Serie A: Max Allegri? Roberto Mancini? Frank Lampard? Crisis-hit Roma consider options as chaotic Ivan Juric reign ends
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Published 11/11/2024 at 13:01 GMT
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Ivan Juric was promptly sacked as head coach of AS Roma on Sunday after a 3-2 defeat to Bologna continued their dreadful recent run. The Giallorossi are now on the hunt for their third coach of the 2024/25 campaign after dismissing club legend Daniele De Rossi - to the fury of the fans - back in September. Frank Lampard and Graham Potter are among the surprise names being linked with the post.
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AS Roma did not hang about. Just 39 minutes passed on Sunday between the full-time whistle being blown on a 3-2 home defeat to Bologna and a statement being published to announce the sacking of Ivan Juric.
For many of a Giallorosso persuasion, it was long overdue.
The former Hellas Verona and Torino coach lasted just 53 days in the post and leaves with the worst points-per-game average (1.25) of any Roma coach of the last 20 years.
Things started looking shaky with a 1-0 UEFA Europa League defeat to Elfsborg on October 3, while a humiliating 5-1 hammering at the hands of Fiorentina three weeks later made a change look inevitable.
Juric survived, but by the time of Sunday’s damaging loss to Bologna – Roma’s third defeat in five games – it was clear his time was up.
In truth, the Croatian was up against it from the start.
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an uphill battle for juric
There was no honeymoon period for Juric. The sacking of club legend Daniele De Rossi that led to his appointment was met with outrage by fans, who railed against owners the Friedkin Group before turning on the squad too.
Protests were a constant feature of Juric’s 12-game reign, from the Curva Sud section being left empty for 15 minutes at the start of games, to underperforming leaders in the team like Lorenzo Pellegrini and Bryan Cristante being booed by their own supporters.
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The scattering of empty seats at the Stadio Olimpico – something that was hardly ever seen during Jose Mourinho or De Rossi’s tenure – started to grow as fans turned against owners who had fired two of the club’s most popular coaches in the space of nine months.
One banner outside the training ground on Sunday read: “Presidents and directors, leave Rome. You are incompetent and unworthy.”
The club looked to shoulder the blame in the aftermath of Juric’s sacking, with sporting director Florent Ghisolfi admitting: “We are in a predicament and we must take our responsibilities.
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“We would also like to apologise to the fans, who are suffering a lot right now,” he added. “We are all responsible for this situation.”
And what a situation it is. For all the off-field issues Juric faced, there is no denying that he failed to ever get his team to gel or adapt to his style.
Roma toiled in attack and could not keep goals out at the other end, keeping clean sheets in only three of Juric’s 12 games in charge, while they continuously flopped in games where they were considered favourites, losing to Elfsborg, Verona and Bologna and drawing against Monza and Union Saint-Gilloise.
Juric’s final tally of four wins, three draws and five defeats in all competitions leaves Roma in 12th in Serie A, 12 points outside the Champions League places and only four above the relegation zone.
The bleak outlook left former club owner Rosella Sensi, whose father Franco steered the club to its last Scudetto in 2000/01, to write on Instagram: “Seeing my beloved Roma lose yet again makes me mad…it’s time for the ownership to show us the way it intends to go and the future that awaits us after Juric.”
So what will that future look like?
Who will roma turn to next?
In the statement announcing Juric’s dismissal, Roma wrote that “the search for a new head coach has already begun and we expect an announcement in the coming days".
The list of names being linked with the position is long, intriguing and certainly varied.
Perhaps the most curious figure to be the subject of speculation is Frank Lampard, who has been out of management since his spell as caretaker Chelsea boss finished at the end of 2022/23.
Reports in Italy say that the Friedkins have asked British agency CAA Base to help them find a suitable match, and it was from there that former Chelsea, Derby County and Everton boss Lampard’s name was put forward.
It’s safe to say the idea hasn’t convinced everyone in Italy, though.
Luca Marchegiani said “Lampard’s recent experiences were not extraordinary” in a discussion on Sky Sports Italy on Sunday, while a Monday column by Ivan Zazzaroni, the director of Rome-based newspaper Corriere dello Sport, ended with the sign-off: “PS: Lampard, no thank you. There is Serie B to avoid.”
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The other Englishman to be linked to the post is Graham Potter, who has also been available since departing Chelsea in 2022/23.
Edin Terzic, who led Borussia Dortmund to the Champions League final last season, has been suggested, as has Rome native and two-time Roma coach Claudio Ranieri, and another former Lupi boss, Rudi Garcia.
But the names currently getting the most traction are two high-profile Italian coaches without a job, Massimiliano Allegri and Roberto Mancini.
Allegri departed Juventus in the summer, while Mancini was sacked by Saudi Arabia last month.
Both have bags of experience in Serie A and Europe, but former Roma captain Giuseppe Giannini hailed Mancini as “the most successful and experienced of the possible replacements to be able to turn things around".
“He could be the right man to revive the team,” Giannini added.
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Whoever is chosen, they will be walking into a difficult environment. Mourinho ended a 14-year trophy drought with the Conference League title in 2021/22 and led Roma to the Europa League final a year later, but the club continues to underperform domestically.
The stated aim of qualifying for the Champions League for the first time since 2018/19 is already under huge threat, with the Giallorossi lagging far behind a six-team group of Napoli, Atalanta, Fiorentina, Inter, Lazio and Juventus that is split by just two points.
The pressure is on for the under-fire club hierarchy to find a manager capable of putting this season back on the rails - and fast.
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