Team Talk : Gigli

Cobolli Gigli keeps the faith
Monday 3 March, 2008

Juventus President Giovanni Cobolli Gigli defends Claudio Ranieri and insists that the Old Lady’s slump won’t cost them the Champions League.

The Bianconeri have suffered a dip in form and lost 3-2 to Fiorentina last weekend after a stalemate with Torino in midweek and a shock defeat at Reggina.

Fiorentina are now just one point behind third-placed Juve, but Cobolli Gigli has no doubts that the Cadetti champions will at least secure fourth place.

“We don’t even want to think about not getting into the Champions League,” he told Rai Sport.

“We are sure that we can get back on form even if we can feel Fiorentina’s breath on our necks.”

Despite receiving repeated praise throughout the first six months of the campaign, Ranieri has come under fire for his tactical approach against the Viola with voices suggesting he is too attached to his rigid 4-4-2 system.

“Ranieri is and remains an excellent Coach,” Cobolli Gigli insisted. “Until recently everyone was singing his praises and one bad moment should be enough to discredit him.

“There’s no one reason for the current problems. Reggina can be attributed to refereeing errors, as for yesterday, derbies are always tough games to win and we made some unusual errors in defence.”

Juve will look to return to winning ways at Marassi when they visit Genoa this weekend.

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