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Hello! Igor Tudor got the chop at Juventus. At least he didn’t have to endure Celtic’s furious takedown of Brendan Rodgers.
On the way:
Tudor period over: Juventus still in post-Ronaldo tailspin after sacking head coach
Tudor speaks to Cambiaso and Weston McKennie (Photo: Ciro De Luca/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Andrea Agnelli’s reign as chairman of Juventus will forever be tainted by the way it ended: the allegations of financial impropriety, his abrupt resignation in 2022, the plea deal last month, resulting in suspended prison sentences for him and other former club officials.
Despite that, Agnelli was a man who got Juventus. Andrea Pirlo’s references to him in his autobiography read like a love letter, lauding a man whose “passion for Juventus is almost pathological”. Our own James Horncastle, while pointing out Agnelli’s flaws, regarded him a “spiritual guide” for a team who lauded it over Italian football.
And it’s a fact that in the post-Agnelli era, Juve have lost their way. Yesterday, they sacked head coach Igor Tudor, a move that James and others saw coming. Managers in Turin were once assured of one thing: making it to the end of a season before being fired. But since dispensing with Massimiliano Allegri in 2024, Juventus have gone through a caretaker in Paolo Montero and two permanent coaches, Tudor and Thiago Motta. ‘The Old Lady’, to use Juve’s nickname, is a little sick.
This is an institution, without brushing over their financial irregularities, who bossed Serie A between 2011 and 2020. They were Champions League finalists in 2015 and 2017. At the height of the Andrea Agnelli dynasty (his father Umberto was chairman before him), managing Juventus was one of European football’s plum jobs. But in the circumstances, who will now be rushing to fill Tudor’s shoes?
Zidane, Spalletti or Mancini?
Tudor, for his part, was failing. His squad had strayed off the beaten track in Serie A — they’re eighth in the table — and looked every bit as lost in the Champions League, where they are yet to win a game this season in three attempts. The Croatian had simpler fixtures ahead but didn’t make it far enough to benefit from them.
Juventus, though, are not simply a reflection of his shortcomings. They’re embroiled in a legal battle with Cristiano Ronaldo that could cost them many millions of pounds (on top of the many millions they paid out when he was actually their player). They’ve got UEFA, European football’s governing body, on their case over an alleged breach of financial rules in three consecutive years. Life for them might get worse before it gets better.
I asked James for his view on the state of Juventus because I’m still inclined to think of them as a European powerhouse, a description that doesn’t tally with their position. James sees it like this:
“Juve are still paying for the decision to sign Ronaldo in 2018. It brought expectation and financial pressure, setting off a sequence of events that ended an unprecedented nine-year title winning streak in Serie A. Agnelli, for all his flaws, understood and imbued Juventus with what it meant to be Juventus. They have spent more than £250million ($333m) trying to get back to the top — but they’ve got little or no bang for their buck.”
James’ reading of the crowd at Juve is that their preference now would be Zinedine Zidane — but the club’s former playmaker is keen to take the France job when Didier Deschamps steps down after the World Cup. Next up could well be Luciano Spalletti or Roberto Mancini, neither of whom rank among the best of the best in club football.
One day, Juventus might fish in those waters again. For now, they’re simply trying to rediscover the straight and narrow.
Bitter End: Rodgers quits Celtic, is branded as ‘divisive, self-serving’
(Photo: Marco Luzzani/Getty Images)
Which leads us onto Celtic, who are getting quite a showing in TAFC at present. Like Juventus, they parted with their manager yesterday, as Brendan Rodgers resigned to end his second stint at the Glasgow club.
Celtic have had periods of Juve-like dominance in Scotland but they’re eight points off the pace this season after losing to Hearts at the weekend and, as I wrote on Friday, the relationship between Rodgers and the club’s hierarchy was not exactly sweetness and light.
What we didn’t appreciate was just how badly it had broken down. In a scathing statement announcing Rodgers’ exit, Celtic’s main shareholder, Dermot Desmond, hammered him as “divisive, misleading and self-serving”, accusing Rodgers of creating a “toxic atmosphere”. To say the least, it’s a break from the tradition of thanking a manager for his professionalism and hard work.
While Celtic look for a permanent replacement, Martin O’Neill — who had a highly successful tenure there between 2000 and 2005 — will hold the reins as caretaker manager. But in a sense, they face a similar problem to Juventus. There were junctures in the past where coaching Celtic held huge appeal. This isn’t one of them.
News round-up
Show Viz
Proof that things are going well for Arsenal: the great and good at The Athletic are already asking if any team out there can stop them winning the Premier League title this season. Before we’ve entered November.
And it’s a fair question, because Liverpool are stewing in their own juices and Manchester City haven’t rediscovered their old infallibility. Nobody is chasing Arsenal harder than Andoni Iraola’s Bournemouth.
Common sense tells you to disregard Bournemouth as 38-game contenders, but you know what? They’re a very capable side with a razor-sharp head coach and clever, clear-cut tactics. They’ve also been in a losing state for less time than any other Premier League team: just 11 per cent of minutes (see the graphic at the top of this section).
It doesn’t mean they’ve got the legs for a title race, and picking Arsenal for top spot is the safest call you can make after pointing out that Wolverhampton Wanderers at the bottom are toast. But another step forward by Iraola and Bournemouth has the potential to be the campaign’s most compelling narrative.
- Arsenal’s marauding form and championship ambitions are under discussion on the latest episode of The Athletic FC Podcast. They’re tighter at the back than a Victorian corset. Available on Apple, Spotify and YouTube.
Around TAFC
- Underlapping left-backs, such as Nuno Mendes at PSG and Riccardo Calafiori at Arsenal, are European football’s latest fad. Liam Tharme put together a masterclass on the art of that role.
- Andy Jones has had a bash at picking a Liverpool XI that can get them out of their domestic slump. Not selecting Florian Wirtz says all we need to know about the impact he has made since arriving from Bayer Leverkusen in the summer.
- Jack Pitt-Brooke’s column on Thomas Frank and Tottenham Hotspur was thoughtful and engaging. You’d think with Spurs third in the table, the place would be bouncing, but the punters are taking time to adjust to Frank’s style of play.
- Most clicked in Monday’s TAFC: El Clasico mayhem.
Catch a match
(Selected games, kick-offs ET/UK time)
Carabao Cup, last 16: Grimsby Town vs Brentford, 3.45pm/7.45pm — CBS, Paramount+, Fubo/Sky Sports; Wrexham vs Cardiff City, 4pm/8pm — Paramount+/ITV, Sky Sports.
DFB-Pokal (German Cup), second round: Eintracht Frankfurt vs Borussia Dortmund, 1.30pm/5.30pm — ESPN, Fubo/Premier Sports.
Serie A: Lecce vs Napoli, 1.30pm/5.30pm, Atalanta vs Milan, 3.45pm/7.45pm — both Paramount+, DAZN/TNT Sports, DAZN.
MLS Cup play-offs, round one, game one: Charlotte vs New York City, 6.45pm/10.45pm — Fox, MLS Season Pass, Fubo/Apple TV.
And finally…
Lennart Karl, Bayern Munich’s 17-year-old sensation, got a mention in TAFC dispatches recently after a blinding strike in the Champions League. He seems to be having a personal goal-of-the-week competition because finish two of his senior career (against Borussia Monchengladbach on Saturday) was another corker. You know it’s well struck when the goalkeeper doesn’t even bother to move…
