Davide Ballardini is a retired footballer and a manager. He was born in 1964 in Ravenna, Italy, and spent seven years of his playing career at Cesena. His coaching career took over at Bologna, where he guided the youth team. Then he worked with juniors of Cesena, AC Milan and Parma. In 2004 he was appointed the manager of Sambenedettese and by the end of the season he brought them to the fourth place in the league. In 2005 and 2006 he had two short periods at Cagliari and then Pescara, but was sacked soon.
In December 2007 Ballardini took charge of Cagliari, from where he was sacked not long ago. He helped the side to avoid relegation at the end of the season but didn’t extend his contact because he didn’t to find an agreement with Cagliari chairman.
In September 2008 Ballardini was appointed the head coach of Palermo, where he spent one season and in mid-June he switched to Lazio, signing a two-year contract. Shortly after his appointment Lazio won the 2009 Supercoppa Italiana but the 2009/10 season wasn’t a success for the team, as they failed to qualify for the knockout stages of the UEFA Europa League and were close to relegation so Ballardini was sacked. From November 2010 till June 2011 he guided Genoa, but his contract was terminated. From November 2011 till March 2012 he was at the helm of Cagliari and that was his third period there. At the beginning of 2013 Ballardini was appointed the manager of Genoa for the second part of the season.
In January 2014 he was called up to save Bologna from relegation.
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