2009 he was appointed new head coach of Reggina, with the aim to lead the Calabrians promptly back to the top flight. However, he managed to achieve only nine points in ten games, being ultimately dismissed on 24 October following a 0–2 loss to his former club Torino.[6]

On 14 February 2011, he was unveiled as new head coach of Serie B club Livorno, replacing Giuseppe Pillon at the helm of the Amaranto,[7] until 21 December 2011 when he rescinds the contract by mutual agreement with the company.[8]

On 10 March 2016, he was appointed Palermo manager.[9] He was sacked on 11 April 2016.[10]

On 29 November 2016, he was called in by struggling Serie B side Avellino to replace the outcoming manager Domenico Toscano. Avellino dismissed him on 3 April 2018.[11]

On 1 July 2021, he was hired by Serie C's Juve Stabia to be the club's new manager.[12] He was sacked on 17 October 2021 following a negative start in the 2021–22 Serie C campaign.[13] On 28 February 2022, he was reinstated as Juve Stabia boss following the dismissal of Stefano Sottili, who had replaced him earlier during the season.[14] He left Juve Stabia once again after the 2021–22 season.

On 20 March 2023, Novellino returned to Juve Stabia, accepting to become the third manager of the season for the Gialloblu.[15] After a lacklustre end of season, on 10 June 2023 Juve Stabia announced to have parted company with Novellino.[16]

Style of management

Novellino favours a 4–4–2 formation which makes use of a zonal marking defensive system, a deep-lying playmaker in midfield, and a physical centre-forward fielded alongside a more mobile and talented second striker.[17]

Managerial statistics
As of 5 May 2019
Managerial record by team and tenure
Team Nat From To Record
G W D L GF GA GD Win %
Perugia Italy 3 December 1992 23 June 1993 22 10 7 5 31 20 +11 045.45
Gualdo Italy 23 June 1993 1 July 1995 87 42 29 16 120 55 +65 048.28
Perugia Italy 1 July 1995 26 September 1995 8 2 3 3 8 8 +0 025.00
Ravenna Italy 2 June 1996 18 June 1997 40 15 13 12 46 37 +9 037.50
Unione Venezia Italy 18 June 1997 15 June 1999 80 31 26 23 99 85 +14 038.75
Napoli Italy 15 June 1999 13 June 2000 48 22 14 12 69 54 +15 045.83
Piacenza Italy 13 June 2000 4 June 2002 83 36 23 24 113 81 +32 043.37
Sampdoria Italy 4 June 2002 31 May 2007 220 85 70 65 271 233 +38 038.64
Torino Italy 6 June 2007 15 April 2008 36 8 16 12 38 49 −11 022.22
Torino Italy 8 December 2008 24 March 2009 16 3 6 7 13 24 −11 018.75
Reggina Calcio Italy 11 June 2009 24 October 2009 12 4 3 5 11 15 −4 033.33
Livorno Italy 14 February 2011 21 December 2011 38 12 11 15 37 36 +1 031.58
Modena Italy 20 March 2013 28 February 2015 86 29 33 24 108 83 +25 033.72
Palermo Italy 10 March 2016 12 April 2016 4 0 1 3 1 7 −6 000.00
Avellino Italy 28 November 2016 4 April 2018 61 18 21 22 75 87 −12 029.51
Catania Italy 27 February 2019 6 May 2019 10 4 3 3 10 11 −1 040.00
Career total 851 321 279 251 1,050 885 +165 037.72

Honours

Player
Milan
Perugia
  • Coppa Piano Karl Rappan (1): 1978

Manager
Gualdo

Individual
  • A.C. Milan Hall of Fame[1]

References
  1. "A.C. Milan Hall of Fame: Walter Novellino". A.C. Hall of Fame. Retrieved 12 May 2017.
  2. "Walter Alfredo NOVELLINO (I)" (in Italian). magliarossonera.it. Retrieved 12 May 2017.
  3. "Sabatini di fronte a Novellino: "A Perugia era lui il mio idolo"" (in Italian). La Repubblica. 28 August 2009. Retrieved 12 May 2017.
  4. "De Biasi esonerato dal suo incarico" (in Italian). Torino FC. 8 December 2008. Archived from the original on 10 December 2008. Retrieved 13 December 2008.
  5. "CAMOLESE È IL NUOVO ALLENATORE DEL TORO" (in Italian). Torino FC. 24 March 2009. Archived from the original on 27 March 2009. Retrieved 24 March 2009.
  6. "Novellino sollevato dall'incarico" (in Italian). Reggina Calcio. 24 October 2009. Retrieved 24 October 2009.
  7. "Novellino nuovo allenatore dell´A.S. Livorno Calcio" (in Italian). AS Livorno Calcio. 14 February 2011. Archived from the original on 22 July 2011. Retrieved 15 February 2011.
  8. "Risoluzione consensuale contratto mister Novellino" (in Italian). Livorno Calcio. 21 December 2011. Archived from the original on 26 December 2013.
  9. "Official: Palermo appoint Novellino – Football Italia".
  10. "Novellino: 'Palermo have sacked me' | Football Italia". Archived from the original on 12 April 2016.
  11. "The coach Novellino and the collaborator Tomassoli relieved of their duties" (in Italian). U.S. Avellino 1912. 3 April 2018.
  12. Sacco, Alessandro (1 July 2021). "UFFICIALE – Walter Novellino nuovo allenatore della Juve Stabia". Il Napoli (in Italian).
  13. "Calcio: Juve Stabia esonera Walter Novellino". ANSA (in Italian). 17 October 2021.
  14. "Juve Stabia, dopo l'esonero di Sottili torna in panchina Novellino". TuttoMercatoWeb (in Italian). 28 February 2022.
  15. "S.S. Juve Stabia, Novellino è il nuovo allenatore della prima squadra". S.S. Juve Stabia (in Italian). 20 March 2023.
  16. "Juve Stabia, ufficiale: termina il rapporto contrattuale con Novellino e il ds Di Bari". La Casa di C (in Italian). 10 June 2023. Retrieved 31 July 2023.
  17. "INTERVISTA SUL CALCIO" (in Italian). walternovellino.com. Archived from the original on 12 February 2019. Retrieved 12 May 2017.
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