New Delhi: AS Roma are a club in crisis currently having sacked their second manager of the season. Croatian Ivan Juric was appointed as manager of the Italian outfit following the dismissal of former captain and club legend Daniele De Rossi. The Croatian was deemed to be an uninspiring choice to be appointed as manager by many even at the time of his appointment and the results under him seem to have justified that notion.
He leaves the Italian giants less than two months after his appointment and the Giallorossi have begun their search for a fourth permanent manager of the calendar year. Roma had a brilliant transfer window and there were a lot of expectations from the Italian outfit heading into the season but they’re currently 12th in the table, only four points above the relegation zone.
While the results weren’t going in the club’s favour for the most part of his tenure, there seems to be some off field reasons as well which might’ve played a role in the Croatian’s sacking. Clubs aren’t always in favour of parting ways with a manager that they’ve only appointed mid season as it creates a lot of instability, just look at Napoli’s previous season. So why did the club take such a huge decision?
What off-field factors led to Ivan Juric’s sacking?
While the on field results weren’t very promising for the Croatian, reports in Italy suggest that the results might not be the only factor which was taken into consideration before dismissing Juric. The 49-year-old was shown the door following the club’s 3-2 loss to Bologna but sources close to the club claim that it had a lot to do with star player Paulo Dybala. The Argentine is the club’s highest earner, earning almost £6 million a year.
Juric left Dybala out of his squad for the game against Bologna citing injury issues but sources close to the club state that it was more to do with his contract situation at the club. Juric stated that Dybala experienced some discomfort due to an old scar but it seems that the Argentine disagreed with his manager’s comments. His contract at the club currently has a stipulation that if the 30-year-old makes more than 55% appearances with at least 45 minutes of action, his contract, which is expiring in June 2025, would be automatically extended for a year.
Ivan Juric has the worst average points earned per game of any Roma coach over the past 20 years.
In the 12 games Ivan Juric coached Roma this season, Roma earned an average of 1.25 points per game.
The next worst is Luis Enrique, who saw the Roma team he guided earn an average… pic.twitter.com/9NksZMmVGQ
— Raffaele (@ItalianoCalcio) November 11, 2024
Being the club’s highest earner, it seems like the club is wanting to get rid of their top-earner in an effort to cut down their cost. Another factor that hurt Juric’s tenure at the capital club, was the displeasure his appointment brought to the fans. Dismissing club legend De Rossi was as it is a decision that left the fans furious, but replacing him with Juric, who had never managed a club as big as Roma before looked to be a baffling decision and the fans never accepted him as their manager.
The 49-year-old had never managed a win percentage of more than 30% at any of the Serie A clubs he had managed, an uninspiring number for a club like AS Roma. The manager didn’t instill a lot of confidence in the supporter’s minds which led to him being referred to as the worst manager in the club’s history by some fans.
On field results didn’t help Ivan Juric either
While there do seem to be off-field factors affecting his dismissal, the club’s on-field results didn’t help his case either. In his 12 games in charge, Juric only managed to win four of them, drawing three and losing the other 5 games. His tenure started with an easy and convincing 3-0 win over Udinese but that was as good as it got for Juric during his time in Rome.
He would then proceed to lose to Swedish side Elfsborg and drop points away to Union SG in the Europa League while things in Serie A weren’t convincing enough as well. They would drop points at Monza before losing to Inter at home, receiving a 5-1 drubbing by Fiorentina. Back-to-back 3-2 defeats to both Hellas Verona and most recently, Bologna, spelled the end for the 49-year-old in Rome.
AS Roma have already parted ways with their second manager of the season as Croatian Ivan Juric was let go after just 12 games in charge of the Giallorossi. Football Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
