It seemed inevitable that things would finally catch up to Maurizio Zamparini and they certainly did this season. The notoriously trigger-happy Palermo club president changes managers as often as he changes clothes it seems. Somehow his policy managed to escape punishment as the club had been in the top flight for eight years but he finally paid for his mistakes as Palermo were relegated to Serie B. The season didn't get off to the best of starts under Giuseppe Sannino who arrived in the summer having secured safety at Siena last season. The new manager was able to gain just a point from the Rosanero's opening three games and was promptly shown the door. It was a typically rash decision by Zamparini and one which he would later admit to regret. Gian Piero Gasperini was the new man in charge. To his credit, he did try to make bold changes and seemed to get the side playing better as a team but they were still not getting the results despite their best efforts. Last season they were over-reliant on Fabrizio Miccoli but the mercurial captain struggled for fitness and consistency in his play all season despite showing flashes of his old brilliance. Gasperini incredibly lasted until the new year having won only three games. Several new faces came in January but most of Palermo's recruits were absolute flops. Paulo Dybala was purchased in the summer for a big fee but failed to live up to his billing. He showed glimpses of his potential but he was never fully settled in Sicily and that lead to him being used sporadically. Others brought in such as Mauro Formica, Alejandro Faurlin and Mauro Boselli failed to contribute much at all and Gasperini was sacked in February. Incredibly though, Zamparini continued to play managerial musical chairs as Gasperini returned after just a few weeks of Alberto Malesani being in charge. Malesani suffered the ignominy of being sacked without losing a game! However, three draws against fellow strugglers proved a poor enough run to see him dismissed. However, the script took another twist as Gasperini didn't last much more than a week before being axed for the second time. The revolving door finally came back around to Sannino. Sannino's return coincided with an upturn in fortunes for the club as they went on a very good five match unbeaten run to move out of the relegation zone. Josip Ilicic was the star of the show and was the Rosanero's best player this season. Stefano Sorrentino proved their only good piece of transfer business as the former Chievo keeper was outstanding at times between the sticks. However, it would all prove to be too little, too late as a tough run-in against some in-form sides meant that Palermo just didn't have enough quality to beat the drop. Now it remains to be seen whether they can keep the quality remaining in their squad for what promises to be a long Serie B campaign. One also wonders if Zamparini will have learned his lesson when it comes to managers but with Gennaro Gattuso the latest random named to be tipped to take over, it seems he may never learn!
