Gianluigi Buffon - The Legend

[BennettS]

Gianluigi Buffon Announces Retirement from Football
30 May 2014

Gianluigi Buffon has announced his retirement from football with immediate effect after a serious injury to the Italian goalkeeper. Buffon has ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament and was told by club doctors that it would be an extremely wise choice to retire from football altogether. With the goalkeeper having such a glittering career it has been widely expected that the Juventus captain will carry on in football after recovering from his injury, but Buffon himself is yet to release a statement regarding furthering his career, at the moment this is just speculation.

Andrea Pirlo, Alessandro Del Piero and Francesco Totti have all given their support to Gianluigi Buffon after the terrible news, stating that he is the best player that they have ever played with, and without a doubt the best goalkeeper to grace the earth. The Italian goalkeeper has apparently been distraught since hearing the news, but has appreciated the fans comments, and the comments from his team-mates over the years.

“Thank you so much to everyone, I cannot explain how horrible this situation is, I believed that this was going to be my last year at the top level, I wanted one last year at the top, and give the fans a proper farewell, but I cannot even kick a football for the foreseeable future so there is no way I can continue. At the age of 36, I was advised to hang-up my boots by the club doctors as it is best for my future. I have had a fantastic career and I am hoping to contribute to football even after my retirement.”

“So it is with greatest regret, I am announcing my retirement from football, thank you to all who have supported me over the years, I am going to take a few months out and think about what I want for my future. But you can guarantee you have not seen the last of me. I have got to say thank you to Juventus, Parma and everyone who has been involved in Italian football, Thank you all.”

Gianluigi Buffon has now officially retired from football, playing an incredible 488 games for Juventus in all competitions since joining for a world record fee of £33million for a goalkeeper from Parma in the summer of 2001. The Italian goalkeeper managed 488 games for Juventus, 225 games for Parma and an amazing 142 games for the Italian national side, which amounted to an amazing 855 professional football games.​

 

[SaintMotbot]

Very nice start, will be following

 

[BennettS]

Very nice start, will be following

Thank you, I feel very optimistic about this game, I am extremely looking forward to it!

 

[Bullardinho]

Will be following!

 

[BennettS]

Will be following!

Cheers mate

 

[KingCantona]

Love Buffon! Great keeper, will definitely be following this story!

 

[BennettS]

Love Buffon! Great keeper, will definitely be following this story!

Same here! Cheers mate.

 

[BennettS]

A Few Months Pass…
10 August 2014

It has now been a few months since my ACL injury and I have just returned from a holiday in Dubai for a month, I can’t believe the amount of spare time I have, it’s too much for me, I need to do something, and football is all I know, the rush, the adrenaline, I need it back.

With my knowledge of football I believe I would be a great asset to a club, but doing what? Scout? Coach? Maybe a Goalkeeper Coach? Now that always could be a good possibility, but I am still on crutches, what use am I coaching a goalkeeper when I can’t even walk at the moment! This injury is torture, even more torture than when I was playing, I at least had optimism of getting back to football, now I have nothing.

A few hours later I am stumbling around my home which of course is still in Turin, my only home, I get a phone call from Massimo Allegri, the new manager of Juventus.

“Nice to speak to you Gigi, how are you doing at the moment? I hope you are okay.”

“Thanks Massimo, I am having a few troubles with these crutches but apart from that I am coping quite well.”

“Ha ha, well I might have something for you, come back to the training ground tomorrow, I need your assistance with something.”

“Okay, no problem, I will be there then, Ilaria will be there with me though as I still am using crutches to get around for the time being.”

“That’s fine, see you tomorrow.”

After the phone call ended, all I could think about was why did Massimo need me? I have never played under him before, he came in after Conte left for the national team. He said he needs my assistance…

The whole night things were running through my mind, I hoped that it was something positive, I suppose it at least gets me out of the house for a morning anyway.

 

[BennettS]

Back Once Again…
11 August 2014

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Arriving back here at the Juventus Center was bringing back tonnes and tonnes of memories, I didn’t know whether this was a good or a bad thing though. I love this club and will do anything for them, they all know that, is that why I am here? Everything is rushing through my head as I arrive with Ilaria. She tells me to keep calm and go inside.

Once I was inside things were rushing back to me, everything I had missed was here. I needed this once again. I then seen Massimo coming over to speak to me, he didn’t look best pleased, stressed to say the least.

I went into his office after a little talk about how things were going at the club and how things had changed since I have last been here, and to be honest things have changed quite a bit, that was what was worrying Massimo.

“Gigi, I have a problem, Claudio has walked out on us. He has been frustrated for a while now since your injury, and has decided enough is enough. He is 48 and has already decided to retire from coaching and continue his qualifications in another field altogether, nothing to do with football, and I cannot change his mind! We didn’t get on very well since Antonio and yourself left the club.”

“I never expected that to happen, he has been with us since 2010. Is that why I am here? Do you want me to have a word with him and see if he will come back?”

“No, I want you to take over as the Goalkeeping Coach here, you know the club better than most people do. You are the best goalkeeper in the world, probably still are, when you get out of those crutches. You have got to come and help us.”

