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Juventus have confirmed that they have replaced Ciro Ferrara with Alberto Zaccheroni after days of feverish speculation.
The Bianconeri have been planning to replace Ferrara for much of the last month, but proceedings accelerated after Sunday's 2-1 defeat to Roma.
It emerged fairly soon afterwards that last night's Coppa Italia Quarter-Final against Inter at San Siro would be Ferrara's final game in charge no matter what the result.
Incidentally, Juventus lost 2-1, conceding a last minute goal for the second straight game to seal their ninth defeat in 12 games.
Juventus President Jean-Claude Blanc made Rafael Benitez the club's first choice after Guus Hiddink rejected his overtures.
However, Benitez's four-year contract with Liverpool made it distinctly unlikely he would arrive immediately.
Juventus vice-general manager Roberto Bettega was simultaneously pursuing an alternative line of inquiry, interviewing possible interim appointments.
He is widely believed to have interviewed Zaccheroni and Claudio Gentile, the Juventus legend and former Italy Under-21s boss, yesterday afternoon.
Bettega is said to have preferred Gentile, but Zaccheroni got the nod from Blanc and Juventus patron John Elkann.
He is said to have been in Turin this morning to sign a four-month contract.
The former Inter, Udinese and Lazio boss whose finest moment came with Milan in 1999 when he famously won the Scudetto, has been out of the coaching game since 2006 when Juventus's rivals Torino fired him after seven straight defeats.
Both Tuttosport and Il Corriere dello Sport expect him to take his first training session today ahead of this Sunday's match against Lazio. He is famous for playing a 3-4-3 formation, although that system is unlikely to suit Juventus's current personnel.
The Bianconeri currently lie sixth in Serie A and only remain in contention for the Europa League.
The Bianconeri have been planning to replace Ferrara for much of the last month, but proceedings accelerated after Sunday's 2-1 defeat to Roma.
It emerged fairly soon afterwards that last night's Coppa Italia Quarter-Final against Inter at San Siro would be Ferrara's final game in charge no matter what the result.
Incidentally, Juventus lost 2-1, conceding a last minute goal for the second straight game to seal their ninth defeat in 12 games.
Juventus President Jean-Claude Blanc made Rafael Benitez the club's first choice after Guus Hiddink rejected his overtures.
However, Benitez's four-year contract with Liverpool made it distinctly unlikely he would arrive immediately.
Juventus vice-general manager Roberto Bettega was simultaneously pursuing an alternative line of inquiry, interviewing possible interim appointments.
He is widely believed to have interviewed Zaccheroni and Claudio Gentile, the Juventus legend and former Italy Under-21s boss, yesterday afternoon.
Bettega is said to have preferred Gentile, but Zaccheroni got the nod from Blanc and Juventus patron John Elkann.
He is said to have been in Turin this morning to sign a four-month contract.
The former Inter, Udinese and Lazio boss whose finest moment came with Milan in 1999 when he famously won the Scudetto, has been out of the coaching game since 2006 when Juventus's rivals Torino fired him after seven straight defeats.
Both Tuttosport and Il Corriere dello Sport expect him to take his first training session today ahead of this Sunday's match against Lazio. He is famous for playing a 3-4-3 formation, although that system is unlikely to suit Juventus's current personnel.
The Bianconeri currently lie sixth in Serie A and only remain in contention for the Europa League.
I'm glad they went for Zaccheroni over Gentile Claudio Gentile did very well with the U21s but he is somewhat unproven at club level and it would be treading the same path they've gone down before with Ferrara and Deschamps. It's very clear now that Juve made a massive mistake in the Summer in opting for Ferrara over Antonio Conte. Ferrara's self belief in his own abilities was admiral and perhaps swung it for him but he was hopelessly out of his depth. Zaccheroni has pedigree in Serie A having won the Scudetto with Milan and coached at Inter so should be able to steady the ship adn get Juve back into that 4th spot. Failure to do that will be catastophic for Juve and it will be a giagantic step back after all the great progress they've made since Calciopoli.
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