"Great Italian left-back" becomes first manager sacked in Europe's top five leagues this season!

It appears that being a great left-back and being a great head coach cannot necessarily be equated. Early this morning, Serie A club Fiorentina officially announced that the club had relieved first-team head coach Fabio Grosso of his duties. The direct reason for Grosso's dismissal was undoubtedly the team's three consecutive defeats in the opening three rounds of Serie A.

In last Friday's Serie A third-round match, Fiorentina, known as the "Viola," scored first, but Torino scored two goals after the 70th minute to complete a comeback, handing Fiorentina a third consecutive Serie A defeat.

Grosso had coached Sassuolo for the past two seasons, during which he led the team back to Serie A as Serie B champions. In June this year, Grosso had only just taken over at Fiorentina. During the summer transfer window, the "Viola" spent more than 150 million euros in total, second only to AC Milan and Juventus in Serie A. However, despite such investment, the team won only one of its first four official matches of the new season, a Coppa Italia game against Serie B side Benevento. They are currently bottom of Serie A with zero points and have immediately fallen into a relegation battle.

Apart from results, Grosso's relationship with the club's sporting director Paratici was also reportedly not harmonious. Therefore, when considering a coaching change, Grosso was in a difficult position after losing support from the club's senior management. Following the dismissal of Pioli last November, Fiorentina have made a coaching change before the halfway point of the league season for the second consecutive year. The "great Italian left-back" Grosso also became the first head coach to be dismissed in Europe's top five leagues during the 2026/27 season.

As for candidates to replace Grosso, there is currently no final decision. The more widely linked targets include Palladino, who previously coached Fiorentina, and Tudor, the former Tottenham and Juventus manager.