The following is a guest post written by Ahmed Khawaja
It was like the script of a Hollywood movie, or perhaps even better. The club legend returns home, rallies the troops and helps his fallen team rise from the ashes and back to its former glory.
Antonio Conte and Juventus. Butch and Sundance. Adam and Eve. Names synonymous with each other, forever intertwined and joined at the hip.
Conte was nothing short of a miracle worker. The team was meticulously rebuilt from scratch, top to bottom. The players were in awe of their warrior coach, as donkeys became stallions and fledglings became birds of prey. The hunger, the desire, the will to win at all costs, the Juventinita…Antonio Conte was the living embodiment of it all.
3 consecutive league titles on the trot & 2 Supercoppa triumphs followed as Conte’s Juve stormed its way back to the top. Records fell by the wayside as his team dominated the Italian peninsula with one crushing victory after the other. Europe was proving to be a tougher nut to crack, but it was only a matter of time before Conte worked out a winning strategy for that too.
Juve had found their Alex Ferguson. The club’s future was secure and in safe hands. Five, ten maybe even fifteen years…Conte was ours, he wasn’t going anywhere. The next chapter in La Vecchia Signora’s glorious history was to be written by a man from Lecce.
That is not to say it was plain sailing all along. A wrongful suspension from the FIGC for his (nonexistent) role in the Calcioscommesse scandal in his 2nd year would see Conte pushed to the very limit, the agony clearly etched across his face as he was forced to watch his team from the stands for four, interminable months. Whispers of disagreements over transfer market strategy with the Juve top brass were also ever-present, but none of it seemed drastic enough for the unthinkable to ever happen.
Which is exactly what happened on July 15th, 2014.
“I need to announce the consensual decision to terminate the contract with Juventus, which tied us together for this season. There was a journey towards this decision.”
An announcement that sent shockwaves through the footballing word, a dagger through the hearts of the Juve faithful.
Barely 2 days into pre-season training for the 2014/15 season, and Conte was no more. He had walked away from it all.
What could possibly have gone so wrong that Conte felt there was no other option but to leave? It was only in May when he had had a tête-à-tête with the Juve management and confirmed that he was staying for next year.
Some say the club could not deliver on Conte’s high expectations from the transfer market; others suggest that he had lost the passion and drive to push on again. The truth may be somewhere in the middle, a collective failure of all parties involved.
Personally speaking, the fact that he left so abruptly and so late into pre-season is a very bitter pill to swallow. Conte has left Juve in a very difficult situation as far as preparations and strategies for the upcoming season are concerned. His legacy has been badly – and perhaps even irreparably – damaged with this about turn. No player, coach or individual is ever bigger than the club, and to walk out on the players and fans so suddenly is nothing short of desertion.
This was not the right way to say farewell. This was not how this beautiful chapter in Juve’s glorious history was supposed to end, with more questions than answers, and anger instead of sadness.
A famous footballer once said about Juventus that ‘’A true gentleman never leaves his lady.’’ Well this time, the gentleman did just that.
This article is spot on
Very disappointed with how this a turned out
We have been abandoned
I don;t agree with all of it, but it certainly puts it into perspective. When you look at how Juve were prior to Conte’s arrival and what he bought us, you can’t deny how hard the loss has hit us.
As you said , It was like a chapter of a Hollywood movie , very sad and disappointing
What is this bullshit, Conte a deserter? Show some gratitude to the man who brought us back to the top from utter darkness.
The fact he’s gone now is in no way due to him, but because of this cheap management of ours. He had a plan to bring Juve back to the top of it all, but gets sabotaged by his own management.
He said he would leave if they didn’t deliver and he stands by his word: that’s the man Conte is. He isn’t a pushover.
This article is one of the worst I ever read on this site, very disappointed this even gets posted here.
I posted it in the interest of debate and opinion. Even if I don’t agree with it, I respect everyone’s opinions considering what we have all gone through in such a short space of time.
My personal opinion is to the contrary – Conte performed miracles for us and i will always love the man.
I’m also just voicing my opinion about it – it’s a terrible article.
Basically its just bashing Conte and imo it’s unacceptable.
Might have been strong language on my part but it’s what I think about it
I respect your opinion as well. Don’t worry. Like i said, i don’t share the view of the writer, but I was happy to post it because some juventini feel this way
I probably overreacted with the final sentence in the original comment, it’s just emotions. Love the site, just not used to read stuff like that here. Meaning, something which I can’t agree with at all
That last bit game me the chills. It was the words of Del Piero after the Calciopoli. That’s not to say I agree with questioning the manner Conte left Juventus in. He gave Juventus so much and he felt he could no longer give. Great professional and a great person, made every Juventus player worthy of the shirt. Addio Conte
Welcome!
