Napoli fire coach Walter Mazzarri as Francesco Calzona becomes club's third manager of the season

Napoli sacked Walter Mazzarri after just 17 in charge at the club

There is no peace for Napoli fans this season as the club has announced the departure of caretaker coach Walter Mazzarri with Francesco Calzona replacing him until the end of the season. Calzona was the assistant coach of both Maurizio Sarri and Luciano Spalletti at Napoli before starting his coaching career in 2022 when he became the manager of the Slovakian national team. 

After signing a short-term deal until June 2024, Calzona will also keep his job as national team coach until the end of the current season. Napoli owner Aurelio De Laurentiis decided to sack Mazzarri after the draw at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona on Saturday against Genoa and before the first leg of the Champions League's round of 16 that will take place on Wednesday against FC Barcelona in Naples. 

After winning the 2022-23 Scudetto after more than 30 under Spalletti, the club went through some big changes as both Spalletti and former sporting director Cristiano Giuntoli left the club. De Laurentiis appointed former Al-Nassr coach Rudi Garcia, but things didn't work well and the Frenchman was sacked last November, with Mazzarri taking the role as caretaker manager. With Mazzarri, things went even worse. In 17 games, Napoli only had six wins under and only scored 16 goals. Also, in nine of these games, Napoli failed to score and the club is currently ninth in the table, nine points behind the top four. Calzona will have the challenging role of turning things around in this last part of the season, where Mazzarri failed in the past weeks. 

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