What do you do the morning after resigning as a head coach in the A-League?<\/p>\n
Sleep.<\/p>\n
\u201cI woke up at like 10am. I\u2019m usually up at 6,\u201d former Wellington Phoenix boss Giancarlo \u2018Chiefy\u2019 Italiano told Football360. \u201cThat was weird because I\u2019m a workaholic\u2026 usually I\u2019m reviewing the game and worrying about what\u2019s happening next week, and getting my ideas clear for training.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s been over a month since Chiefy stepped down as coach of Wellington Phoenix.<\/a><\/p>\n He sensationally announced it during his press conference after a heavy loss to New Zealand rivals Auckland FC.<\/p>\n It brought an end to his seven-year association with the Phoenix \u2013 firstly as an analyst and second assistant coach before becoming Ufuk Talay\u2019s lead assistant. Then, the Australian was appointed head coach in 2023.<\/p>\n But Chiefy\u2019s resignation was certainly not a knee-jerk reaction to Wellington\u2019s loss to reigning premiers Auckland.<\/p>\n \ud83d\ude2d Giancarlo Italiano could not cop losing 5-0 to Wellington’s bitter rivals.<\/p>\n He walked into his press conference, announced his resignation and spoke with extraordinary candour.<\/p>\n An A-League coach who did not have a professional playing career and scaled his way to the top of\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/QWyKWGnX6A<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Football360.com.au (@football360au) February 21, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u201cThe decision to leave was probably brewing for a couple of months, so it wasn\u2019t out of the blue,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a very tough role to take on when there\u2019s constant pressure, whether you\u2019re doing well or not well, or you\u2019re somewhere in the middle. There\u2019s always someone with expectations of where you should be. That pressure slowly builds over time.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI think coaches who are at a club for a long period of time have even more expectations because the expectation after a long period is that if you\u2019re there, you need to win something and do something. I get that.<\/p>\n \u201cThe one good thing not being there, is being able to catch up on the sleep I\u2019ve missed over the last five or six years. I\u2019m enjoying walking the dog everyday at the beach.\u201d<\/p>\n Chiefy has always been honest, whether it\u2019s assessing football games or his own coaching. The 43-year-old has also been more than willing to provide deep analysis into tactics \u2013 a refreshing change within coaching circles.<\/p>\n His press conferences were always a must-watch during his near-three-year reign.<\/p>\n So, how does Chiefy look back on his tenure with the Phoenix \u2013 a stint that saw him guide Wellington to their most successful season when they agonisingly missed out on a maiden Premiership and a Grand Final berth during his rookie campaign?<\/p>\n \u201cMy biggest regret leaving the club is I didn\u2019t win a trophy,\u201d said Chiefy, who insisted he owes a lot to mentor and friend Ufuk Talay. \u201cThat\u2019s one thing I wanted to do.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cEven the (2023-24) Minor Premiership. Conceding that last-second goal at the Mariners, that was probably just as big a disappointment as not getting to the Grand Final.<\/p>\n \u201cBut I\u2019ve learnt so much about myself, a lot about human relationships in general, how important it is to get the best out of people, and the ability to create environments.<\/p>\n \u201cAlso the turmoil is where I learnt the most. Anyone that goes through this, comes out the other end a different person. What I learnt now, I wish I had it in the first year because I think we would\u2019ve won the league easily.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t say that tongue-in-cheek. I just feel you need those things to give you a bit more texture when you make decisions.\u201d<\/p>\n There were ups and downs during Chiefy\u2019s tenure \u2013 an 11th-placed finish followed a stunning 2023-24 campaign after the departures of Alex Paulsen, Ben Old, Finn Surmann and Bozhidar Kraev among others priors plus injury woes \u2013 but the Sydney local well and truly galvanised the city of Wellington in year one.<\/p>\n The Phoenix came within a whisker of reaching the Grand Final. In front of a record crowd at Sky Stadium, Chiefy\u2019s men agonisingly lost to Melbourne Victory in extra time after Oskar Zawada\u2019s last-gasp strike forced an additional 30 minutes of play.<\/p>\n It was a sea of yellow for the biggest match in the Phoenix\u2019s history, and it is a night that still haunts their former coach.<\/p>\n \u201cEven though those memories were great, I felt that was the year we were going to win the league, if there was ever a year we were going to win it,\u201d Chiefy said.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I was driving home with my mum, I was reflecting on the game.<\/p>\n \u201cI just remember turning to her and saying, we just missed one of the biggest opportunities to make history. I know everyone\u2019s happy with coming second and we\u2019re almost there but I just felt a bit deflated, extremely disappointed with the result because it was such an even game. Then when (Adama) Traore scored that bomb, I thought okay it\u2019s going to take that to beat us.<\/p>\n \u201cThen when we got back into the game, it was such an unbelievable flick-on, opportunity. When you have that momentum, you need to capitalise. That was the disappointing part.\u201d<\/p>\n That memorable season not only captured the hearts and minds of the Wellington public, it attracted the attention of clubs abroad.<\/p>\n This is a fascinating response to major pressure on your job.<\/p>\n Wellington Phoenix have won 6 of their last 31 A-League matches and they were smashed 5-1 overnight.<\/p>\n This was the how head coach Giancarlo Italiano responded to questions about the safety of his position.<\/p>\n “If I felt\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/8rwm3EldiK<\/a><\/p>\n