In February 2001, he became Fiorentina head coach taking the baton from Fatih Terim.
After hanging up his boots and gaining experience as Sven-Göran Eriksson's assistant coach at Lazio, Roberto started his path as first-team coach. For the first time he took over a bench on his own and the adventure began in the best possible way by winning a trophy after just a few months. Despite Mancini had arrived with the season already underway, the Viola team won the Coppa Italia drawing 1-1 with Parma after an away victory in the first leg.
He stayed on the Fiorentina bench until January 2002.
