Early career / Chievo After his retirement as a player, Delneri stayed at Oderzo, appointed by chairman Ettore Setten (now owner of
Treviso) as head coach. In 1986, he signed for
Serie D team
Pro Gorizia. He then coached Partinicaudace, a minor Sicilian Serie D team, in 1989,
Teramo,
Ravenna, Novara and
Nocerina of
Serie C2; with this last team he won the league and promotion to
Serie C1. He then moved to
Ternana of Serie C2, guiding it to
Serie B after two consecutive promotions. In 1998, after his second consecutive promotion, Delneri was signed by
Serie A's
Empoli, but was fired before starting the championship and was subsequently recalled by his former team Ternana in Serie B. In 2000, Delneri signed with
Chievo of Serie B, a team representing a small quarter of the city of
Verona. It was the beginning of the so-called "Chievo miracle" in which the team was promoted for the first time to Serie A, where they topped the league for the first half of the season and then qualified for the
UEFA Cup by coming 5th.
Porto, Roma and Palermo In June 2004, Delneri signed a three-year contract to succeed
José Mourinho at
UEFA Champions League holders
Porto. He was sacked on 7 August, without even managing a competitive game, allegedly for missing training sessions. Delneri became
Roma's third manager of the season in October 2004, after
Cesare Prandelli and
Rudi Völler. His team failed to advance from their Champions League group, and he dropped young forward
Antonio Cassano after a dispute. He resigned from his two-year contract in March 2005, with the team in 7th, and handed the job over to
Bruno Conti. In June 2005, Delneri signed for
Palermo, succeeding
Francesco Guidolin who had quit for new challenges after qualifying them for the
2005–06 UEFA Cup. He was fired on 28 January 2006 with the team in 10th after a 3–1 home loss to
Siena, having taken them into the knockout stages of the UEFA Cup.
Chievo return, Atalanta and Sampdoria On 16 October 2006, Delneri returned to coach Chievo, replacing
Giuseppe Pillon at the 15th-place club. Despite a strong start, he did not manage to save his side from relegation, losing a spot in the following season's Serie A with a 2–0 loss to
Catania on the final matchday. Following the relegation, Delneri was announced as new
Atalanta boss in June 2007. He led the team from
Bergamo to 9th and 11th place in his two seasons; he announced in April 2009 that he would leave at the end of the season. Delneri left to take over at
Sampdoria on 1 June 2009, a team that had just finished 13th. He guided Sampdoria to a surprising fourth-place finish, and a spot to the third qualifying round of the
2010–11 UEFA Champions League, leaving the next day.
Juventus On 19 May 2010, two days after leaving Sampdoria, Delneri was appointed as coach of Juventus. At the end of the
2010–11 season, having finished 7th and not qualified for Europe, Delneri was sacked by the Juventus board of directors.
Later career On 22 October 2012, Delneri was named new head coach of tenth-place
Genoa in Serie A, succeeding sacked coach
Luigi De Canio at
Sampdoria's rivals. On 20 January 2013, however, Delneri was himself sacked following a 0–2 home loss to Catania and a string of bad results for the team, which recorded only two wins in his 13 matches with the club. Delneri was hired at another of his former club's rivals, this time Chievo's adversaries
Hellas Verona, replacing
Andrea Mandorlini on 1 December 2015; the team had not won once all season. He left by mutual consent after the
season ended in relegation for the club on 23 May 2016. On 3 October 2016, Delneri signed a one-year deal with the option of a second at
Udinese, succeeding
Giuseppe Iachini who had won two of seven games. He finished the campaign in 13th, earning a second year, but took 12 points from the first 12 games and lost his job on 21 November 2017 when three points above the relegation places. On 4 September 2020, Delneri was officially appointed manager of
Brescia, following their relegation to Serie B. On 6 October 2020, after one draw and one loss, positioned in last place, Delneri was sacked. ==Style of management==