[Phang]

Originally Posted by Nondescript Human

That isn't really true at all; Fiorentina were relegated all the way to C2 and only skipped one league (C1) on the way back to Serie A. Every single senior player except one (Angelo Di Livio) left when they were relegated, yet they still earnt successive promotions from C2 and B on merit, and then avoided relegation from A in their first season back in the top flight and finished 4th in their second season back to qualify for the CL.

I expect that they managed this because their fan base, connections, facilities and reputation as a big club remained despite their situation, meaning they could attract better players than the clubs around them, even when the entire original team had left (which in any case is less likely to happen to the same extent to Juventus, who are a bigger club and only in Serie B, not Serie C2).

Obviously the current situation is not identical to what happened to Fiorentina, but imho even with 1/3 of their present team Juve would probably be back in Serie A within 2 years, and I'd be surprised if the other two clubs aren't as well. Still, as that list Ste posted shows, it's not like this isn't a major blow to them.

it appears i am completely wrong. oh.