Lippi Won't Take Blame for Juventus' Troubles
Copyright � 1999 Nando Media
Copyright � 1999 Agence France-Press
MILAN, Jan 21 (January 21, 1999 12:00 p.m. EST http://www.sportserver.com) - Juventus' outgoing coach Marcello Lippi hit back at his critics on Thursday, saying he won't be a scapegoat for the team's current woes.
The reigning champions are languishing down in mid-table and club officials have not been slow to fire poison darts at a man who has guided Juventus to three league titles and the European Cup in under five years.
Lippi, who will be replaced by Carlo Ancelotti this summer, lashed out at those who blame him for the troubles, which in truth have much to do with the absence through injury of star striker Alessandro Del Piero.
"There's one thing I want to make clear," he began. "Over the past few years, I never took all the credit for myself for the team's victories and successes in both national and international competition.
"I've always shared the plaudits with my staff, with the players and with the club. And by the same token, all the blame cannot now be attributed to me.
"I've no time for victimisation... but I don't think the explanation for our results is that the coach announced in December that he would be leaving at the end of the season."
And he insisted: "I'm not giving up. I'm used to not releasing my grip until the very last moment. I've never thought of resigning - that's only for people who don't have a clear conscience.
"But I feel just as motivated, just as hungry for work as before. And the team is not in the disastrous condition which the results might suggest.
The Zebras, once the scourge of Italy, have won only one of their last 10 matches in the Serie A.
But Lippi warned: "I have one aim now, and that's to get back to our winning ways; to get the team scoring goals again and to be more consistent, so we can rejoin the top sides the table."
Juventus had been top before Del Piero's injury last November and have just signed two new strikers - Argentinian Juan Eduardo Esnaider and French World Cup winner Thierry Henry -- to try and plug the gap.
Lippi, whose team have only scored 18 goals in 17 league games this season, told the Corriere dello Sport: "Esnaider and Henry will strengthen an attacking department which needed attention."
Off the field, the trouble started last weekend when the club's honorary president Umberto Agnelli said ominously that he hoped Lippi would see out the season.
Juventus' general manager Luciano Moggi then judged it "not normal" for a coach to announce his departure in December and that it created "difficulties" for the club.
