On 6 September 2026 ACF Fiorentina sacked Fabio Grosso. On 7 September they announced Paolo Vanoli, who had left that same bench in June, three months earlier.
Three league games, three defeats, zero points. It is the first coaching change of Serie A 2026/27, and it arrived before the season had properly started.
The numbers behind the decision
| Item | Figure |
|---|---|
| Games played | 3 |
| Points | 0 |
| Goals scored | 1 |
| Goals conceded | 9 |
| Matchday 1 | Roma-Fiorentina 4-0, at the Olimpico |
| Matchday 2 | Fiorentina-Frosinone 0-3, at the Franchi |
| Matchday 3 | Fiorentina-Torino 1-2, at the Franchi |
| Position | bottom of the table |
One goal in three games is the number that weighs most, and not because it is the lowest: it is the one that says the team was not creating enough to stay in matches. Nine goals conceded in three games complete the picture, but a defence is fixed faster than an attack that does not shoot.
What the club statement says, word for word
The text published by Fiorentina is short, and worth reading in full rather than summarised:
“ACF Fiorentina announces that the technical guidance of the first team has been entrusted to Mister Paolo Vanoli. The club thanks him warmly for immediately accepting, with enthusiasm, to return to the helm of the first team. Vanoli will take his first training session this afternoon.”
Three things sit in those lines. The first is that the appointment is already operational: the first session is the same day. The second is the thanks for having “immediately accepted”, which in the language of club statements means there was no long negotiation. The third is what is missing: the statement does not say how long the contract runs, and it names no figure. Every duration and every salary circulating today comes from the press, not from the club, and should be read as such.
The return, and why it is not a fallback
Vanoli is not a new name in Florence. He arrived on 7 November 2025, replacing Stefano Pioli with the squad in the middle of a crisis, and finished that season safe, in fifteenth place with 42 points. The club then replaced him with Fabio Grosso on 8 June 2026, and is recalling him three months later.
The record of the coach, born in Varese on 12 August 1972, tells the rest:
| Stage | What he did |
|---|---|
| Italy youth national teams | federal coaching path |
| Spartak Moscow | Russian Cup in 2022 |
| Venezia | promotion to Serie A in 2024 |
| Torino | eleventh place in Serie A |
| Fiorentina | took over on 7 November 2025, survival in fifteenth with 42 points, replaced by Fabio Grosso on 8 June 2026 |
Recalling the man who saved you last season can be read in two opposite ways, and the two readings do not cancel each other out. On one side it is the choice of a club that knows the dressing room already knows him and does not need two weeks to learn the names: in September, with zero points on the board, time is the resource that is missing. On the other it is an admission that the summer change did not work, and that the new road lasted three games.
The part almost nobody explains: why this is allowed now
The same question comes back every September, and the answer is simpler than it looks. Transfer windows govern the movement of players between clubs, not the employment of coaches.
The Italian window closed on 1 September 2026. From that day Fiorentina cannot buy a striker who is under contract elsewhere, but they can change coach whenever they want, exactly as they can extend one of their own players’ contracts. These are two different trades carried out in the same days, and they get confused only because the word market drags both along with it.
What actually changes before the international break
The technical question is not whether Vanoli knows the environment, but how much time he has to rebuild an attack that has produced one goal in three games.
The natural benchmark is his own work last season: when he arrived in November the squad was in trouble and he pulled it out of the danger zone without changing the players, because in November the window was shut. That is exactly the situation now, with one difference in his favour: back then he was recovering points already dropped over twelve matchdays, today only three have gone.
Two things are worth watching in the coming games, and neither is the immediate result. The first is how many shots on target the team produces, because that is where you see whether the problem was organisation or personnel. The second is the defensive structure on the goals conceded: nine in three games is a lot, but the distribution matters more than the total, and on that the publicly available data is not yet enough for a conclusion. So we are not writing one.
Sources: official ACF Fiorentina statement of 7 September 2026 on Paolo Vanoli’s appointment, and the statement of 6 September 2026 on Fabio Grosso’s dismissal; Serie A 2026/27 results and table over the first three matchdays; encyclopaedic entries for Paolo Vanoli’s personal details and coaching career, including his Fiorentina appointment on 7 November 2025 and the final fifteenth place. The club has published neither the length of the contract nor the salary, and no figure is reported here as established fact.
Frequently asked questions
Who is Fiorentina's new head coach?
Paolo Vanoli. The club announced him on Monday 7 September 2026, the day after Fabio Grosso was sacked.
When had he coached Fiorentina before?
From 7 November 2025 to 8 June 2026, having replaced Stefano Pioli. He finished that season with survival secured, in fifteenth place with 42 points.
Why did Fiorentina sack Grosso?
Three games, three defeats, zero points: 4-0 away to Roma, 3-0 at home to Frosinone, 2-1 at home to Torino. One goal scored, nine conceded, bottom of the table.
Does the statement say how long Vanoli's contract runs?
No. The text published by the club announces the appointment and thanks the coach, but contains neither a duration nor any figure. Any number circulating today does not come from the club.
Can a club change coach with the transfer window closed?
Yes, and it has nothing to do with the window. Windows govern transfers of players between clubs. The relationship between a club and its coach can be ended or signed on any day of the year.
Was this the first sacking of Serie A 2026/27?
Yes. Fiorentina were the first club in the league to change coach this season.
What had Vanoli done before Florence?
He coached Italy's youth national teams, Spartak Moscow, where he won the 2022 Russian Cup, Venezia, promoted to Serie A in 2024, and Torino, whom he finished eleventh with.
