Vincenzo Montella
Encyclopedia
Vincenzo Montella is a retired Italian
Italian people
The Italian people are an ethnic group that share a common Italian culture, ancestry and speak the Italian language as a mother tongue. Within Italy, Italians are defined by citizenship, regardless of ancestry or country of residence , and are distinguished from people...

 footballer. Currently he is the youngest head coach of Serie A
Serie A
Serie A , now called Serie A TIM due to sponsorship by Telecom Italia, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and has been operating for over eighty years since 1929. It had been organized by Lega Calcio until 2010, but a new...

, after being named at the helm of Sicilian
Sicily
Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...

 outfit Catania
Calcio Catania
Calcio Catania is an Italian football club founded in 1908 and based in Catania, Sicily. The club has spent much of its history in Serie B, gaining promotion to Italy's top league Serie A five times...

 on 9 June 2011.

Montella's nickname during his playing career was L'Aeroplanino ("The Little Airplane"), in a reference to his small stature and trademark goal celebration, where he spreads his arms like wings.

Club career

Montella began his club career in Serie C1
Serie C1
Lega Pro Prima Divisione is the name of the third highest football league in Italy. It consists of 36 teams, divided geographically into two divisions of 18 teams each. Until 2008 it was known as Serie C1....

 at Empoli
Empoli F.C.
Empoli Football Club is an Italian association football club located in Empoli, Tuscany, founded in 1920 and played its first official match in 1921.In recent years, the club has all too often been bouncing between Italy's two top divisions...

 in 1990 before moving to Serie B
Serie B
Serie B, currently named Serie bwin due to sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It is contested by 22 teams and organized by the Lega Serie B since July 2010, after the split of Lega Calcio that previously took care of both the...

 club Genoa
Genoa C.F.C.
Genoa Cricket and Football Club, commonly referred to simply as Genoa , is a professional Italian football club based in the city of Genoa, Liguria...

 in 1995, where he scored 21 goals in his only season with the club, at the end of which he lifted the Anglo-Italian Cup
1995–96 Anglo-Italian Cup
The 1995–96 Anglo-Italian Cup was the last ever Anglo-Italian Cup competition. The European football competition was played between eight clubs from England and eight clubs from Italy. Italian side Genoa lifted the trophy after beating English side Port Vale 5-2.-Format:For the competition there...

. He then moved up to Serie A
Serie A
Serie A , now called Serie A TIM due to sponsorship by Telecom Italia, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and has been operating for over eighty years since 1929. It had been organized by Lega Calcio until 2010, but a new...

 to U.C. Sampdoria
U.C. Sampdoria
Unione Calcio Sampdoria is an Italian association football club based in Genoa. The club was formed in 1946 from the merger of two existing sports clubs whose roots can be traced back to the 1890s, Sampierdarenese and Andrea Doria...

, where he remained three years, until 1999, when he moved to Roma in a 50 billion Italian lire  (€25M) transfer.

Montella made his Serie A debut on 8 September 1996, against Perugia
Perugia Calcio
Associazione Calcistica Perugia Calcio is an Italian association football club based in Perugia, Umbria, direct heir of the old Perugia Calcio and A.C. Perugia, excluded from Italian football because of financial troubles....

.

Roma

It was Roma coach Zdeněk Zeman
Zdenek Zeman
Zdeněk Zeman is a Czech-Italian football coach. He has managed numerous different teams, mostly in Italian football, over the years, and is currently in charge of Serie B club Pescara.-Biography:...

 that wanted him to spearhead the Roma attack, but that year Roma also signed a new coach, Fabio Capello
Fabio Capello
Fabio Capello is an Italian football manager and former player. He is the manager of the England national football team.Capello has the distinction of winning the domestic league title with every club he has coached throughout his career...

, who disliked short forwards. Despite this, during the season 1999-00, Montella scored 18 goals, being the topscorer of the giallorossi.
The following year, Roma signed the Argentinian forward Gabriel Batistuta
Gabriel Batistuta
Gabriel Omar Batistuta , nicknamed Batigol, is a former professional footballer. The prolific Argentine striker played most of his club football at Fiorentina in Italy, and he is the tenth top scorer of all-time in the Italian Serie A league, with 184 goals in 318 matches...

 from ACF Fiorentina
ACF Fiorentina
ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as simply Fiorentina, is a professional Italian football club from Florence, Tuscany. Founded by a merger in 1926, Fiorentina have played at the top level of Italian football for the majority of their existence; only four clubs have played in more Serie A...

, the tall striker wanted by Capello.