After a long talk with Massimo, we had a good laugh with each other, sharing a few glasses of wine in between. We came to an amicable solution, with me still being on crutches until early November we will employ a new goalkeeping coach who will only take over the under 21’s once I am fully fit, until then we will work together coaching the first team’s goalkeepers, which we are still yet to sign a new goalkeeper since I left in May.

So there we have it, not even three full months after retiring from the greatest club in the world, and I am back. I am ecstatic, it is time to start my new journey in coaching.

 

[BennettS]

Too Much Wine Massimo?
1 January 2015

New Year’s Eve will have been a big celebration for almost everyone across the globe last night, almost everyone. Massimo Allegri apparently left the party early that held all of the Juventus players and staff, reports saying that he was stumbling out of the party in the early hours of this morning.

Around 03:30 he was pulled over by Police just outside of Turin, he resisted arrest and that led to a chase with the Juventus Manager, which according to a Police statement lasted for ten minutes before Allegri pulled the car over.

Massimo Allegri has been the Manager of Juventus since 16th July 2014, and has done a very good job since taking over at the club when he replaced outgoing Manager Antonio Conte, who took over at the Italian National team, seeing them in 2nd place in Serie A so far this season.

Juventus and Massimo Allegri are yet to make a statement but it is thought that the current Manager of Juventus will be relieved of his duties and sacked with immediate effect, especially with the chance that the 47 year old could go to jail for resisting arrest. The Juventus board will be looking for a quick resolution to this as the transfer window has just opened less than 12 hours ago. Who will lead Juventus the rest of the season? Will Allegri stay in charge at the club? We will no doubt find out in the upcoming days.​

 

[BennettS]

Allegri Out, Buffon In
4 January 2015

An official statement has been released from Juventus FC website, stating that Juventus Manager Massimo Allegri has been dismissed from his role at the club with immediate effect, thanking the Italian for his contribution to the club and wishing him well in the future.

“It is with immediate effect that Massimo Allegri has been dismissed from Juventus FC. After recent events we believed it would be in the best interest of the club and the individual to part ways immediately. We wish Massimo the best in the future and in the court cases.”

The club then went on to say…

“Gianluigi Buffon has been chosen to take the football club forward for the rest of the season. He has been signed on a six-month contract until the end of the year when we have the summer to decide our options. Gianluigi has been with us for a number of years, he knows the club inside out. We could not wish for anyone more motivated to take the club forward.”

So ex-Juventus Captain Gianluigi Buffon has been announced the Manager of Juventus FC, it is uncertain yet what the future holds for the Italian, as well as what’s in store for ex-Manager Massimo Allegri.

Gianluigi Buffon is currently the club’s Goalkeeping Coach and has been since 11 August 2014, we will now see if the former Italian International goalkeeper is ready to follow into management.

Gianluigi Buffon will be opening his managerial career with his first game against Verona at the Juventus Stadium, hopefully being at home will help the fans get behind their new man and show them that he is right for the job.

More information will be released later...​

 

[BennettS]

A good start at the Juventus Stadium, I am glad we managed to get 3 points under our belt straight away, it was needed to get the fans on our side. We managed to hold on after Patrice Evra got sent off, I will be having a word with the lads about the sheer amount of yellow cards received in this game.
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[BennettS]

My first signing as a Manager is this man, Victor Valdes. He has been on a free transfer since his release from Barcelona. He suffered a major injury to his cruciate ligaments which kept him out for a total of 8 months. As Juventus didn't sign anyone since I left back in May, I thought this was the one position we needed to strengthen in.​

 

[BennettS]

The definition of a bore draw. I am happy that we managed to go away with a point at the San Siro. I will be looking to push on from this now with our next match against Udinese in the TIM Cup 1st Round.
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[Nomadic]

Great start to this story mate! Keep it up.

 

[BennettS]

A brilliant win us against a strong Udinese side. Lichtensteiner dropped us in the lurch when he got sent off early into the second half. I was very worried when Danilo scored 2 mins later and we were down to ten men, but our lads pulled it back with Carlos Tevez, Paul Pogba and Patrice Evra scoring for the club. Patrice actually scored his first goal for Juventus here too.
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[BennettS]

Great start to this story mate! Keep it up.

Thanks mate really enjoying it so far.

 

[BennettS]

This was a brilliant result against our rivals. A 4-0 victory with Llorente, Pogba and Bonucci all getting on the score sheet in the process. I am enjoying a great start to my managerial career with Juventus. The job was made easier when Torino went down to 10 men. There have been a lot of bookings in the games I have played so far, I might have to try and calm the players down so they don't receive too many bookings throughout the rest of the season.​

 

[BennettS]

Fernando Llorente grabbed himself a hat-trick and the Man of the Match today against a decent Palermo side. Unfortunately Angelo Ogbonna gave away a penalty in the 80th minute after a high foot which clipped Eros Pisano. We are looking good at the moment, still sitting in 2nd position, behind Roma by one point, which we have now narrowed the gap to from three when I took over at the start of the month.
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[BennettS]

A disappointing draw considering our domination. We did very well in the game but struggled to put them in the goal. I am fairly happy with the result in all honesty though. The game was very entertaining, definitely not a bore-draw like the last game I drew.
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