Claudio Ranieri has become the latest casualty in the “let’s get that final spark out of our team before the end of the season” coaching decisions after Serie A side Juventus replaced the 57 year old with Junior Team coach and former player Ciro Ferrara following Sunday’s 2 – 2 result at home against Atalanta.
Via FIFA
“Juventus have fired coach Claudio Ranieri. As of today the first team coach is Ciro Ferrara,” said the club statement. “Juventus thank Claudio Ranieri for the work he did in these last two years. We wish the new coach Ciro Ferrara immediate success.”
The 57-year-old joined the club ahead of the start of last season and guided them to third place in Serie A in their first campaign back in the top flight since their relegation in 2006 for match-fixing.
They currently sit third in the table again but seven matches ago they were Inter Milan’s closest title challengers and now they face a fight to hold onto a top-three finish with fourth-placed Fiorentina just one point behind. A fourth place finish would mean they would have to negotiate two qualifying rounds to reach the UEFA Champions League group stages, giving them an extra four unwanted matches.
Italian media had long speculated about Ranieri’s future but on 15 April general manager Jean Claude Blanc said: “Ranieri is our coach and whatever results we achieve this season, he will be next season as well.”
The pressure seemed to be easing off Ranieri after their fine performance against Milan.”We have been reactivated,” he said after the result. “The international break knocked us off our stride and we weren’t ourselves anymore. After we were knocked out of the Champions League we switched off mentally and there was a very real crisis. Milan were the right team to help us return to the team we have been for the last year and nine months (since Ranieri took over).”
Former centre-back Ferrara, 42, was a long-time Juve stalwart and played more than 250 Serie A matches for the club from 1994 to 2005. He won the Serie A title eight times during a 20-year career although the last of those with Juve in 2005 was annulled due to the calciopoli match-fixing scandal.
Image via Doc
