Former Italy coach Cesare Prandelli has returned to the Fiorentina bench after 10 years away following the sacking of Giuseppe Iachini, the Serie A club announced on Monday.
Fiorentina said Prandelli would be back in charge of training on Tuesday, after his last spell with the ‘Viola’ between 2005-2010 when the club qualified twice for the Champions League.
Prandelli, 63, returns to the Tuscan club in the hope of igniting a season that has started miserably.
Fiorentina sit 12th in Serie A after winning two of their opening seven matches, a poor run of form that led to Iachini’s sacking after less than a year in the post.
Prandelli ended his first spell at Fiorentina to take charge of the Italian national team in the wake of their disastrous group stage exit at the 2010 World Cup, and he guided the ‘Azzurri’ to the final of Euro 2012, where they were however thrashed 4-0 by Spain.
He quit the national team two years later when Italy suffered another group stage humilation at the 2014 World Cup, being knocked out alongside England.
Since then Prandelli, who has never won a major honour as a coach, has failed to make much of an impression, with underwhelming spells at Galatasaray, Valencia, Al-Nasr and Genoa.
While in charge of Fiorentina first time round he also took them to the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup in 2008.
