Andrea Sottil has been named new coach of Udinese.
The former Udinese player now returns to take charge of the Zebrette.
Udinese announced today: "A circle that closes, past and present intertwines to continue the great Bianconeri history.
"Udinese Calcio is pleased to embrace Andrea Sottil again. He is, in fact, the new coach of the First Team: he has signed a contract that binds him to the club until 30 June 2023 with an option for the following season.
"For Andrea it is a great return to the Bianconeri family after having defended, with great satisfaction, our colors also as a footballer for four seasons with 115 appearances and 7 goals scored, between Serie A, Coppa Italia, UEFA Cup and Intertoto, contributing to great moments in our history such as the Intertoto victory and two qualifiers in Europe.
"Even as a coach, Sottil has immediately continued to distinguish himself by making a long and successful journey in all categories of Italian football since the 2011/2012 season when, in his first experience among professionals, he led Syracuse to victory in the Serie C championship, the goal which escapes only due to a penalty that sees the Sicilians slide to third place in the standings.
"In the following year, he moved to Gubbio, again in C, where he led a serene championship ending in eighth place. In the 13/14 season he was at the helm of Cuneo, in the following one he obtains a very satisfying salvation with the Paganese. In 2015 he returns to Syracuse and triumphs in the Serie D championship, bringing the team back to the professionals and conquering, the following year, a great sixth place with qualification for the playoffs. Thus comes the call of Livorno for the 2017/2018 vintage and the season ends with another triumph for Sottil who promptly brings the Tuscan team back to Serie B.
"In that summer he returned to Sicily this time on the Catania bench and became the protagonist of another excellent season ending in fourth place and with the playoff semifinal won.
"The time is ripe to deal with Serie B, Pescara hires him for the final of the 19/20 season and also in this case Sottil undertakes the task of saving the team in the playoffs.
"The rest is recent history, he repeats a similar feat even in the 20/21 season when he is called to revive the fortunes of a penultimate Ascoli in the standings and leads them to direct salvation even one day early.
"Now for Andrea Sottil it is time to dive into the new Bianconeri adventure to re-embrace Udinese and get back to getting great satisfaction on the bench as well. The coach brings with him his assistants Ignazio Cristian Bella, Gianluca Cristaldi and Salvatore Gentile.
"Welcome back Andrea!"
