From bumbling buffoon to brilliant boss: Max Allegri has Juventus on verge of glory

Fans are a fickle bunch. Their opinions can easily be swayed, their convictions washed away on a whim.

Massimiliano Allegri knows all about it.

The 47-year-old arrived in Torino an unwanted man. His reputation in tatters after being fired by AC Milan, Allegri was perceived as a bumbling fool of a bench boss who'd lucked into the country's best job following Antonio Conte's jarring resignation weeks ahead of the 2014-15 campaign.

Conte, the club legend who'd taken what was once a collection of ashes and crafted it into a beautiful phoenix, was viewed as nothing short of a savior. Three consecutive Serie A titles - including one claimed after an undefeated season - had pushed the vile memories of Serie B and successive seventh-place finishes into the background. Conte resuscitated the Old Lady.

And then, just like that, he was gone.

The options looked scarce, and far from desirable.

In Conte's stead arrived a vampiric manager - nicknamed Count Max - who wasn't good enough for a Milan club in shambles, getting a swift kick in the pants last January with the aging, decrepit squad languishing in the bottom half of the table.

For roughly a year before his firing, Allegri - who spent time at minnows Sassuolo and Cagliari before assuming control at the San Siro - was subject to humiliating speculation over his future. Ridiculed and questioned, his stock torpedoed until he was eventually served his walking papers.

Imagine the surprise of Juventus supporters, and much of Italy, when Allegri was hired to replace Conte. Those who worshipped at the altar of the now-former boss wouldn't stand for it.

This is who we're bringing in? He wasn't worthy. Something had to be done.

The fans made their feelings known.

"The first day with Allegri and the president in the car, we were greeted at the training ground by spitting, eggs and kicks," Juventus director Giuseppe Marotta told Sky Sport Italia, reminiscing on the manager's arrival at the club.

And then their opinions started to change. Their previous convictions began to run.

Allegri, proving time and again to be tactically astute - far from the incapable oaf he was portrayed as in his latter days at Milan - started to win them over. It didn't take long.

He did it the only way possible: by winning.

But just winning in Serie A wasn't enough. Conte did that. There needed to be more. There needed to be the crucial step that would bring the club back into the conversation about Europe's best - where they were so long entrenched before drifting out of the discussion. There needed to be success in the Champions League.

In the early stages of group play, it looked like it would elude them.

Until a 3-2 victory over Olympiacos saved them from what would have been an embarrassing group-stage exit, there were still questions about Allegri.

That was the turning point. For the club, and for the manager, whose post-match tweet not only highlighted the sense of humour that's accompanied each of his press conferences, but turned him into something of a cult hero amongst the Bianconeri faithful.

"We won it all together, suffering as a group with our fans. Now, it's all down to us, we can target first place. Phewww."

Since that time, Juventus - led by Allegri's superb squad rotation, tactical preparation and in-game adjustments - have captured yet another Scudetto, their fourth straight, along with a record tenth Coppa Italia crown.

And now, after silencing the doubters by topping Borussia Dortmund, Monaco, and Real Madrid, the greatest challenge of all awaits in Berlin.

Yet, heading into today's contest against all-conquering attacking machine Barcelona, there are no more questions surrounding's Count Max's capability to lead his team to an upset - and a historic treble.

There is only belief. In Juventus. In Allegri.

Fans may be fickle, but those who bleed black and white can no longer have their convictions about the bench boss washed away.