I’m not sure how to start this. I write this because, I’m not even sure what to think right now. Antonio Conte has left Juventus. A chill ran down my spine just typing that. I had never imagined this day happening, whether it be out of fear or ignorance or both, and I had surely not imagined it happening in this fashion, at this time.

We are now a club without a leader, and a club who has already started pre-season training. A club that had already been fighting for transfer targets – and now it seems that we have lost out on Iturbe – and planning for the next season. Now, all the plans must be altered, to adapt to a new coach and – presumably – new tactics.

I will not speculate on who could replace Conte – La Gazzetta dello Sport says Max Allegri or Roberto Mancini are most likely – for it is too soon for that, at least for me. Instead, I want to remember Conte, Juve’s coach, and all he had done for this team and this squad.

He was never supposed to win the Scudetto in his first year. Nobody expected that. Juventini didn’t even expect that. Yet, from the time that first whistle blew against Parma, one knew this was not the same post-Calciopoli Juventus we had seen. This was, for lack of a better term, Juventus. This was the Juventus we knew and loved, the team that always gave it’s all, the team that fought harder than anyone in Serie A.

If one didn’t get that feeling from the first game, a triumphant victory in our new stadium, than one surely got that feeling during the tense, and ultimately successful, Scudetto race against A.C. Milan that first year. Yes, Milan had Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Thiago Silva, but we had Conte. We had Conte, and we had a squad partially built, and totally molded, in his vision.

That season coincided with my graduation from high school, and the day after my graduation, Juventus raised the Scudetto, our Scudetto, again for the first time since Calciopoli. We had finally shaken off the last vestiges of the post-Calciopoli struggles, and a new era in Juventus history had begun.

Until Calcioscomesse broke, and our coach was banned for six months based on the testimony of one player. Later that summer, after his appeal was rejected, Conte gave a now famous press conference bashing the sporting justice system. I watched that press conference in the airport as I awaited my flight to college. That first year in college was a rough one, and I ultimately ended up transferring, but there was one constant bright light for me: Antonio Conte’s Juventus.

See, that side had finally returned to Champions League, fresh off of that first Scudetto. While ultimately we didn’t make much noise, falling out at the quarter finals after being totally outclassed by Bayern Munich, it was still a prideful campaign for Juventini. We had beaten the reigning champions Chelsea, and we had shown Europe that, while we may not yet be giants in Europe, Juventus was back.

Then, in what is as of now Conte’s final season at Juventus – history suggests that he will one day return – he led the side to a third consecutive Scudetto. Something Juventus had not done since the 1930s. When Juventus played in the International Champions Cup tournament last summer, I covered their time in Miami. There, Conte mentioned the importance of that third Scudetto, and throughout the seasons I remembered his words. Conte wanted that Scudetto, and his side wanted it, and they got it.

To be fair, that final season will also be noted for the failures in Europe, but in the long run here is what the history books will say first: Antonio Conte took Juventus from their roughest period in history to one of their most successful periods in history. We don’t know why he resigned, we don’t know what will happen next, but we know that Antonio Conte’s Juventus will forever be remembered for their grinta, heart, and their results.

Conte is gone, but he is not forgotten. Nor, for that matter, is Juventus gone. We will come back, like we always do, and we will again stand atop the mountain. Grazie per tutto, Antonio. We will never forget you.

 

Update:

 

One of the most shocking days in recent Juventus history is not yet over, but the absurdities keep on coming. With the Juventus world shaken by today’s sudden resignation of Antonio Conte, Juventini worldwide are left reeling and wondering what comes next and what just happened.

Well, we’re going to have to keep wondering for a little while at least.  That said, just now, Emma Winter Agnelli, the wife of Andrea Agnelli, took to Twitter to address the general atmosphere surrounding the Conte departure. It’s important to note that one, these are just the musings of Signor Agnelli’s wife, two, people – myself included – say whacky stuff on Twitter all the time and, three, she never specifically mentions our next ex-coach.

Either way, since the tweets will probably be deleted, here they are for posterity.

 

This particular tweet (below) is the definition of “shots fired.”

Who is that someone else? Who knows. Though I think we all have our suspicions. To her credit, Mrs. Agnelli seemed to recognize the controversial nature of her tweets. Additionally, they were no doubt at least partially inspired by a barrage of tweets she had received, some not as nice as the others.

 

What an odd day.