Where Are They Now: Fabio Liverani

In this series at Everything Orient, we take a look back at ex-Orient players and managers and see where their careers have taken them since their departure from Brisbane Road.

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An ex-Lazio and Italian international player, Fabio Liverani will live long in the memories of Leyton Orient fans, but regrettably not for the right reasons. Liverani took over from Mauro Milanese as Orient manager in December 2014 and remained in that role until the club’s relegation from League One in May 2015 when his position became untenable and he was dismissed.

Where Have They Been?

Fabio Liverani was born in Rome in 1976 to a Somali mother and an Italian father. He made his professional footballing debut with Viterbese of Serie C2 in 1996–97, but it was not until his transfer to Perugiain in 2000 that he showed his full potential. From 2001 to 2006, Liverani played for Lazio in Italy's Serie A, and then subsequently for Fiorentina and Palermo.

Though lacking pace and agility, and with limited defensive skills, Liverani was a highly creative, reliable, and quick-thinking player, who was known in particular for his technique, vision, range of distribution, and precise passing.

As the first black player in Serie A, Liverani had to endure considerable racial abuse. As he reflected:

“A lot of people were insulting me. I remember all the time how I used to return home crying when I was a kid. Then I entered the adult world and still there were people shouting at me. I simply ignore them and play my best.".

On 25 April 2001, Liverani became the first black Italian footballer to play for the national team, making his debut in a 1-0 friendly victory against South Africa. In total he made three appearances for Italy. Speaking to the BBC in 2002, Liverani said:

"I just hope people will not think of me as the first black player of the national team, but as an important player.".

Liverani ended his career at the Swiss club Lugano, though he didn’t play a single game for them, and he hung up his playing boots in November 2007.

Subsequently, Liverani went on to be the first black manager in Serie A when he was appointed first team manager of Genoa in June 2013. However, this was not a success and he was sacked in September after just one win in his seven games in charge.

Then on 8 December 2014, Fabio Liverani was appointed manager of Leyton Orient on a two-and-a-half year contract, replacing Mauro Milanese who returned to his role as Sporting Director after 8 matches in charge following the club’s takeover by Francesco Becchetti and the resignation of popular long-term manager Russell Slade.

On his arrival, Liverani was reported to say “Managing Leyton Orient is an important project”. Many fans were rather bewildered by this comment, taking it to imply a lack of passion for the job.

Orient were just outside the League One relegation places at the time of Liverani’s arrival, but he failed to engineer a turnaround and was sacked on 13thMay when the O’s were relegated, finishing in 23rdplace. His match statistics do not make pretty reading, achieving just eight wins in 27 games with a win ratio of 29.6% and a paltry average 1.11 points per match.

Although Liverani wasn’t helped with many of his players suffering injuries, there were definite questions about his tactics, team selection and handling of players. In his 27 matches he kept the same starting team just once; his constant tinkering with the team without doubt contributed to his failure as manager.

For many fans, the final day of the season was a perfect illustration of Liverani’s questionable tactics. Needing a win, the O’s were looking good for an hour against Swindon, leading 2-0. But when the Robins pulled a goal back, Liverani went defensive, bringing on Scott Cuthbert for Dean Cox. Swindon then won a penalty and secured a draw, despite having 10 men for 70 minutes of the match. It was a shocking – if perhaps fitting – way for Orient’s League One campaign to conclude.