Bullshit. You can’t seriously believe that he left because he wanted to. “He had walked away from it all.” Yeah, fuck off.
You have to forgive me, but I just can’t accept this. I’m from a country where when your job ends with “consensual decision” it means you were fired, but it would look better for both sides if it said “consensual decision”. Does this look like someone, who left Juve because of his own reasons? Even if he did make this decision because he promised to leave if they fail to bring in or keep certain players, how would you want him to behave? Throw away his spine and say “oh well you can fuck me however you like, I will stay anyway, because I’m nice hastagGENTLEMAN”
Also, what a miracle! They announced his successor the next day he left! They sure were surprised by his sudden decision, but worked late to get the best man for the job as soon as possible! Anyone would have been welcomed warmer than Allegri is, yet they give him a contract.. I don’t blame Allegri for accepting it, and best of luck to him, but I do blame the person who phoned him about it.
“Well this time, the gentleman did just that.” – Wow, this sure is classy. You know what, that guy who said it left too! Fuck him right? Why didn’t he accept to sit on the bench or the stands for free, with zero play time? We should bring back Iaquinta, he stayed so loyal we couldn’t get rid of him.
Exactly.
The whole point of posting this was to give everyone a voice and a chance to put their view across.
Don’t see what I do wrong man, I’m doing just what you say, voice my opinion. I agree with Peter and strongly disagree with the writer of this article
I know that bud. I was just stating the reasons for running the article. I respect your opinion and peters
I apologise if I somehow made you feel bad about posting it, I was just very direct, it’s not really my style but I’m still really upset about the whole thing.
Its good to look at things from different angles but Conte is a man worthy to be called a legend, both as player and manager. Calling him a deserter is way over the line
All juventini are entitled to their opinion. Personally. I love Conte and i will always love him. Ahmed is a friend of mine and i respect his views which is why i posted the article. To encourage debate and conversation. To share views. Don;t worry about what you said, your opinion is as important to me as everyone elses fratello
Sorry if I was harsh, I got really mad about it. In his three years we have seen him win and lose, and he was devastated every time we lost. There is just no way he threw Juve away like a used doll.
And the way he celebrated the third scudetto… Hes one of the biggest Juventino out there at the moment.
I don’t disagree with you. In fact, Conte is a true hero of mine.
Ahmed, who wrote the article, is a truly passionate Juventino. I wanted to give him the chance to share his views as well.
Don’t apologise for speaking your mind Peter
Hey now, watch your mouth. “The guy who said it” didn’t just leave. He was let go. He would have stayed for pennies. There is none and will never be one like Capitano Del Piero. Not even Conte. As much as I love Conte, I did feel like we were abandoned from he very beginning of all this. Of course, we will forgive him because he is one of us and management has proven that they are not.
I know man, I was trying to mimic the writer’s logic when I was talking about Del Piero. That felt almost as bad as this now. At least Alex was given opportunity to play somewhere instead of rotting on our bench.
Nice article, but i still will stand by Conte and not believe he abandoned us. Conte is in intelligent man and loves Juve, why would he try to hurt Juve? He said before the WC he WOULD resign if he didnt feel eveyone else in the board was as serous about his project, the transfer market and winning, which is apart of his project especially. He kept his word, management didnt; it was management who has forsaken us.
Lastly, Conte probably doesnt have the energy, the energy to take and absorb every stab and shot fired him by the media and fans that should be directed at the sh*t head board.
Thanks for the article tho.
I was actually okay with conte leaving. He built the foundation of our squad and couldn’t add to the success… the man holds undeafeted and record point getting seasons under his belt. How could he build on that?? It makes sense for him to want to try smthg new, especially since the board wouldn’t allow the purchase of top players to build on his success. I only wish we got a better replacement… lippi or deschamps would have felt so nostalgic.
deschamps would of been great,already has the juve dna,a winning and solid mentality.lippi,yeah dude that would of been nostalgic,but that was never gonna happen.
Napoli sign Michu.
Meanwhile, at Juve.
