Mourinho gets Italian coaching honour

José Mourinho has been voted Serie A's best coach of 2009/10 by his peers, collecting the Panchina d'Oro (golden bench) award for the first time in his career after leading FC Internazionale Milano to Scudetto, Coppa Italia and UEFA Champions League success.

The 48-year-old Mourinho, who left the Nerazzurri in the summer to join Real Madrid CF, came first ahead of Luigi Delneri – then of UC Sampdoria, now with Juventus - and AS Roma's Claudio Ranieri in the poll among the coaches of professional clubs in Italy. A year ago Mourinho was surprisingly pipped to the prize by current AC Milan coach Massimiliano Allegri – then at Cagliari Calcio – despite also winning the Scudetto with Inter.

The Portuguese technician was also voted coach of the year at the Italian footballers' association's 2010 Oscar del Calcio awards in January. He was previous named as the coach in UEFA.com's users' Team of 2010.

The Panchina d'Argento, or silver bench, for the best coach in Serie B was awarded to Pierpaolo Bisoli, who led AC Cesena into the Italian top flight before joining Cagliari Calcio in the summer. A special award was also given to Alberto Zaccheroni, who led Japan to glory in the AFC Asian Cup last month.