Having just about crept over the line to achieve safety last season, Udinese seemed to pick up where they left off despite a new manager in Beppe Iachini. A home defeat in the Coppa Italia to Serie B side Spezia in his first competitive game in charge wasn't the best of starts and that was followed by a 4-0 thumping at Roma. It looked like Iachini may have turned the corner after that as the Zebrette recorded back-to-back wins including a shock victory over Milan at the San Siro but it proved to be the highlight of Iachini's ill-fated and short spell in charge. He was sacked after five defeats from his eight competitive matches in charge. Luigi Del Neri was the man to replace him and he was given a baptism of fire at Juventus Stadium but Udinese gave the champions a real run for their money that day and the first signs of improvement were already there to see. The side continued to grow under the new manager and they won half of their next ten games to shoot up the table. Ultimately and almost inevitably, they couldn't quite keep up that level of form throughout the entire season and they went off the boil once safety was achieved. However, the fact that Del Neri was able to secure their top flight status so easily was a remarkable feat in itself. Cyril Thereau remained their talisman up front with another 12 league goals but even youngster Stipe Perica finally began to show some of the potential he has with 6 of his own. Many youngsters shone including new signings Seko Fofana, Rodrigo De Paul and Jakub Jankto who all chipped in with their share of goals from midfield. It seems that there is life after Antonio Di Natale for the club and they have everything in place to get back to the glory days they enjoyed in the 90s and early 2000's when European qualification was almost the norm.
