Napoli must excel in February to save Gennaro Gattuso's job - starting with Coppa Italia success

As far as football calendars go, very few can be considered as challenging and decisive as SSC Napoli's fixture list in February.

The Partenopei begin their 28-day marathon with the first of three showdowns against Atalanta, along with a top-of-the-table clash against Juventus and a Europa League double header versus a solid Granada outfit.

Other than those six trials by fire, Napoli must also stride confidently over two banana skins in Genoa and Benevento. It's safe to say, you'll need to keep your wits about you and present a united front to tackle all of the trials and tribulations that lie ahead.

That shouldn't be too difficult for a side sitting fifth in Serie A, and potentially only six points off the leaders if they were to win their game in hand. So why is Gennaro Gattuso's job on the line?

Gattuso arrived at a Napoli side in crisis back in December 2019 and immediately steadied the ship, guaranteeing Europa League football and winning a major trophy for the first time in six years.

In just over 12 months, Gattuso has returned I Partenopei to being Champions League hopefuls with a glint in their eye when it comes to title talk, while restoring the attractive style of football which its public demands.

All this, while suffering from ocular myasthenia, a condition which can cause the victim's eye to droop, or even experience double vision. This disease has resurfaced for the coach, after it brought him all sorts of nightmares towards the end of his playing career.

Unsurprisingly, Napoli's title hopes have diminished somewhat since Gattuso's myasthenia returned, and his ability to coach or inspire could easily have waned during this awful period.

Damaging defeats to European rivals Inter and Lazio, as well as shock losses to Spezia and Verona have thrown his future into doubt, as critics have begun questioning his credentials as an elite level manager yet again.

And the all-too familiar feeling of the end being in sight is descending on Gattuso's reign. Rumours of a Rafa Benitez return grow by the day, and the coach is forced to bat away questions over his future at every turn.

But there is one thing which stands in Gattuso's favour. The players are on his side.

It was evident in their recent victory over Parma that the team stood united with their leader, and they made this clear to all their viewers, rushing to celebrate with the man on the touchline after scoring in the 2-0 win.

And they must stand up and be counted eight more times in February, if they want to see their boss keep his job beyond the end of the month.

That starts against Atalanta on Wednesday evening, when Stadio Diego Armando Maradona will host the first leg of the Coppa Italia semi-final against Atalanta. La Dea aren't a team to be trifled with, and as proven in their 3-0 demolition of league leaders Milan, they can take apart any team on any given day.

But Napoli inflicted one of Atalanta's rare defeats this season, comprehensively hammering Gian Piero Gasperini's men 4-1 in the very same stadium back in October. That victory came soon after dishing out a 6-0 shellacking to Genoa, and announcing themselves as title contenders.

While that form fizzled, it was evidence enough that this team has the quality and the manager in place to achieve great things, especially in a season when all the favourites refuse to grab the bull by the horns.

One man who you would back in a wrestling match with a bull is Gattuso, of course. He won the Coppa Italia against all odds last year - a triumph that should have made his job status far more stable and secure than it is.

He now has the chance to make himself untouchable over the next 28 days, and Napoli could face the tantalising prospect of entering March in a cup final, the next round of the Europa League and the thick of a title battle.

Crisis talks in Naples are an overreaction - but pushing Gattuso out of the door would plunge an unusually steady team into complete meltdown.