There was a controversy between the two forwards concerning the jersey #9, that was the number of both players. In the end Batistuta chose #18. "Batigol" was the coach's first choice, while Montella was often a substitute. Despite his lack of starts he was one of the main protagonists of Roma's third Scudetto in 2000–01
Serie A 2000-01
In the 2000-01 season, Serie A, the major football Italian professional league, was composed by 18 teams, for the 13th consecutive time from season 1988-89....

 and scored many important goals for the team.

The controversies between Capello and Montella continued in the following years as Montella was unhappy at his lack of first team opportunites, and in March 2002 he made his sadness clear stating "I would have better expectations with another coach".
He has always been an idol of Roma's supporters, mainly because he has had a knack for performing well in the Rome derby against S.S. Lazio
S.S. Lazio
Società Sportiva Lazio, commonly referred to as Lazio, is a professional Italian football club based in Rome. The team, founded in 1900, play in the Serie A and have spent most of their history in the top tier of Italian football...

, scoring a brace in his first derby in 1999, and four goals in a 5-1 win on March 10, 2002. His four-goal haul is still the record of goals scored in a derby by a single player.

2003 was a bad period for Montella as he divorced from his former wife and was plagued with many injuries. During the season 2003-04
Serie A 2003-04
The 2003-2004 season in Italian Serie A football contained 18 teams for the 16th and last time from the 1988-89 season. With the bottom three being relegated, the 15th placed side would face the 6th highest team from Serie B, with the winner playing in the Serie A in 2004-2005.As usual, the top two...

 he played only 12 games but still managed a good scoring record, scoring 6 goals in those limited games.

During the season 2004–05
Serie A 2004-05
In the 2004–05 season, the Serie A, the highest professional football league in Italy, was composed of 20 teams for the first time in several years....

 Fabio Capello
Fabio Capello
Fabio Capello is an Italian football manager and former player. He is the manager of the England national football team.Capello has the distinction of winning the domestic league title with every club he has coached throughout his career...

 finally left Roma for Juventus FC and, while the giallorossi had a disastrous season, Montella scored 23 goals and earned a new contract lasting until June 30, 2010.
In season 2005–06
Serie A 2005-06
In the 2005–06 season, Serie A, the major professional football league in Italian, was contested for the second year in a row by 20 teams. The league commenced on August 28, 2005 and finished on May 14, 2006...

 he was again plagued with injuries. He underwent surgery on both his back and shoulder, limiting him to just twelve games. In January 2007, during season 2006-07
Serie A 2006-07
The Serie A 2006–2007 season began September 10, 2006. It was scheduled to begin on August 26 and 27, but was then postponed due to the Serie A scandal of 2006. It is the 104th Italian championship ever held, the first without the presence of Juventus, and the 75th Serie A league, the first...

 he was loaned to Fulham FC because Francesco Totti
Francesco Totti
Francesco Totti, Ufficiale OMRI, is an Italian footballer who is the captain of Serie A club Roma. His primary position is that of a trequartista, though he has also been successfully utilized as a lone striker. Totti has spent his entire career at Roma, is the number-one goalscorer and the most...

 was the lone forward in Luciano Spalletti
Luciano Spalletti
Luciano Spalletti is a retired Italian footballer and current coach of FC Zenit Saint Petersburg.-Playing career:Born in Certaldo, Province of Florence, Spalletti played for Serie C teams such as Entella, Spezia, Viareggio and Empoli....

's 4-2-3-1, while Montella wanted to have more chances to play.

In the red AS Roma jersey he played a total of 215 matches in 8 years scoring 94 goals, becoming the fifth best topscorer of Roma's history.

He played his last game with giallorossi on December 23, 2006 before left on loan to England.

Later career

He joined Fulham on loan on January 4, 2007 on a six month deal wearing the number 11 shirt. He scored twice against Leicester City on his home debut in the FA Cup
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...

. He scored again on January 27 in the same competition against Stoke City
Stoke City F.C.
Stoke City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire that plays in the Premier League. Founded in 1863, it is the oldest club in the Premier League, and considered to be the second oldest professional football club in the world, after Notts...

.

On January 13, 2007 he made his Premier League debut against West Ham United. Against Tottenham at Craven Cottage
Craven Cottage
Craven Cottage is the name of a football stadium in the Hammersmith and Fulham area that has been the home ground of the association football team Fulham F.C. since 1896....

 seven days later, he scored his first Premiership goal with a penalty kick. He also scored a goal against Blackburn Rovers in a 1-1 all draw which gave Fulham the boost to stay up in the Premiership.

