JUVENTUS, No fan support for Ranieri ? Who Should Replace Claudio Ranieri As Juventus Coach?

The pressure is building on the hapless Claudio Ranieri, and there have been calls for the Juventus boss to be sacked. Carlo Garganese asks who should replace ‘The Tinkerman’ should he leave this summer…? Who Should Replace Claudio Ranieri ? Give your vote...?


Tuttojuve.com's Stefano Discreti reports that several Juventus fans' unofficial websites have published the results of an online poll concerning coach Claudio Ranieri. The results show that 90% of Juventus fans want Ranieri out at the end of the season. Ranieri is being blamed for the team's Champions League elimination and for losing "easy" Serie A games, for choosing not to sign Spanish playmaker Xabi Alonso last summer (due to tactical reasons), for apparently not showing enough ambition when he talks to the press, for not "giving the team a more daring style" and for allegedly not getting along with the team's main stars (Buffon, Del Piero, Nedved, Camoranesi and Trezeguet, obviously the most popular figures among Juve fans....) . The fans who voted also indicated who they want to replace Ranieri. The wishlist strictly contains former Juventus players and they are : current AS Bari coach Antonio Conte, Genoa's Gian Piero Gasperini (who is also a former Juventus youth team coach), former Italian Under 21 head coach Claudio Gentile and Fiorentina's Cesare Prandelli.

Gian Piero Gasperini

Gasperini is Juventus through and through, having spent 11 years in Turin as a youth player, and another nine as a youth coach, before moving on to senior duties at Crotone and then Genoa. With the Grifoni he has been an absolute revelation, leading the side to promotion to Serie A in 2007 and, in just his second season in Serie A this term, taking the modest outfit to the brink of Champions League qualification. Gasperini’s sides play attractive, attacking football, and his transfer history is also scarily impressive - he would be a popular choice with the Bianconeri faithful.

Luciano Spalletti

Like Gasperini, Spalletti is well known for advocating an entertaining brand of Calcio, and his favoured 4-2-3-1 has been copied by the Premier League big boys, most noticeably Manchester United. Spalletti has been a success at Roma since arriving there in 2005, transforming a club that had been in turmoil after the departure of Fabio Capello. He came ever so close to winning the Scudetto last season, but this term he and his team have struggled. There are also doubts over whether, like Ranieri, Spalletti has a winning mentality.

Frank Rijkaard

Due to Rijkaard’s history with Milan, this would be a complicated coup. Nevertheless, the Dutchman arrived at Barcelona in 2003 at a time when bitter rivals Real Madrid were dominant – a similar situation to what Juventus find themselves in now with


regards to Inter. Rijkaard helped build a world-beating team, with stars like Ronaldinho, Eto’o, Deco, Xavi and Messi, the kind of players that Juve fans dream of. Barca soon dominated at home and abroad – could he do the same for the Bianconeri?

Marcello Lippi

One of the greatest coaches the game has ever seen, it is only a matter of time until Lippi returns to Juventus in some capacity. The 61-year-old is a born winner, and the difficulties he has faced since taking over Italy again may mean that he is open to offers this summer. It is unlikely he will leave until after the World Cup in 2010, but who knows what could happen should the Azzurri have a disastrous Confederations Cup in June. Lippi has had two trophy-laden spells with Juve already – why not a third?

Ciro Ferrara

A legend at Juve as a player, and a hero among tifosi, Ferrara is now building a reputation as a superb youth developer. As well as assisting Lippi for the Italy national team, Ferrara is also youth academy director at Juventus, and he has overseen a host of brilliant youngsters come through the system, including Sebastian Giovinco, Claudio Marchisio, Domenico Criscito and Paolo De Ceglie. These players are the future of Juventus, and there is no one who knows them better than Ferrara. Could he become the Pep Guardiola of Turin?

Other options

Cesare Prandelli (Fiorentina), Manuel Pellegrini (Villarreal), Massimiliano Allegri (Cagliari), Davide Ballardini (Palermo), Walter Mazzarri (Sampdoria), Pasquale Marino (Udinese), Antonio Conte (Bari)

Who should replace Claudio Ranieri as Juventus coach? Juventainment.com wants to know what Majority Juve think...