Franco Baldini

Franco Baldini (born 3 October 1960) is an Italian former professional footballer and former technical director for English club Tottenham Hotspur of the Premier League.

Franco Baldini
Personal information
Date of birth (1960-10-03) 3 October 1960
Place of birth Reggello, Italy
Position(s) Midfielder
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1979–1980 Sangiovannese 30 (7)
1980–1981 Varese 23 (1)
1981–1982 Bologna 23 (0)
1982–1984 Bari 47 (3)
1984–1985 Pescara 34 (1)
1985–1987 Campobasso 57 (2)
1987–1988 Foggia 26 (5)
1988–1989 Casertana 25 (1)
1991–1992 Colligiana ? (9)
National team
1981 Italy U-21 0 (0)
Teams managed
1999–2005 Roma (Director of Football)
2006–2007 Real Madrid (Director)
2007–2011 England (Assistant Manager)
2011–2013 Roma (Director)
2013–2015 Tottenham Hotspur (Technical Director)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Playing career

Born in Reggello, Baldini most notably played for Bari and Bologna.[1] In 1981, he was called up to the Italian under-21 national team, but did not go on to make a competitive appearance.[2]

Managerial career

Roma

Baldini became director of football at Roma in 1999, where he remained until his resignation in March 2005.[1] He joined Fabio Capello at Real Madrid in 2006,[1] and when Capello took over as the England manager in December 2007, Baldini became assistant manager.[3] His role at the national team of England involved scouting, managing the supporting staff (e.g. the doctors, physiotherapists, masseurs and kit managers) and generally making the job as easy as possible for Capello. He left England after their successful UEFA Euro 2012 qualification and joined Roma before the start of 2012, but was assisting the team well before then.

Since then, former Roma manager Luis Enrique, Director Walter Sabatini and himself have undergone a major revolution at the club alongside new owner Thomas R. DiBenedetto to try and instill a system of running a football club similar to that of Barcelona. However, his time at Roma was criticised by removing Luis Enrique as manager and replacing him with Zdeněk Zeman, which Baldini believes appointing Zemen was a mistake and said the club wanted to give the fans a spectacle.[4] Baldini left his post at Roma by mutual consent on 5 June 2013.[5]

On 19 June 2013, Baldini was confirmed in the role of technical director of Tottenham Hotspur.[6]

Tottenham Hotspur

At the end of the 2012–13 Premier League season, then-Tottenham manager André Villas-Boas openly pushed for someone to be employed as a technical director, "someone who has experience of dressing rooms, represents the club, and is able to link up with players and agents."[7] Soon after, on 19 June 2013, Baldini was appointed to the role.[6] He immediately oversaw the departures of Spurs players Steven Caulker, Tom Huddlestone, Clint Dempsey, Scott Parker and Gareth Bale, the latter for a world record fee of £85.3 million to Real Madrid.[8]

Baldini was also thought to be responsible for signing several replacement players during the same summer, including Paulinho, Nacer Chadli, Étienne Capoue, Roberto Soldado, Vlad Chiricheș, Christian Eriksen and Erik Lamela. Later in 2013, however, Villas-Boas was sacked by the Tottenham Board on 16 December following a humbling 5–0 home defeat to Liverpool.[9] It is thought that Baldini offered his resignation, perhaps as a sign of accepting culpability for the poor form of the team.[10] It was widely discussed in the media at the time that most of the players signed by Baldini were not performing as well as had been expected.[11][12][13] Baldini, however, remained in his post after new manager Tim Sherwood replaced Villas-Boas.[11]

Baldini left his role as technical director on 28 September 2015 to spend time outside football.[14]

References
  1. Kelso, Paul (14 December 2007). "Board disquiet stalls Capello's coronation". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 December 2007.
  2. "Convocazioni e presenze in campo". FIGC. Retrieved 6 October 2011.
  3. "Capello named new England manager". BBC Sport. 14 December 2007. Retrieved 14 December 2007.
  4. "Baldini takes blame for Roma season". Goal.com. 26 May 2013. Retrieved 19 July 2013.
  5. Roma free Franco Baldini to join Tottenham as technical director, retrieved 19 June 2013
  6. Baldini Appointed Technical Director THFS website, Retrieved 19 June 2013
  7. David Hytner. "André Villas-Boas wants Tottenham to appoint a technical director". The Guardian.
  8. "BBC Sport - Gareth Bale joins Real Madrid from Spurs in £85m world record deal". BBC Sport.
  9. Alistair Magowan. "BBC Sport - Tottenham Hotspur 0-5 Liverpool". BBC Sport.
  10. "Tottenham Hotspur rejected Franco Baldini's offer of resignation following departure of Andre Villas-Boas". The Telegraph. 21 December 2013.
  11. Wallace, Sam (17 December 2013). "Baldini must make summer signings shine at Tottenham Hotspur or he's out". Belfast Telegraph. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
  12. "Andre Villas-Boas: Tottenham sack manager". BBC Sport. 16 December 2013. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
  13. Stoddart, Russell (16 December 2013). "Paul Walsh: Baldini has a lot to answer for following Villas-Boas' sacking". Goal.com. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
  14. "Club Announcement". tottenhamhotspur.com.
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