Montella quickly became popular with the Fulham fans and showed his gratitude for making him feel at home at Craven Cottage. However, he hardly started under manager Chris Coleman, despite several public pleas. After Coleman's
Chris Coleman (footballer)
Christopher "Chris" Coleman is a Welsh football manager and former player. He is currently the manager of Greek Side Larissa....

 sacking, Montella only started twice under replacement manager Lawrie Sanchez
Lawrie Sanchez
Lawrence Philip "Lawrie" Sanchez is a former Northern Irish football manager, and a former player. He is currently the manager of League Two side Barnet...

. Montella hinted that he would like to return to Roma after the end of the 06-07 season.
The loan was terminated by Sanchez
Lawrie Sanchez
Lawrence Philip "Lawrie" Sanchez is a former Northern Irish football manager, and a former player. He is currently the manager of League Two side Barnet...

 on May 8, 2007, a week before its natural expiration.

He was loaned to Sampdoria
U.C. Sampdoria
Unione Calcio Sampdoria is an Italian association football club based in Genoa. The club was formed in 1946 from the merger of two existing sports clubs whose roots can be traced back to the 1890s, Sampierdarenese and Andrea Doria...

 for the season 2007–08. Bruno Conti
Bruno Conti
Bruno Conti is an Italian ex-football player and former coach of the Serie A club Roma from 14 March 2005 to 30 June 2005. His two sons Daniele and Andrea are both professional footballers...

 brought Montella back to Roma in 2008–09, after Amantino Mancini had left Roma. Montella took number 23 when he came back; Vučinić held on the number 9 shirt which was formerly Montella's, and Montella took the number 23 shirt which was formerly for Vučinić'.

Montella was only able to make a substitute appearances for giallorossi at the 2008-09 season. He played his last game on 16 May 2009.

On 2 July 2009, Montella announced his retirement from professional football as a player.

Club career statistics

|-
|1990–91||rowspan="5"|Empoli
Empoli F.C.
Empoli Football Club is an Italian association football club located in Empoli, Tuscany, founded in 1920 and played its first official match in 1921.In recent years, the club has all too often been bouncing between Italy's two top divisions...

||rowspan="5"|Serie C1||1||0
|-
|1991–92||7||4
|-
|1992–93||13||5
|-
|1993–94||0||0
|-
|1994–95||30||17
|-
|1995–96||Genoa
Genoa C.F.C.
Genoa Cricket and Football Club, commonly referred to simply as Genoa , is a professional Italian football club based in the city of Genoa, Liguria...

||Serie B
Serie B
Serie B, currently named Serie bwin due to sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It is contested by 22 teams and organized by the Lega Serie B since July 2010, after the split of Lega Calcio that previously took care of both the...

||34||21
|-
|1996–97||rowspan="3"|Sampdoria
U.C. Sampdoria
Unione Calcio Sampdoria is an Italian association football club based in Genoa. The club was formed in 1946 from the merger of two existing sports clubs whose roots can be traced back to the 1890s, Sampierdarenese and Andrea Doria...

||rowspan="3"|Serie A
Serie A
Serie A , now called Serie A TIM due to sponsorship by Telecom Italia, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and has been operating for over eighty years since 1929. It had been organized by Lega Calcio until 2010, but a new...

||28||22
|-
|1997–98||33||20
|-
|1998–99||22||12
|-
|1999–00||rowspan="8"|Roma
A.S. Roma
Associazione Sportiva Roma, commonly referred to as simply Roma, is a professional Italian football club based in Rome. Founded by a merger in 1927, Roma have participated in the top-tier of Italian football for all of their existence but one season in the early 50s...

||rowspan="8"|Serie A
Serie A
Serie A , now called Serie A TIM due to sponsorship by Telecom Italia, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and has been operating for over eighty years since 1929. It had been organized by Lega Calcio until 2010, but a new...

||31||16
|-
|2000–01||28||14
|-
|2001–02||19||13
|-
|2002–03||29||9
|-
|2003–04||11||5
|-
|2004–05||37||21
|-
|2005–06||13||1
|-
|2006–07||12||3

|-
|2006–07||Fulham
Fulham F.C.
Fulham Football Club is a professional English Premier League club based in southwest London Fulham, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. Founded in 1879, they play in the Premier League, their 11th current season...

||Premier League||10||2

|-
|2007–08||Sampdoria
U.C. Sampdoria
Unione Calcio Sampdoria is an Italian association football club based in Genoa. The club was formed in 1946 from the merger of two existing sports clubs whose roots can be traced back to the 1890s, Sampierdarenese and Andrea Doria...

||Serie A
Serie A
Serie A , now called Serie A TIM due to sponsorship by Telecom Italia, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and has been operating for over eighty years since 1929. It had been organized by Lega Calcio until 2010, but a new...

||13||4
|-
|2008–09||Roma
A.S. Roma
Associazione Sportiva Roma, commonly referred to as simply Roma, is a professional Italian football club based in Rome. Founded by a merger in 1927, Roma have participated in the top-tier of Italian football for all of their existence but one season in the early 50s...

