Juve Board confirms Ranieri
Tuesday 12 May, 2009
The Juventus Board of Directors meeting concluded after 10 hours with Claudio Ranieri’s confirmation “until the end of the season, then we’ll see.”
Today’s get-together was to plan the club’s future and many expected the main topic of discussion to be Ranieri’s replacement.
“It was the normal length for these meetings,” said member of the Board Gian Paolo Montali. “There was a great deal to discuss, we are people who work hard and put in the passion.
“Ranieri has our total confidence. At this moment he will remain our Coach until the end of the season, then we’ll see.
“We have to end the campaign by playing the same way we did against Milan.”
It was hardly a glowing show of faith, as Juve are out of the running for all trophies and so it would be a radical move to change management now.
The only risk they run is losing third place to Fiorentina, which would mean entering the Champions League through the preliminary round.
Before the 10-hour meeting a group of fans gathered outside the club headquarters with banners urging the directors to “show us the money.”
It was reportedly set to conclude at 1.30pm UK time, but the directors finally left the building at 19.00.
Another of the issues discussed was the imminent transfer of Werder Bremen striker Diego.
Confusion surrounds the situation now, as Diego’s agent announced a contract “has been signed with Juventus,” whereas German newspaper Bild insists he will join Bayern Munich.
When asked about Diego, Board member Montali would only say “no comment.”
The Board released a statement confirming it had approved the figures for the third quarter of 2008-09, which went from January to March.
“Thanks to an increase in revenues amounting to €62.8 million (in comparison to the €54.4 million of last year), the third quarter closed with an increase of €7.1 million due mainly to the team’s return to playing in the Champions League.
”The cumulative net result as at 31 March 2009 is positive (€21.7 million as opposed to the negative balance of €0.5 million of 12 months ago).
“The fourth quarter of the financial year will be characterised by lower revenues due to a lower number of games to be played and the absence of any extraordinary events, the financial year is expected to close with a break-even result"
channel4.com