Giampaolo claims Juventus 'chose me as their new Coach in 2009'

Sampdoria boss Marco Giampaolo claims Juventus ‘chose me as their new Coach in 2009, but I woke up and they’d appointed Ciro Ferrara’.

Juve were in need of a new Coach before the 2009-10 campaign after Claudio Ranieri was sacked and Ferrara’s caretaker reign had come to an end.

Giampaolo was considered for the role, having just led Siena to Serie A safety, but the Old Lady opted to keep on their former defender, while the 50-year-old was sacked just months later.

“The Bianconeri chose me as their new Coach in 2009,” he told Gazzetta dello Sport.

“I went to sleep and the next day I discovered that they’d appointed Ferrara, but I won’t make a song and dance about it.

“Football is a mirror of society, and in the populist world we live in, it’s clear that sometimes we make choices of convenience.”

Giampaolo went four years without coaching in Serie A after his dismissal from Cesena in October 2011, until Empoli took a chance on him as Maurizio Sarri’s successor.

“My season with Cremonese let me re-launch myself in Serie A. From there, Empoli set their sights on me and chose me to succeed Sarri,” he added.

“Big teams? From experience, I’ve now repressed the right to dream. I don’t think about it, only that I coach well.”