Fiorentina Sacks Coach Fabio Grosso After Bad Start
The Italian football club Fiorentina has dismissed its head coach, Fabio Grosso, after a disastrous start to the season.
Grosso had been in charge of the team but was let go following poor results at the beginning of the Serie A season.
Serie A is the top league of Italian football. Teams compete every week for points and a good position in the table.
Fiorentina's board decided that the situation could not continue and made the difficult choice to remove Grosso from his position.
This kind of decision is called a managerial change, and it often happens when a club feels a coach cannot fix bad results quickly enough.
According to reports, Fiorentina is now looking for a new coach, and Thiago Motta is seen as the front-runner for the job.
A front-runner is the person most likely to be chosen. Motta has experience as a coach in Italian football.
Fans and pundits are now waiting to see if Fiorentina will officially confirm Motta as the new head coach.
Pundits are people who give their opinion about sports, often on television or in newspapers.
This news has caused a big reaction among Fiorentina supporters, since coaching changes can affect a team's performance for the rest of the season.
The club will hope that a new coach can help turn the season around and improve the team's results quickly.
Vocabulary6 words
- dismissed
- told someone to stop their job; fired
- Serie A
- the top league of football in Italy
- table
- a list showing team positions based on points
- managerial change
- when a team changes its coach or manager
- front-runner
- the person most likely to get a job or win
- pundits
- people who give expert opinions, often about sport
Quiz
Answer key
1. He was dismissed as coach 2. Fiorentina had a disastrous start to the season 3. Thiago Motta
Fill-in-the-blank listening
Play the audio again and fill in the missing words as you listen.
The Italian football club Fiorentina has _____ its head coach, Fabio Grosso, after a disastrous start to the season.
Grosso had been in charge of the team but was let go following poor results at the beginning of the _____ season.
Fiorentina's board decided that the situation could not continue and made the difficult choice to remove Grosso from his _____.
This kind of decision is called a _____, and it often happens when a club feels a coach cannot fix bad results quickly enough.
According to reports, Fiorentina is now looking for a new coach, and Thiago Motta is seen as the _____ for the job.
Fans and _____ are now waiting to see if Fiorentina will officially confirm Motta as the new head coach.
This news has caused a big reaction among Fiorentina supporters, since coaching changes can affect a team's _____ for the rest of the season.
Discussion questions
- Why do football clubs often change their coach after a bad start to the season?
- Do you think firing a coach quickly helps a team improve? Why or why not?
- How do you think fans feel when their favourite team changes its coach?
- What qualities do you think a new coach needs to succeed at a big club like Fiorentina?