Delio Rossi (born 26 January 1960) is an Italian football manager and former footballer who played as a midfielder. He is the head coach of club Foggia.
Playing career
Rossi was born in
Rimini. His playing career was not a bright one, as he reached his top from 1981 to 1983, playing in the
Serie B with
US Foggia, where he spent most of his footballing time. He retired in 1989, after a season played with
Fidelis Andria of Serie C2.
Managerial career
Early years and Serie A debut with Salernitana
Rossi, a
sports science graduate with honours, took his first coaching job in 1990, aged 29, at Torremaggiore, of the
Promozione league, immediately winning the championship. The following year, he joined Foggia as youth coach. In 1993, Rossi signed for Salernitana of Serie C1, and led the team to a
Serie B promotion. After an unlucky comeback to Foggia, and a sixth place in
Pescara Calcio, Rossi returned to coach Salernitana in 1997, leading the team to its second
Serie A promotion in history. Rossi guided the team in Serie A as well, but was fired in March 1999, as he was unable to lead Salernitana out of the relegation zone.
Minor teams in Serie A and Serie B
A troubled year in
Genoa CFC and a poor comeback to Pescara were followed by three seasons with
US Lecce. Rossi, appointed as Lecce's coach in February 2002, was unable to avoid relegation to Serie B, but led the team back to Serie A the following season and maintained a place in the division the following year. He left Lecce in 2004 to be replaced by his maestro
Zdenek Zeman, who was head coach at Foggia during Rossi's time in leading its youth team.
In December 2004, Rossi replaced Andrea Mandorlini at the helm of Atalanta BC, last-placed in Serie A. Despite all his efforts and numerous praises, Rossi was unable to help his team escape relegation.
Lazio
Despite not saving Atalanta, his efforts at the helm of the
Dea club gained interest from
SS Lazio, who appointed him as a replacement for Giuseppe Papadopulo.
His time at Lazio was a remarkable success, for which he attracted interest from many top Serie A clubs. Rossi guided Lazio to a surprising UEFA Cup place in the 2005–2006 season, only for the place to be lost as part of the Calciopoli scandal that rocked the country in the summer of 2006. Even more remarkable, however, was Rossi's feat the following season. Despite an initial 11-point deduction (which was subsequently reduced to 3 on appeal), Rossi guided the biancocelesti to an unlikely third-place Serie A finish and a place in the 2007–08 UEFA Champions League. However, during the 2007–08 season, he led Lazio to a disappointing 12th-place finish.
On 13 May 2009, Rossi led SS Lazio to their first trophy since the Coppa Italia triumph in 2004. It was also a Coppa Italia victory, which came after a successful penalty shootout against UC Sampdoria. On 8 June 2009, Delio Rossi was announced to have left Lazio because of personal reasons allegedly linked to an unstable working relationship with chairman Claudio Lotito. He was replaced by Davide Ballardini.
Palermo
On 23 November 2009, Rossi returned into management as new head coach of
Palermo FC, replacing
Walter Zenga at the helm of the
rosanero.
He immediately managed to turn the fortunes of Palermo, guiding the Sicilians to quickly rise up the Serie A league table also thanks to surprise results such as two 2–0 away win against teams such as
AC Milan and
Juventus FC, and ending the season in fifth place with only one point behind fourth-placed
UC Sampdoria who were admitted to the UEFA Champions League third qualifying round at the
rosanero's expense. He was consequently confirmed as head coach of Palermo for the 2010–11 season, during which he also guided the club in its 2010–11 UEFA Europa League campaign. Impressive results in the new season included another remarkable win at Juventus' home, as well as his ability to launch youngsters such as
Javier Pastore, Ezequiel Muñoz, Josip Iličić, and Armin Bačinović.
Rossi was sacked on 28 February 2011 by club president Maurizio Zamparini following a record 0–7 home loss to Udinese Calcio; he was replaced by Serse Cosmi.
Fiorentina
On 7 November 2011, Rossi returned to management as the new head coach of Serie A club
ACF Fiorentina, replacing Siniša Mihajlović, dismissed because of poor results. Rossi's debut match as Fiorentina boss ended in a 0–0 home draw against incumbent champions
AC Milan. Afterwards, Fiorentina lost 2–0 to Delio's former club Palermo. He later beat Empoli 2–1 in the Coppa Italia. In the following weeks, he put Fiorentina up to 10th place in Serie A after they beat Roma 3–0. The following games, however, saw Fiorentina drop down the table to 17th place at some point, and thus were involved in the fight to escape relegation.
