Can Juventus FC overcome the Calciopoli Scandal? The sleeping Serie A giants
Five years have passed since the Italian Calciopoli scandal, but apparently Juventus FC are still paying the price for match-fixing, bad luck continues to devour their success. The Lady Killers, known to be the giants from http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Italy-c2926, have struggled to find the
road back to their glory days and achievable targets seem out of reach for the Bianconeri – UEFA Champions League comes to mind.
The 2010/11 season reveals a similar story for the Old Lady, where they were one in a position to make it to the Champions League, but the men in those black and white jerseys could nott even make it to UEFA Europa League at the end of the day. La Vecchia
Signora finished 7th for the second consecutive season, missing out on European football for the third time in the last six years after the match-fixing scandals.
Juve’s bad luck started in May 2006 when the Italian http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/ACF-Fiorentina-c38209 involved in rigging games. The allegations left the Italian
football and the supporters in utmost turmoil, scepticism ran free and some people were found guilty.
Juventus suffered the most from the scandal and relegation to Italian third division, Serie C1, was expected. However, the club appealed against the decision and were put amongst the Serie B teams. Moreover, the Turin giants were stripped of their 2004/05
and 2005/06 Serie A titles. The club was also restricted from appearing in 2006/07 UEFA Champions League.
However, the Old Lady exhibited their champion pedigree and bounced back into top flight the very next season, winning Serie B in the 2006/07 season for the first time in the club’s history. La Vecchia Signora secured third spot in the top flight upon their
return in the 2007/08 term and went one step better the following season with a second placed finish. Many expected Juventus to complete the turnaround in the 2009/10 season, a Scudetto triumph was anticipated by the optimist Bianconeri fans.
Juventus could not maintain their stratum in the 2009/10 season and finished 7th in the Italian top flight. This led to the sacking of the tactician, Claudio Ranieri, and Ciro Ferrara was appointed as the new head coach. In January 2010, Ferrara
was dismissed after a bad run in the UCL, Coppa Italia and the Serie A, and http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Alberto-c4309 Zaccheroni took over the post. Zaccheroni’s fate was similar to his forerunners and he was shown the door too.
In all this tactician mayhem, Luigi Delneri, the former Sampdoria tactician was appointed as the new coach in May 2010 – seventh coach in a course of just 5 years. Delneri felt optimistic for the future of the team. The coach had high hopes to relive the
glory days of Juventus. In pursuit of the target, the team brought in 10 players during the summer transfer window last year, while 3 more were added to the squad during the winter transfer market.
Delneri led the team to the 3rd place in the league rankings during the first half of the season but the New Year was a downhill run for the Old Lady, and the outfit went plummeting down to the 7th position; even beyond the region to
have a shot at Europa League. The Lady Killers have beaten teams like AC Milan, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Roma-c31603 this season, but it is shocking to see them lose consistently against the lower order outfits. This lack of focus on the easier games has left the men in
the black-white jerseys out of the main competition.
The outcome has left the club officials disappointed and after being the centre of criticism and the blame game for the whole season, the tactician Delneri is going out of the Old Lady. Juve’s former midfielder, Antonio Conte, would come once again to Stadio
Olimpico Torino as the 8th coach in 6 years to try his luck and break the magic-curse cast on La Vecchia Signora.
The Old Lady’s lack consistency is down to the team’s complacent attitude towards the weaker outfits. That is the reason why Juve have failed to achieve the targets that were well within their reach. Another big reason of the failure is the bad selection
during the transfer windows. Instead of big names, the outfit should focus on quality.
Younger players should be given a chance and should be developed into an asset for the future. This is how the Old Lady might live up to the statement that says: Juventus FC is historically the most successful Italian outfit and one of the most famous and
recognized football clubs in the world.
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