Bologna set to sack Tedesco, Palladino incoming

Bologna are one of only two Serie A sides still without a win, alongside Venezia, and Domenico Tedesco's spell looks over. Within a few hours the agencies moved from doubts to a decision: ANSA Calcio first reported «Bologna without wins, reflections under way on Tedesco», then wrote that Tedesco was on his way out with Raffaele Palladino heading for the rossoblù bench. Corriere dello Sport ran the same line, «Domenico Tedesco close to the sack: Palladino is coming».

The numbers explain the call better than any backstage story. In four rounds Bologna have collected a single point and sit sixteenth, with two goals scored and five conceded: only Venezia, still on zero, have done worse at the bottom. Both goals came on the same afternoon, the 2-2 home draw with Sassuolo on matchday three: in the other three games the side failed to score.

The final act was the 13 September fixture at the Maradona, where Napoli won 1-0. A narrow defeat on the scoreboard but a heavy one in the table, because it left Bologna on one point while the leaders, Roma and Inter, were already on twelve: an eleven-point gap after barely a month of the season.

The sources agree on the successor. Calciomercato.com treats the choice of Palladino, described as the former Atalanta coach, as settled and speaks of an agreement reached with the club; hours earlier the same outlet had filed the move as a preview, with Palladino «in pole position». The formal step is still missing: there is no official Bologna statement, so the succession remains a preview, however consistent.

The calendar offers no respite. On Saturday 19 September, at 13:00 UTC, Bologna host Torino on matchday five: it will be the first game of the new era, if the switch is completed during the week. The visitors will travel without Che Adams, sidelined by a muscle injury according to ANSA Calcio: two goals in four rounds, one of the few forwards already on the scoresheet this season. For whoever takes the rossoblù bench, the first priority is easy to read in the numbers: start scoring again.