OFFICIALLY OFFICIAL: Simone Padoin joins Max Allegri’s coaching staff

When Max Allegri was first brought back as Juventus’ manager, there were rumors that another familiar face was going to come back to be a part of his coaching staff. Those rumors, while having some weight to them, didn’t come to fruition after Andrea Barzagli decided to get a nice gig with DAZN rather than get back into the coaching grind.

Fear not, friendos.

There still is a familiar face coming back to Juventus to coach under Allegri.

Juventus announced Thursday that former midfielder Simone Padoin is coming back to the club to join Allegri’s coaching staff. Lord Padoin, who was a member of Juve’s Scudetto-winning teams from 2012 to 2016, retired in 2020 after a one-year stint with Ascoli. Padoin will embark on his first coaching job with a manager who coached him for a good portion of his time at Juventus, and will now be coaching the small number of his former teammates who are still around in Turin.

While Juventus’ announcement didn’t specify what Padoin’s exact role with be within the coaching staff, one has to surmise it will be something like Barzagli did when he was part of Maurizio Sarri’s staff, working with individual players or a certain position group. You know, using the rapport he has with some of Juve’s players to his advantage while trying to coach them up at the same time.

The official announcement is as follows:

Simone Padoin has today joined the club’s backroom staff as a coaching assistant.

It is a very welcome return for the former Bianconeri midfielder, who proudly wore the black-and-white shirt from 2012 to 2016, winning five league titles, two Coppa Italias and three Italian Super Cups.

Welcome back to the Juventus family, Padoin, and best of luck with the new job!

Padoin, who went on to play for Cagliari after his time with Juventus ended in 2016, was one of the most-liked players amongst his teammates during his time in Turin. As much as we joked that he was the victory cigar-like player who came on at the end of games that Juve were going to win, he was one of those members of the team that every successful team seems to have. He knew his role, he knew where his playing time would come and there was absolutely no complaining about it.

Sometimes, it’s those players that turn out to be the quality coaches, and Padoin coming back to Juventus clearly means there’s a big level of respect between him and Allegri. And, let’s be honest, the more Padoin the better — and this time we’ll get to see him in a different kind of role that is surely going to be one he can be very good at.