There was further bad news for the Juventus fans this morning. Despite leading the disgraced Italian giants to the Serie B title last season, manager Claudio Ranieri has been sacked. Club chairman Giovanni Cobolli Gigli has stated that whilst he is grateful to Ranieri for all he has done for the club, he wanted a new man at the helm for what will be a new era in The Old Lady’s history.

Cobolli Gigli said he was tired of watching the same old regimented style of football at the Olimpico di Torino. He no longer wanted to see the tactical chess matches that had lead to a massive drop in attendances, he wanted to see some pride and passion brought back to the famous zebra striped shirts. His choice of manager has brought widespread derision from the Juve fans, the unknown Englishman, Jonathan Wolstenholme, has been charged with restoring this once great club to it’s rightful place amongst Italy’s elite.

As I breezed into the Olimpico di Torino, I was apprehensive at the level of criticism that my appointment had drawn. Mr Cobolli Gigli had told me he wanted Juventus to be back competing for the Serie A title, but he wanted to see them play a different brand of football to the traditional defensive style. Pride, passion, commitment and desire were the words that he had used, he wanted a complete squad overhaul and said that I had a blank cheque book to bring in the right kind of players.

I knew exactly where to look. Having been a keen student of the game for over twenty years, I had seen the vast improvements made with football in Africa. They had produced some of the greatest players in the world, such as George Weah, Roger Milla and more recently Michael Essien and Samuel Eto’o. They encapsulated all that was good about the beautiful game, possessing great skill, ability and desire. They were exactly the type of players I wanted to help breath new life into the fallen Turin club.

Over the course of the Summer, the dressing room has been like a revolving door. The likes of Chiellini (8.5m), Nedved (3m), Del Piero (6.2m), Criscito (4.9m), Buffon (23m), Legrottaglie (3.4m), Camoranesi (8.5m), Guzman (8.2m) and Trezeguet (12m), have all left the club and been replaced with a small, yet talented squad of eighteen players.

Due to the huge changes that have taken place, there has been little time for friendlies. Instead, I have focused on gelling the squad together in training and have been hugely impressed with their ability and passion for the game.

This young and somewhat inexperienced squad know that big things are expected of them, from myself, the board and the fans. The media have already installed us as one of the favourites for the title and it will be up to the players to justify this tag.

I have handed the captaincy to our midfield anchorman, John Obi Mikel. The youngster is on loan from Chelsea for the year, but has already proved to be a huge figure in the dressing room and on the pitch. We hope to shock Serie A with our unique style and will be setting out with an attacking 4-1-3-2 formation.