Rossi's time with Fiorentina came to a shocking end. On 2 May 2012, during a home game against 19th-placed Novara FC, Rossi decided to substitute Serbs striker Adem Ljajić in the 32nd minute with Fiorentina losing 0–2. The player sarcastically applauded the substitution as he left the pitch and further gave the coach a sarcastic thumbs up from the dugout, to which Rossi reacted by physically assaulting Ljajić, pushing the youngster from above, then jumping after him into the dugout while attempting to punch him. Claims that Ljajić had insulted Rossi's family were found to be false after several other players and staff who were present denied hearing Ljajić use any derogatory language.
Sampdoria
Rossi was appointed head coach of
UC Sampdoria in December 2012 to replace
Ciro Ferrara, becoming the seventh coach to work with both
Genoa CFC and Sampdoria. During his coaching tenure with the club, Rossi helped the Blucerchiati avoid relegation at the end of the 2012–13 Serie A season. On 11 November 2013, Rossi was sacked from his post, with Sampdoria in 18th position in the Serie A table, having earned just 9 points and won only twice in 12 Serie A matches during the 2013–14 Serie A season.
Sampdoria had lost its last three Serie A matches, including a 2–1 defeat at
ACF Fiorentina on the day of Rossi's dismissal. Rossi hinted after the Fiorentina defeat that 'trust' between himself and the club was becoming an issue. "If there is a time when you do not feel that the trust is there, you should not wait to see how things unfold. I am a man of the world and I think that if the confidence is there, then it is normal that one continues, but if it is not, then it is better to end the rapport regardless of the results", he said.
Bologna
On 4 May 2015, Rossi was named the new manager of Bologna in
Serie B replacing Diego López.
He guided Bologna to win the promotion playoffs, defeating Pescara in the finals, and was confirmed for the club's successive Serie A campaign.
He was sacked by Bologna on 28 October 2015, after a string of negative results.
Levski
On 4 August 2017, Rossi was announced as the new head coach of Bulgarian club
Levski Sofia. He was presented at a press conference a few days later, on 8 August 2017.
After a string of 6 matches without victory, losing the final of the Bulgarian Cup and also a shock exit from Europa League at the hands of
FC Vaduz, Rossi was released from his duties on 25 July 2018.
Return to Palermo
On 24 April 2019, he was appointed
Palermo FC manager, on what was his second stint at the head of the Rosanero.
After failing to win automatic promotion to
US Lecce in his four games in charge, Palermo was subsequently excluded from the subsequent promotion playoffs due to financial irregularities, and he was later not confirmed by the new ownership.
Ascoli
On 29 November 2020 he was named new head coach of Serie B club Ascoli.
He was however sacked only less than a month later, on 22 December, after having achieved only one point in six games in charge.
Return to Foggia
On 30 March 2023, after three years out of football, Rossi was appointed new head coach of Foggia in the Italian
Serie C league on a contract until 30 June 2024, thus marking his return with the
Satanelli after 27 years.
After guiding Foggia to a surprise spot in the promotion playoff finals and then losing to Lecco, Rossi announced his intention to leave Foggia with immediate effect.
On 19 July 2025, Rossi agreed to return to Foggia for a third time, signing a one-year contract with the Satanelli.
Managerial statistics
| + Managerial record by team and tenure |
|
|
| Torremaggiore | 1 July 1990 | 30 June 1991
|
| Salernitana | 6 June 1993 | 30 June 1995
|
| Foggia | 30 June 1995 | 5 March 1996
|
| Pescara | 1 July 1996 | 17 June 1997
|
| Salernitana | 20 June 1997 | 22 March 1999
|
| Genoa CFC | 16 June 1999 | 14 February 2000
|
| Pescara | 20 June 2000 | 3 November 2000
|
| Pescara | 18 February 2001 | 12 June 2001
|
| US Lecce | 28 January 2002 | 22 May 2004
|
| Atalanta BC | 6 December 2004 | 30 May 2005
|
| SS Lazio | 10 June 2005 | 8 June 2009
|
| Palermo FC | 23 November 2009 | 28 February 2011
|
| Palermo FC | 3 April 2011 | 1 June 2011
|
| ACF Fiorentina | 7 November 2011 | 2 May 2012
|
| UC Sampdoria | 17 December 2012 | 11 November 2013
|
| Bologna | 4 May 2015 | 28 October 2015
|
| Levski Sofia | 8 August 2017 | 19 July 2018
|
| Palermo FC | 24 April 2019 | 5 June 2019
|
| Ascoli | 29 November 2020 | 22 December 2020
|
|
Honours
Manager
- Lazio
- Palermo
- Levski Sofia
