Early years: from amateurs to Serie B Pillon started his coaching career in 1992 with amateur
Interregionale team Salvarosa. He went on to become
Bassano coach the next season before joining
Treviso in 1994, leading them through three consecutive promotion from Interregionale to
Serie B. In 1997, he left Treviso to accept an offer from
Padova of
Serie B in 1997, only to be sacked in a few weeks. This was followed by another unsuccessful spell at
Genoa in 1998, before being appointed as
Lumezzane boss during the 1999–2000
Serie C1 season. He returned to coach in the Serie B in 2000–01 as
Pistoiese boss. In 2001–02 he led
Ascoli to win the Serie C1 title, heading the
bianconeri also in their successive Serie B campaign. After starting the 2003–04 season without a job, he was appointed at the helm of Serie B team
Bari in January 2004, leading the
galletti out of the relegation zone.
Serie A and Europe with Treviso and Chievo In the following season, he was appointed by his former team
Treviso, leading them to an impressive season which ensured them a spot in the promotion playoffs. He was consequently appointed by
Serie A team
Chievo Verona for their
2005–06 campaign which ended in a very impressive sixth place; this was later elevated to third following the
2006 Serie A scandal events, meaning Chievo would have awarded a spot in the
UEFA Champions League 2006-07 third qualifying round, which they however lost to
Levski Sofia. A low start in their
Serie A 2006–07 campaign then convinced the Chievo management to sack Pillon, replacing him with
Luigi Delneri.
The season 2007–08 During the summer of 2007, he was announced as new
Treviso boss for their
2007–08 Serie B campaign in a third spell at the club for Pillon, with his brother Albino as assistant manager.
The season 2008–09 On 16 December 2008 Pillon was announced as new head coach of Serie A relegation strugglers
Reggina Calcio, being appointed as replacement for
Nevio Orlandi, dismissed because of poor results with the
amaranto. His tenure with Reggina however lasted just a month, being dismissed on 29 January 2009 due to poor results.
Back to Ascoli in the season 2009–10 In November 2009 he was appointed head coach of
Ascoli, a team he already coached from 2001 to 2003, replacing
Alessandro Pane. Pillon gained nationwide news after he was protagonist of a highly unusual
fair play action during a
Serie B league game versus
Reggina: after his side questionably scored a goal while a Reggina player was lying injured on the pitch, he requested his players to allow the opponent team to score; the game then ended in a 3–1 home loss for Ascoli, and such choice was heatedly criticized by the local fans. The game events and his reactions, with Pillon defending his actions and declaring himself critical of the belligerent atmosphere in Italian football, were then cited as the reason for him being awarded the 2009 International Fair Play prize.
Livorno In June 2010 Pillon was announced as new head coach of recently relegated
Serie B club
Livorno. Following an unimpressive first half of season, Pillon was relieved of his managerial duties on 14 February 2011 following a 0–1 loss to minnows
Portogruaro.
Empoli On 3 October 2011, Pillon became the new coach of
Empoli in
Serie B, in place of the sacked
Alfredo Aglietti. On 20 November 2011 he has been sacked and replaced by
Guido Carboni.
Pescara On 4 April 2018, he was appointed manager of
Serie B club
Pescara. He left Pescara at the end of the 2018–19 season.
Cosenza On 11 February 2020, Pillon returned into management, being hired at the helm of relegation-threatened Serie B club
Cosenza. His stint as Cosenza coach did not however last long, as he submitted his resignations a month later for personal reasons in the midst of the football activities halt caused by the
COVID-19 pandemic in Italy.
Triestina On 2 December 2020 he was named head coach of
Serie C promotion hopefuls
Triestina, taking over from
Carmine Gautieri. He left Triestina at the end of the 2020–21 season. ==References==