||Serie A
Serie A
Serie A , now called Serie A TIM due to sponsorship by Telecom Italia, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and has been operating for over eighty years since 1929. It had been organized by Lega Calcio until 2010, but a new...

||12||0
373||187
10||2
383||189
|}

International career

Montella received his first international cap
Cap (sport)
In sports, a cap is a metaphorical term for a player's appearance on a select team, such as a national team. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of association football...

 against Wales
Wales national football team
The Wales national football team represents Wales in international football. It is controlled by the Football Association of Wales , the governing body for football in Wales, and the third oldest national football association in the world. The team have only qualified for a major international...

 on June 5, 1999, and was part of the Italian national team at Euro 2000 and the 2002 World Cup. Montella holds 20 caps.

Coaching career

Montella signed a 3-year contract with Roma as youth team coach for the Giovanissimi Nazionali (Under-15 level).

On 21 February 2011 he was appointed as interim head coach of the first team for the remainder of the season, taking over the role from resigning boss Claudio Ranieri
Claudio Ranieri
Claudio Ranieri, is an Italian football manager, currently in charge as head coach of Internazionale.He has also managed many other well-known clubs in Europe, including Cagliari, Napoli, Fiorentina, Valencia, Atlético Madrid, Chelsea, Parma, Juventus and Roma.-Early life:Ranieri attended St...

.

On 23 February 2011 in his first game in Serie A
Serie A
Serie A , now called Serie A TIM due to sponsorship by Telecom Italia, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and has been operating for over eighty years since 1929. It had been organized by Lega Calcio until 2010, but a new...

, Roma
A.S. Roma
Associazione Sportiva Roma, commonly referred to as simply Roma, is a professional Italian football club based in Rome. Founded by a merger in 1927, Roma have participated in the top-tier of Italian football for all of their existence but one season in the early 50s...

 won away beating Bologna
Bologna F.C. 1909
Bologna Football Club 1909, known simply as Bologna, is an Italian Football League club based in Bologna, Emilia-Romagna, formed in 1993. The club are nicknamed the rossoblù because of the red and blue striped shirts they wear. Red and Blue are the official colours of the town.During its history...

 1-0.

On 8 March 2011 in his debut in Champions League
UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League, known simply the Champions League and originally known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup or European Cup, is an annual international club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations since 1955 for the top football clubs in Europe. It...

, Roma
A.S. Roma
Associazione Sportiva Roma, commonly referred to as simply Roma, is a professional Italian football club based in Rome. Founded by a merger in 1927, Roma have participated in the top-tier of Italian football for all of their existence but one season in the early 50s...

 lost away beaten by Shakhtar Donetsk
FC Shakhtar Donetsk
FC Shakhtar Donetsk is a Ukrainian professional football club from the city of Donetsk. Shakhtar has appeared in several European competitions and currently is often a participant of the UEFA Champions League. The club became the first Ukrainian club to win the UEFA Cup in 2009, the last year...

 3-0. He completed a eventful season for AS Roma leading the Giallorossi to sixth place in the league table, and he was subsequently released after the new club owners led by U.S. businessman Thomas R. DiBenedetto
Thomas R. DiBenedetto
Thomas Richard DiBenedetto, is an U.S. entrepreneur and, since September 27, 2011, the president of the Italian football club A.S. Roma, the 22nd of the club's history....

 decided to appoint Luis Enrique
Luís Enrique Martínez García
Luis Enrique Martínez García , known as Luis Enrique, is a retired Spanish footballer, and the current head coach of Serie A club A.S. Roma...

 as permanent head coach for the 2011–12 season. On 9 June 2011, and only a few days after being released by Roma, Montella was announced as new boss of Catania
Calcio Catania
Calcio Catania is an Italian football club founded in 1908 and based in Catania, Sicily. The club has spent much of its history in Serie B, gaining promotion to Italy's top league Serie A five times...

, signing a two-year contract with the club from Eastern Sicily.

Managerial statistics

Team Nat From To Record
GWDLWin %
Roma
A.S. Roma
Associazione Sportiva Roma, commonly referred to as simply Roma, is a professional Italian football club based in Rome. Founded by a merger in 1927, Roma have participated in the top-tier of Italian football for all of their existence but one season in the early 50s...

  21 February 2011 22 May 2011
Catania
Calcio Catania
Calcio Catania is an Italian football club founded in 1908 and based in Catania, Sicily. The club has spent much of its history in Serie B, gaining promotion to Italy's top league Serie A five times...

  1 July 2011
Total


Updated 22 May 2011

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK