Ciro dodges the bullet

And then there were two. If Inter don't retain the Scudetto this season, then the removals men won't have very far to shift the little shield. Milan's dismantling of Juve last weekend almost certainly means one of the Milanese giants will be crowned Italian champions, after a 3-0 scoreline at the Olimpico which looked almost certain to have cost Ciro Ferrara his job.

Having lost five out of their last seven games - in the process, seeing themselves crash out of the Champions League and fall off the title pace - defeat at home to the Rossoneri was not an option. If defeat was not an option, such an insipid and uninspiring show was certainly not required, and once the terraces and the Turin press had their say, Ferrara's fate has felt just moments away all week.

Incredibly Ferrara was in bullish mood following the match and even stated in his post-match press briefings that he did not think his job was at risk. Tuttosport, for one, disagreed, "Hiddink now!", they ordered, in no doubt a change of leadership was needed. "In this team even Leo Messi would look like a fool and Cristiano Ronaldo would struggle to express himself" they despaired. More worryingly for the former Bianconeri defender, there was little solace granted from his judge and jurors on the terraces, with a sizeable section of the Olimpico crowd calling for the coach's dismissal. With allies in short supply, Ferrara has been at the mercy of the club's executioners, who have, as yet, decided against axing the 42-year-old Neapolitan.

The Juventus board have been historically supportive towards managerial incumbents, regularly opting against knee-jerk hiring and firings and such goodwill saw Ferrara ever so partially redeem himself on Wednesday by steering his men past Napoli and into a Coppa Italia quarter final with Inter. The aftermath of the Milan game presented Jean-Claude Blanc with ample opportunity to dismiss his tactician, yet chose to leave Ferrara in place. Does Blanc genuinely trust Ferrara to revive fortunes, or is he simply stalling the sack?

On-field, things continue to go from bad to worse, with no sign of the slump stopping, let alone being reversed. Many of the reasons why things are going badly on the pitch are due to fundamental practices by the manager. Most pointedly, he has failed to sculpt any form of cohesive team. The formation changes from week to week, each alteration looking just as disjointed as the previous. Critically, Diego and Felipe Melo haven't been integrated into a team who look increasingly confused. If tactical misdermeanours from a relatively untried manager can be excused, then the attitude and application the side have displayed of late cannot. