Delneri reflects on successful year

Juventus coach Luigi Delneri was reflecting on a positive year as he prepares his team for their last game before the Italian winter break against his former employers Chievo on Sunday.

If Juve win they will almost certainly finish the calendar year in second place, unless either Napoli or Lazio were to wrack up a high-scoring victory.

And having lead Sampdoria to fourth place and the Champions League last season, Delneri believes this has been one of the best years of his career.

And that is no mean feat for the coach who presided over the ‘Chievo miracle’ from 2000-2004.

Delneri took the ‘Flying Donkeys’ from Serie B into the top flight for the first time in their history and then even to the top of Serie A for a short while and into the UEFA Cup.

“For me 2010 was a crucial year, I achieved important objectives with Samp and we’re doing well here,” he said.

“But also going from Serie B to the top of Serie A with Chievo was very gratifying.”

And although Chievo are not quite the side they were back then, they did make a surprisingly good start to this season and very briefly went top again.

They have slipped back into mid-table since then but Delneri won’t be taking them lightly.

“You don’t stay in Serie A without quality, they will be very aggressive and we’ll have to play our best to win,” he added.