Ciro Ferrara was fired as Juventus coach on Friday. (GIUSEPPE CACACE/AFP/Getty Images)Juventus coach Ciro Ferrara was fired Friday and replaced by Alberto Zaccheroni.
The Turin team has lost nine of its last 12 games in all competitions and Ferrara's job had been at risk for weeks.
A 2-1 loss to Inter Milan on Thursday that eliminated Juventus from the Italian Cup pushed management to make the move. That followed a loss to AS Roma in Serie A last weekend, with Juve allowing late goals on both occasions.
"We have failed on our season goal," Juventus president Jean-Claude Blanc said after the Inter loss. "It is very upsetting."
In a short note, Juventus did not provide details, but Zaccheroni was expected to sign a contract only through the end of the season, which would still fuel speculation that Juve will go after Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez for the future.
Juventus said Zaccheroni would direct his first training session later Friday.
Zaccheroni led AC Milan to the Serie A title in 1999 and has also coached Inter Milan, Lazio and Udinese in the top Italian league. The 56-year-old has been out of coaching since getting fired by Torino in February 2007.
Zaccheroni was apparently selected ahead of Claudio Gentile, the former Juventus player and Italy under-21 coach.
Also a former Juventus player, the 42-year-old Ferrara began his first Serie A coaching job by replacing Claudio Ranieri on an interim basis for the final two games of last season. He led Juventus to two wins and was then named permanent coach in June.
Juventus opened this season with four wins — with newly signed Brazil playmaker Diego scoring twice in a convincing 3-1 win over AS Roma in the second week — but then began to struggle in both the league and Europe.
A 4-1 home loss to Bayern Munich in December eliminated Juventus from the Champions League in devastating fashion and the team has continually slipped down the Serie A standings, now lying sixth, 16 points behind leader Inter.
Injuries plague Juventus
Injuries have played a large role in Juve's troubles, with captain Alessandro Del Piero, Gianluigi Buffon, Vincenzo Iaquinta, David Trezeguet and Mauro Camoranesi all missing large chunks of the season.
Still, Buffon was not seeking excuses.
"If there is a firing it would be a failure for us players," Buffon said after the Inter loss Thursday. "Juve is represented by the players and the club, so nobody is extraneous to blame."
While Juventus still holds the record with 27 Serie A titles, it has not officially won the "scudetto" since 2002-03, when Ferrara was winding down an 11-year stint as a defender for the Bianconeri.
Juventus was stripped of the 2004-05 and 2005-06 titles in the wake of the Italian match-fixing scandal.
