Juve President 'surprised'
Saturday 26 May, 2007
Juventus President Giovanni Cobolli Gigli is “surprised” by Didier Deschamps’ decision to resign.
Late last night Sky TG24 announced that the tactician had quit, but although the club today denied any official resignation, all comments suggest their relationship is at an end.
“Deschamps will meet with director Jean Claude Blanc later this evening and they will clarify this problem,” said the President.
The former Bianconeri midfielder left the Stadio Olimpico after the 2-0 win over Mantova without entering the Press room, although Sky Italia journalists maintain he told them off camera that he had indeed resigned.
“There are strong stories circulating that he wants to hand in his resignation. We were honestly surprised, as the last we knew in his Press conference this week he said he wanted to stay with Juventus.”
The reason for this sudden turnaround could well lie with Lyon, as Gerard Houllier stepped down on Friday and Deschamps has long been one of the favourites to take over.
“We are discussing extending his contract, because Deschamps was meant to be an integral part of our three-year plan.”
While the Spanish media claimed that Fabio Capello would be returning to the Juve bench, that seems highly unlikely considering Cobolli Gigli’s damning statements in the past criticising the way he walked out following the Calciopoli scandal.
“Capello back here? I think that would be very difficult,” said the President.
Marcello Lippi is instead the hot favourite to lead Juve back into Serie A.
Channel4.com
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Surprised my ass!