Meanwhile, at Juve…. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgUUfV1FmzM&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Napoli and Roma are the ones making the moves, or looking to make the moves, to become top dog in Serie A. Roma look like serious contenders, and if we arent careful, Napoli will creep up on us and take 2nd.
my fear too,these fuckers are strong,especially roma
conte wanted to take this team to become european contenders. the management couldn’t match his ambition. conte’s not the guy to just sit around when he’s already achieved the maximum he can with the team he has. he didn’t believe this team was ready to compete with the european heavyweights and when he saw the management was giving him the players he wanted he saw that his time was at an end. you can’t blame him for leaving. a lot of fans were also saying that just a serie a wouldn’t be enough. our interest was starting to drop in it so how do you think conte felt?
couldn’t agree more with you.all of a sudden,twat allegri is here,we being linked with jovetic,pastore???
god i hope he doesn’t ruin the club
iv’e got no confidence in the man,conte has more passion in his little toe than him full stop.
I can’t see anything else happen. Worst thing is, most ppl blame Conte for failing to go far in Europe, our last campaign was disastrous, but he doesnt get the necessary players to do it either. Now if Allegri simply succeeds in going through group phase, there will be people praising him for that.
allegri is better in europe than conte is – maybe he’ll bring in a fresh new vision on how to adjust to it… People can say what they want, conte is weak in europe.
+1
ANTONIO CONTE ALE…..ANTONIO CONTE ALE…..
Something i made – We are Juventus
That’s great work! Mind if I make it my wallpaper?
Of course not ! Go for it
saw it on twitter rav……epic!!!!!!!!NOI SIAMO JUVE…..NOI SIAMO JUVE
Nice to see, if we hang on the the Juve spirit, our team should still get decent results
Thats what worries me most. Allegri lacks that grinta and the will to win
Nice, but those are all relics from our glory times, nobody would say that about the current Juve.
once marotta is gone and the prick agnelli(yes his is prick for me now)as well i think he will come back
BREAKING
Morata has agreed to join Juventus
Welcome to Juventus, Alvaro Morata!
Is it confirmed?
Di Marzio, closest thing to confirmed
Still pissed off seeing this guy’s face with a Juve sign.
I’ll only ever forgive Moratta if we win the CL.
Same here, another scudetto would be guaranteed with Conte so that doesn’t count.
I’ll only ever forgive Moratta if we win the CL.
Well I’m actually happy with Morata joining, its the only light a the end of the tunnel right now
Yeah atleast Allegri scared off Evra and Iturbe.
Well, sounds like Evra is a done deal still. Iturbe is at Roma yeah
Why are we happy…we’re basically paying €18m for a 2 year loan!!
He’s young and talented, versatile (plays wing and striker, exactly what we need) and he’s a very hard worker.
If he would do really good and Madrid buy him back, we still make a 10-15mill profit, giving us the direct funds we need to get replacement
True, but it’s still a move no ‘big’ club would make.
I know, just trying to focus on the positives, kinda need them right now
You’re right, we should hope for the best now.
New thread
https://www.juvefc.com/reports-alvaro-morata-to-join-juventus/
Correct me if I’m wrong. I hate Allegri, knowing he was at Milan. But I really do think he’ll make the transfer market better than we’ve ever had. I believe he can pull Moratta’s and Agnelli’s tampon strings. Even though we now have Allegri, we have to trust him. Until he pulls a Moyes and that’s when we give him the boot. When I saw the thread that Conte was gone my heart dropped. And I’m a die-hard Juventus supporter, but even with his shitty Milan team he managed to do decent in the CL. We need to trust Allegri for now.
Allegri will only da what management tells him to do, he doesn’t have a spine and especially not one like Conte has.
But yes, it hurts to say, but we’ll need to trust this guy
We are forced tot trust this guy is more like it
Yeah it’s what I meant, we will have to, no other choice until at least december i guess
I find this article a little offensive, he didn’t desert us at all!! He wanted more for our club, higher goals and for that he needed quality players. The board doesn’t want to or couldn’t get those players so he left. I respect him for that!! Hopefully he can train la squadra.
He’s a deserter if you ask me .. after a couple of days now to let this sink in, conte puled a total dick move, he thinks he’s bigger than he is, bigger than the club …. so he wanted to win a champions league this year, well, he won’t be winning anything domestically for a while now because he doesn’t have a club to coach … he screwed up big time and I’m sure other big clubs don’t like the move he pulled …
There are several reports about why he left, the only truth is that we don’t know. If Vidal and Pogba stay at the end of season, I will have to lean to the “Conte is kinda an asshole” side. Just a little bit. He is still the best we had since Lippi.
He could have just got tired mentally. Stress can screw people over and if he was stressed then he was better off gone.
True.