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As another trophy less regime comes to an abrupt end for Claudio Ranieri, Srikant Iyer analyses the workings of the Tinkerman to figure out what went wrong at the Turin Club.
Three years after their ignominious fall into the dark abyss of the Calcipoli; Juventus are back but struggling to find their stride in the second season since their return to the Italian Serie A. Following problems with squad stability and inability to hold on to a string of good results, the club has become synonymous to a “Poisoned Chalice” in recent times. Moreover, undergoing a barren period of two months with no wins in the last 7 games saw the Bianconeri come close to losing 3rd position to a resurgent Fiorentina. This combined with disappointing exits in the Copa Italia and the Champions’ League, compelled the management to relent to the fans’ demands and make serious changes at the club. So as the Claudio Ranieri was shown the door at the Stadio Olimpico Di Torino, club favourite and current Italy assistant coach, Ciro Ferrara has taken over for the remaining two matches, with speculation rife about his permanent appointment at the club.
Claudio Ranieri has had a penchant for building teams that reached the brink of hitting the big time, but could never really negotiate the final hurdle. During his first spell at Valencia, Ranieri built a good team which after his departure transformed into a great team under Hector Cuper achieving successes in the Champions’ League and the La Liga. Ranieri's first spell at Valencia is popularly regarded as a precursor of what would later happen at Chelsea, since both clubs achieved success which was in part attributable to the input of Ranieri.
But the “Tinkerman” has been notoriously sacked from the last 3 jobs at Athletico Madrid, Chelsea and Valencia (second stint) respectively and only managed to restore some pride by saving Parma from near certain relegation in 2007-08. His performance at Parma was enough to convince the Juventus bosses who decided to put him at the helm of the major re-building project at the Turin club. Despite a young and inexperienced squad and poor transfer signings by club director Alessio Secco, a third place finish and Champions’ League qualification during his first season at the club won him some faith within the hesitant Bianconeri fans.
Since then, Ranieri has failed to build on his previous good work. His constant inability to stamp tactical authority on crunch matches saw him slowly lose out on the faith of the bosses and the supporters. Unassuming and soft-spoken that he is, Ranieri always has been projected in a “nice guy” image - a stark contrast to fiery characters such as the cavalier Zdenek Zeman, Palermo president Zamparini, the ‘Machiavellian’ Luciano Moggi and bordering-on-arrogant Mourinho. However this very mildness gave a vibe of self doubt, much like in the case of Avram Grant, which partially led him to lose respect in the player dressing room, media and the fans. Perhaps, one of the major reasons of a trophy-less career spanning over twenty years.
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