Football Italia:
This week Juventus President Jean-Claude Blanc stated the reason he fired Claudio Ranieri last season was “I cared about him too much” to let him stay on in such difficult circumstances. In that case, the patron must really hate Ciro Ferrara.
One wonders how long this situation can keep going, with nobody willing to make a tough decision in the club hierarchy for fear of being labelled a failure. If the Bianconeri sack Ferrara after a defeat to the Coach they got rid of eight months ago, then it will make them look utterly incompetent and rudderless. If they continue to stick with the much-loved former Juventus star above and beyond all reason, then the administration digs itself deeper and deeper into this hole.
Juve are currently the football equivalent of a wife who knows she is on the wrong side of an argument, but won’t back down out of sheer pride. Ferrara reiterated too many times that he won’t resign, so if he did offer his notice, most would consider it to be a cover-up for dismissal. If the club did pull the plug the same way they released Ranieri, they’d essentially be flushing the last eight months down the toilet.
At least they’d let Ferrara off the hook and give him the chance to learn his trade at a smaller side, without the insane pressure of taking over a Scudetto contender and completely revamping their tactics with crucial new players. Leonardo managed it because he lost Kaka, but basically the rest of the squad remained intact and Ronaldinho had already gone through his process of settling into Serie A.
The Juventus Board of Directors put too much on Ciro’s plate and will seemingly now sit there at the table until they’ve made him eat every morsel, even if it makes him sick. God forbid Blanc and transfer 'guru’ Alessio Secco should admit to having made a huge mistake. Sticking by your principles is a show of strength, but so is confessing to your weaknesses.