Early career Reja started his coaching career in 1979 serving as boss of
Serie D team Molinella. Next year he then coached
Monselice of
Serie C2. In 1989, he coached his first
Serie B team,
Pescara, of which he was previously the youth squad boss. He successively gained good successes in the same league with
Cosenza,
Lecce and
Brescia, where he won the championship. In fact, he launched the career of notable footballer
Andrea Pirlo at Brescia, where Pirlo was a regular member of the squad. However, Reja opted to give up the opportunity to coach Brescia in
Serie A, preferring to accept an offer from
Torino, another Serie B team, where he then missed promotion defeated in the promotion playoffs to
Perugia after a
penalty shootout.
Serie A debut at Vicenza, Genoa, Catania and Cagliari During the 1998–1999 season, he was appointed coach of
Serie A club
Vicenza, thus making his debut in a top division team, but was unable to save the team from relegation. Next year he remained at Vicenza and led his team back to Serie A, but promptly relegated one more time in 2001. In 2001–2002, he replaced
Franco Scoglio at the helm of
Genoa (Serie B), but to be fired himself only three months later. On 2002–2003, he was appointed in the mid-season by
Catania boss
Luciano Gaucci to replace
John Toshack. In November 2003, he replaced
Gian Piero Ventura at
Cagliari and guided the
rossoblu to second place in the
Serie B and promotion to
Serie A, but was not confirmed.
Napoli In January 2005, Reja was appointed as the manager of
Napoli, again after Ventura's dismissal. He led Napoli to win
Serie C1, obtaining promotion to Serie B in 2006, then a second consecutive promotion to
Serie A in 2007 – returning the
Naples team to the top flight for the first time since 2001. In his first Serie A campaign with Napoli, Reja guided them to an
Intertoto Cup qualification spot, and was confirmed at the helm of Napoli in the
2008–09 Serie A season. He managed to lead the
Partenopei to the second qualification round of the
UEFA Cup, where they were defeated by
S.L. Benfica. Napoli rose up to first place in the
Serie A table in the first half of the season. After two points in nine games caused the team to fall into the bottom half, Reja was sacked on 10 March 2009, following a 0–2 home loss to
Lazio, and replaced by former
Italian team boss
Roberto Donadoni.
Lazio After a short successful spell as head coach of Croatian side
Hajduk Split from August 2009 to February 2010, Reja opted to quit his job in Split in order to become the new manager of SS Lazio. He was unveiled as the new Lazio head coach the following day, replacing
Davide Ballardini. He turned the fortunes of a club in dismay, guiding it out of the relegation zone and into a mid-table finish in the season. The 2010–11 season for Lazio started in an astonishing way, with the team surprisingly heading Serie A with a four-point advantage to runners-up Inter after nine games, thanks to Reja's abilities in relaunching players such as
Mauro Zárate,
Cristian Ledesma and
Stefano Mauri, as well as introducing new key signings such as Brazilian international
Hernanes. On 17 May 2012 he resigned from the job, despite the president's pleas for him to stay on. After the sacking of
Vladimir Petković, Reja returned to Lazio for a second spell on 4 January 2014, completing the season in ninth place. On 12 June 2014, he resigned from his role, with
Stefano Pioli appointed as his replacement the same day.
Atalanta Reja was appointed trainer of
Atalanta on 4 March 2015 with the team three points above the relegation zone after the dismissal of
Stefano Colantuono. His time at the club ended in May 2016, having saved them twice from relegation.
Albania On 17 April 2019,
Albania signed Reja to a seven-month contract after fellow Italian
Christian Panucci was dismissed the previous month.
Gorica On 2 March 2023, just a few months after the end of his contract with the Albania national team, Reja returned into management as the new head coach of
Slovenian PrvaLiga bottom-placed club
ND Gorica. On 17 April 2023, after only seven games in charge, his contract with Gorica was mutually terminated. ==Personal life==