Diego, Wolfsburg Outcast and Former Juventus Player: What Happened?

Rewind two seasons. Italian giants Juventus had just completed a €24.5 million deal for Weder Bremen's Brazilian star Diego, he was set, ready to link up with a host of players and take Juve back to the top of Europe.

He arrived at Juventus full of passion, quickly became popular with the fans (and still is to some extent today) he made his debut in the Serie A against Chievo and grabbed an assist in his first game, going on to score a double against Roma not long after.

It all seemed to be going well for Diego, the Brazilian trio of Amauri, Melo and himself were working well together, Juventus were sitting top of the table in Italy (undefeated).

A loss to Napoli triggered a bad slump in form for the Bianconeri and just months later they were down 4-1 in a Champions League clash against Bayern Munich.

Out of the Champions League, sitting poorly on the table and having a host of players out saw Diego pushed to a central forward role for Juventus. Although he scored a few more goals for Juventus, they would not qualify for the Champions League for 2010/2011.

Diego's last game for Juve proved to be a 3-0 loss against Milan. Although Juventus had one of their worst seasons in the history of the club, Diego didn't fully disappoint. Fans agreed he needed a season to settle in at Juve and didn't do too badly in comparison to the performances of some of the other signings (Felipe Melo most noticeably).


After spending big in the 2010 transfer season again, Juventus surprisingly decided to part ways with the Brazilian central attacking midfielder, selling him to German side Wolfsburg in a move that would see him return to the league that made him one of Europe's most feared attackers.

The fee of €15.5 million was a record for Wolfsburg, but proved to be a €9 million loss for Juventus. Much was made in the media of Juventus' treatment of Diego, many questioned whether Juventus really understood the potential of the player they had at hand, especially because it was only his first season in the Serie A.

Nevertheless he returned to Germany with Wolfsburg. His first game in the German outfit saw him score a debut goal, even though Wolfsburg went on to lose 4-3.

He continued to shine in a below-average Wolfsburg side, who had come to the conclusion that they were fighting to stay in the Bundesliga, rather than contest the title as they so brilliantly did the year before.
On the Feb. 5, 2011, Diego won a penalty in a league match, that ultimately proved to decide the future of Steve McClaren. Instead of allowing the designated penalty taker (Patrick Helmes) to step up and attempt to convert, Diego subsequently hit the crossbar and Wolfsburg went on to lose the match by a single goal.


He was fined and dropped for his actions, and from here Diego never really got another look into the squad. A combination of not following team orders off the field and not being given any playing time have seen him dropped to the fringes of the squad, in essence looking for a new club.

So where to now for this talented player? A stay at Wolfsburg isn't on the cards, but a return to Brazil? Perhaps. Many clubs have tried to lure him away from Wolfsburg, including Malaga and a couple of Premier League sides (Aston Villa and Liverpool); whether it will eventuate into anything will be determined in the coming weeks.

One thing is for certain though, Diego's great talent will go to waste if he cannot secure a transfer to a club that needs him equally as much as he needs them.

Worrying times at Wolfsburg

After already sacking manager Steve McClaren with immediate effect (7 February 2011) Wolfsburg are looking to rebuild, and new manager Pierre Littbarski has taken the reins. He is now laying down the law and is set to suspend Alexander Madlung and Thomas Kahlenberg due to a lack of focus. The Brazilian playmaker Diego has felt the wielding axe during a week where he was suspended for wrongly taking and missing a crucial penalty.

Wolfsburg have slumped level on points with Kaiserslautern third-from-bottom in the Bundesliga table. The duo Madlung and midfielder Kahlenberg have attracted unwanted attention from there manager regarding commitment to the cause. "I have told them and the whole squad we're in a situation where we need players that are 100 per cent committed to the task and their club," he told
"They need to be focussed, they need to work hard. I actually did not get the feeling these two players are committed to us."

Football Managers - It's a Hard Enough Life For Us...

Managers have a tough job sometimes.

Dealing with egos within the squad, developing team unity and unity towards the goals of the club and all this to do with club owners breathing down their necks. With Steve McClaren and Roberto Di Matteo being axed from Vfl Wolfsburg and West Bromwich Albion respectively, here is a look at some (of many) of the more odd/controversial managerial sackings of years gone by:

1) Leroy Rosenior – Torquay United (2007)
A former striker for variety of clubs including West Ham United, Fulham FC and Queens Park Rangers, Rosenior has the perhaps most dubious record of the shortest managerial position ever held. In 2007 he returned to Torquay United for whom he coached for between 2002 – 2006, when after being in charge for a whole 10 minutes, he was let go by the club. This was due to a new consortium taking over at Torquay, something that Rosenior was aware of but not thinking that it would happen only 10 minutes after he was unveiled as the then League Two’s new manager.

2) Jose Peseiro/Nasser Al-Johar – Saudia Arabia National Football Team (2011)
The Arabian powerhouse Saudi Arabia entered the 2011 AFC Asian Cup as perennial pre-tournament favourites to lift the coveted trophy with expectations running high for the Green Falcons. But after losing 2 – 1 to a lowly but determined Syria in the groups opening game, Portuguese coach Peseiro was told to pack his bags by the Saudi FA. Replacing him for the remainder of the tournament was technical advisor Al-Johar, but his fate was soon sealed just under a week later. The Saudis failed to pick up any points in the group stages (losing 1 – 0 to Jordan and being destroyed by Japan 5 – 0), exiting the Asian Cup in disappointing fashion and Al-Johar not even having the highest position in Saudi football for a week.

3) Chris Hughton– Newcastle United FC (2010)
After taking charge a dominant Newcastle United from the Championship in 2009 back to the promised land of the Premier League, things were looking good for Hughton. The Magpies were exceeding everyone’s expectations in the league and managed to put on some great attacking performances, including a 4 – 0 hammering of a sorry Aston Villa on the opening round of 2010/2011.


Owner Mike Ashley who had overseen many a sacking during a turbulent time at St James’ Park, decided to let go of the popular Hughton (seemingly out of nowhere) citing “an individual with more managerial experience was needed to take the club further”. Many of the St James’ Park faithful were in disillusion at such a decision, but yet came as little surprise if one looks back at the recent managerial merry-go-round for Newcastle United. Former Southampton and West Ham manager Alan Pardew was chosen to replace Hughton, but the Toon Army will never let down the importance that Hughton had in his short spell at the top.

4) Pierre Littbarski (2005/2006)
The Australian footballing scene had died a terrible, terrible death in 2004 due to the financial fumblings of those in charge at the former Soccer Australia and the dissolution of a national league (known as the National Soccer League) made matters worse. Coming from a yearlong recess in 2005/2006, the A-League was launched under the auspices of Football Federation Australia and Chairman Frank Lowy. New teams were established and football in Australia was given another shot at life.


A Sydney FC side, coached by charismatic German Pierre Littbarski took out the A-League Grand Final against the Central Coast Mariners thanks to a lone Steve Corica goal in the 63^rd minute. Once known as “Bling FC” due to their financial flair and high profile signing of former Manchester United striker Dwight Yorke, the Sky Blues somewhat shockingly let go of their inaugural manager after leading them to the first ever piece of silverware due to his non-acceptance into taking a major paycut. It would be another four seasons before Sydney saw any silverware (winning the A-League double of both the minor premiership and grand final) under Czech coach Vítězslav Lavička. Littbarski had spells managing various sides in Asia and in Europe before setlling with German side Vfl Wolfsburg in 2010 as an assistant coach, before being assigned caretaker manager of Die Wölfe in 2011 after the sacking of Englishman Steve McClaren.