Culture Society, Identity and Belonging
When things aren’t going well on the pitch, football players can have a hard enough time dealing with one manager. This week the Italian club Piacenza had three in 24 hours. With just one win in their last seven matches, the managerial merry-go-round began on Tuesday when the fourth-tier side dismissed Carmine Parlato and appointed Simone Bentivoglio as his replacement. This was met with outrage from fans because of Bentivoglio’s 2011 conviction for match-fixing, in which Piacenza were also implicated. Piacenza fans reportedly stormed the field during Bentivoglio’s only training session with the team, while also threatening to boycott home and away games. The club quickly got rid of Bentivoglio and appointed Stefano Rossini, who had been replaced by Parlato as manager last month. Then on Wednesday the maelstrom gave way to a miracle: Piacenza won 2-1.
