| Gianluca Vialli |
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Vialli's career started in 1980 ; he played for Cremonese , Sampdoria , and Juventus , winning '' Scudetto '' with the latter two clubs. He also won the Champions League with Juve in 1996 . Gianluca moved to Premiership club Chelsea in 1997 and spent his last three years as a player there scoring 40 goals in 83 appearances. Vialli became a player-manager for Chelsea after Ruud Gullit was fired in 1998 , and stayed on with the club until 2000 . He became one of the club's most successful managers, winning the Worthington Cup and UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in 1998 and the FA Cup in 2000. His team also finished third in the Premiership in 1999 , just four points behind champions Manchester United in what was Chelsea's highest league finish for 29 years. The following season saw them reach the quarter-finals of the Champions League in their debut appearance, the highlight of which was a 3-1 victory over FC Barcelona , although they were eventually knocked out on aggregate by the same side. He was surprisingly sacked five games into the 2000-01 season, after an indifferent start. He then took up an offer to manage First Division club Watford in 2001-02. Despite making wholesale and expensive changes to the playing and coaching staff, the Hertfordshire side finished an unimpressive 14th and Vialli was sacked after just one year. Following this, he was drawn into a lengthy dispute with the club over the payment of the remainder of his contract. {Link without Title} Vialli was part of Italy 's third place finish at the and earned 59 caps, scoring 16 goals for his country. He also played in the and . Today Vialli works as TV football commentator for Sky Italia . TIMELINE 1980: Signs for local club Cremonese , but his first full season is unspectacular with just five goals in 31 appearances. 1984: After scoring 10 goals for Cremonese, is signed by Sampdoria. Makes it into double figures for six out of eight seasons at the Genoa -based side. 1985: Wins Italian Cup with Sampdoria. Repeats feat in 1988 and 1989. Makes debut for Italy, against Poland . 1986: Included in Italy squad for Mexico World Cup Finals . 1990: Sampdoria win European Cup Winners' Cup with Vialli scoring twice. Plays in Italian team who finish third in World Cup . 1991: Sampdoria win Italian Championship . Vialli is Serie A's top scorer with 16 goals. 1992: Plays in European Cup final, but finishes on losing side against Barcelona at Wembley . Juventus pay a world record £ 12.5million to bring him to Turin . 1993: Wins UEFA Cup with Juventus, beating Borussia Dortmund in final. 1994: Left out of Italy's squad by Arrigo Sacchi . Famously says he will be supporting Brazil . 1995: Juventus win League and Cup double with 16 goals from Vialli. Scores spectacular goal in second leg of UEFA Cup final against Parma , but Juventus still lose. 1996: Skippers Juventus to victory in the 1996 European Cup final in his last game for the club. Joins Chelsea on a Free Transfer in the Summer for $ 1million a year after rejecting offer from Rangers . Makes Premiership debut in goalless draw with Southampton . Scores first goal for Chelsea against Coventry . 1997: Feud develops with Ruud Gullit as he is regularly left out of the starting line-up. Wins FA Cup winners' medal after coming on as 89th minute substitute in the 2-0 Final Victory over Middlesbrough . Promises to give up smoking in a bid to win a regular place in the Chelsea line-up. Scores four goals in 6-0 drubbing of Barnsley , but starts only four of the first 10 games of the season. Sent Off against Blackburn in Coca-Cola Cup after elbowing Stephane Henchoz . Scores hat-trick against Norwegian side Tromso in the Cup Winners' Cup, but does not play in next three games. 1998: Appointed Chelsea Player-manager after Gullit is sacked. Leads team to Cup Winners' Cup and League Cup success. Chelsea finish 4th in the Premiership. 1999: Chelsea finish 3rd in the Premier league having topped the table at Christmas and been challenging for most of the season. Qualify for the Champions League. Knocked out of the Cup Winners' Cup in the semi-finals. Scores 10 goals in 20 games. Plays (and scores) in his final game for the club in a 2-1 win against Derby County . 2000: Under Vialli, Chelsea reach the Champions League quarter-finals and win the FA Cup but finish a disappointing 5th in the Premiership. Win Charity Shield against Manchester United at the start of the following season. Sacked after the team win just 1 of their opening 5 league games. 2001: Takes a Uefa coaching course. Appointed manager of First Division Watford . Sacked the following June after the club finish 14th despite heavy investment in players and staff.
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