From ambitious appointments to long-term projects, and from big names to lesser-known leaders, Roma have had a wide array of personalities and tacticians in charge of the first team, even just in recent memory.
Their latest appointment, in a stunning development, is Ivan Juric, the former Torino boss who has replaced club legend Daniele De Rossi in the wake of the ex-captain’s shock sacking.
It is actually quite rare for Roma to have gone for a coach whose most recent job was also in Serie A, in contrast to the likes of Jose Mourinho (formerly with Inter, admittedly, but with Tottenham directly before his Roma stint), Rudi Garcia (ex-Lille) or Paulo Fonseca (ex-Shakhtar Donetsk).
But here, Juric included, are the five most recent appointments Roma have made of someone who had just been on another Serie A bench.
Ivan Juric (Torino)
Having ended his playing career in Italy at Genoa, Ivan Juric went on to embark on his coaching pathway in the same country. Initially assisting Gian Piero Gasperini at Inter, he has since cut his teeth in charge of clubs like Mantova and Crotone in the lower leagues, and Genoa, Hellas Verona and Torino in Serie A.
Juric left Torino at the end of the 2023-24 Serie A season, following three years at the helm in which they finished 10th, 10th and 9th. His availability when Roma sacked De Rossi in September 2024 made him one of the more appealing immediate options, setting up the biggest job of his coaching career to date.
Eusebio Di Francesco (Sassuolo)
A former Roma player who had won the Scudetto as a player in 2001, Eusebio Di Francesco earned the right to return to the club as coach in 2017 after an inspiring spell with Sassuolo.
Di Francesco led the Neroverdi from Serie B to Europe, which prompted Roma to select him as the first coach of their post-Totti era after the departure of Luciano Spalletti.
The highlight of Di Francesco’s Roma reign was undoubtedly the run to the 2017-18 Champions League semi-finals, including the famous comeback win over Barcelona. That season, at the time of writing, was also the most recent time Roma finished in the top four of Serie A.
However, a catastrophic transfer window overseen by Monchi in the summer of 2018 – with barely any tangible indication of knowledge of what the coach would want to build – set up Di Francesco for failure and, far from blameless himself either by this point, he was sacked in March 2019.
Claudio Ranieri (Juventus)
The man who replaced Di Francesco, coincidentally, was Claudio Ranieri – who a decade earlier had been the most recent previous example of this topic before him when his first spell began after his time in charge of Juventus.
Ranieri was selected as Juventus’ coach for their first post-Calciopoli season back in Serie A, leading them to third in the table and playing a leading role in them coming second the following season, despite his departure shortly before it ended.
Former Roma player Ranieri then returned to his beloved club after a turbulent end to Spalletti’s first spell in charge of the Giallorossi. He inspired Roma up the table and had them in a concerted title race that they ultimately lost to Inter.
Ranieri’s second season at Roma was more challenging and he resigned in February 2011, although his subsequent steering of the ship for the last dozen games of the 2018-19 season in his second spell endeared him further to his fanbase.
Claudio Ranieri and Roma: The story of an unbreakable bond
Luciano Spalletti (Udinese)
There is a strong case that Luciano Spalletti was the best example of Roma picking a manager thanks to his success with another Serie A side, and then him stepping up to deliver in his new surroundings too.
After inspiring Udinese to a fourth-place finish in 2004-05, enough to put them into the Champions League for the first time in their history, Spalletti was chosen by Roma, who were looking for more stability after their turbulent season with four coaches.
Spalletti went on to become one of Roma’s most successful coaches in terms of trophies won, lifting the Coppa Italia twice and Supercoppa Italiana once, but never quite managing to secure a Scudetto despite a couple of runners-up finishes in the league.
A poor start to the 2009-10 season, overshadowed by major looming off-field changes at the club, culminated in his resignation and replacement by Ranieri. After a spell in Russia with Zenit, though, Spalletti would be back at Roma for 18 months between 2016 and 2017.
Cesare Prandelli (Parma)
Parma achieved back-to-back fifth-place finishes during Cesare Prandelli’s two seasons in charge of the then-Serie A side, which encouraged Roma to appoint him as the successor to Fabio Capello upon the former Scudetto winner’s divisive exit for Juventus in 2004.
They were big shoes to fill, but Prandelli never got the chance to get going at Roma due to unfortunate reasons. He stepped down before managing a competitive game to care for his ill wife, which set the tone for the season ahead for Roma in terms of the rate they would have to replace coaches.
Prandelli later returned to management in 2005 with Fiorentina, by which point Roma had already had three other managers since his resignation and had also just appointed a fourth in Spalletti.
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