Saturday 30 January, 2010
Blog: Laurel & Hardy Juve
Alberto Zaccheroni is a temporary fix, but Dave Taylor feels the board have once again slipped up with the length of his contract
Well that’s another fine mess Juventus have got themselves into. Following the Coppa Italia defeat by Inter, the board decided enough was enough and sacked Ciro Ferrara. In reality they should have never appointed such an inexperienced Coach as their former captain, who was obviously the cheap option by even cheaper characters. His sacking was the end result of a series of bad decisions by Jean-Claude Blanc and Alessio Secco that started with the departure of Didier Deschamps after he won promotion from Serie B, and continued with buying players simply not worthy of wearing the Juve shirt.
For many fans they have extended those mistakes by giving Alberto Zaccheroni the job until the end of the season, but are they wrong to assume that? His task is simple: make sure they qualify for the Champions League. It might be a tall order after nine defeats in 12 games, but he does have a few precedents. In the late 90’s he led Udinese to great success, including a third place. With Milan he won the 1999 Scudetto and he also took Lazio and Inter into Europe later.
However, for me the principal problem he faces is convincing the players of his worth. Why a contract for just four months? What message does it send to the players? How much will they be able to respect a Coach who the club doesn’t seem to trust? Now I am sure most Juve players will do their best for the club, but underneath it all, if the new Coach is only there for four months, will they all give a 100 percent? It wouldn’t be natural if some didn’t think 'why bother, the future boss will give us all a clean slate anyway.’
Maybe they should have given Zac a contract until 2011 then, if necessary, bring in another Coach but if he does well then extend it further. Okay they might risk paying out an extra year, but what if Zac succeeds? And if so how much more money will he ask for then? We all know they want Rafa Benitez, but for me he will be another mistake by Messrs Secco and Blanc and far more costly then any other so far. It seems Zac is being used as a scapegoat and if things go wrong the real culprits will probably get away with it again.
football-italia