[STTBS] Cronaca Juve – Tuesday, October 18th, 2011

Well, no easing into this one. At the shareholder’s meeting, Andrea Agnelli dropped a bombshell announcing that “our captain Alessandro Del Piero really wanted to stay with us for what will be his final year in Bianconero. Let’s give him a round of applause.”
 

Grazie di tutto, capitano.

Absolutely stunning. I could write pages on Del Piero and what he means to me and Juventus, but I could also write pages on how terrible this announcement was performed. We may have expected it, in an upcoming piece about Giovinco (already written) I mention how he could find space next year, and that would come from Quagliarella leaving and Del Piero retiring. But the time, the location, the person, it was not how it’s supposed to be. Alessandro Del Piero himself should have made this announcement, when he wanted, presumably in the Spring and to the fans… not the shareholders. There’s no doubt in my mind that Andrea Agnelli spoke to Del Piero about the issue, but that still doesn’t justify it.

• Antonio Labbate of Football Italia provides a perfect recap of why Agnelli’s announcement was all wrong.
• Equally stunned by the announcement, The world of calcio. Milan coach Massimiliano Allegri said he was “completely surprised, it is only October and Del Piero is doing well“. Michelangelo Rampullastated “This is shocking. I’m stunned because Del Piero still wants to play, of course this was discussed between the two sides, but I would have expected Ale to announce it“. Ex-teammate and long-time friend Alessio Tacchinardi went a bit farther: “Honestly, I didn’t expect this, I would have waited for another time. It’s a cold shower, I hoped to see him in Bianconero in the Champions League one more time. My heart cries knowing that I won’t see Del Piero in Bianconero any longer…”
• In other news, FIFA agent Andrea D’Amico was asked about his various clients, he states that Vincenzo Iaquinta is finishing up the recovery process and hopes to play soon, though the two are aware it will be difficult to break into Juve’s lineup. D’Amico was a bit annoyed to be asked yet again about Sebastian Giovinco‘s future. When asked if a return to Juventus would result in a strong Gio or an anonymous one, he responded: “In regard to the fact that he could have exploded earlier, I’ll only say to demonstrate to be strong, someone needs to play you first“.
• Milos Krasic‘s performance went from average to bad on Sunday, as he was completely ineffectual against Chievo. Some news has come out of Serbia that makes his non-performance much more understandable: on Saturday, Krasic’s uncle and father were involved in a terrible car accident: his uncle was killed, thankfully his father made it out with only minor injuries, his life saved by an airbag. Krasic was told of this on Saturday, yet chose to remain with the team in Verona for the match. Quite shocking, and we all wish Milos and his family our best in these tough times.
• Juventus legend Claudio Gentile was offered and has accepted the job to coach the Libyan national football team. Gentile’s last and only coaching job was heading the Italy U-21 squad, in a successful period from 2000-2006. The 58-year old was born to Sicilian parents in Tripoli, Libya, so in some ways, it’s a return to his other roots. All the best, Claudio!

Still absolutely stunned by the announcement and disappointed. I was hoping if Ale did choose to retire, he’d announce it in the Spring, near the end of the campaign, like Pavel Nedved did. Instead, there’s this odd feeling hanging over the rest of the campionato. I’m sure this isn’t the last we’ll hear about it. See you all tomorrow.

[STTBS]: Cronaca Juve is a daily feature where the JuventiKnows editorial team discusses the JuveNews stories you need to read, without the “Messi signs for Juve on loan thanks to Nike” kind of nonsense. What does [STTBS] mean? You’ll have to guess that for yourself. We wouldn’t tell you even under pain of torture… (though we do take bribes)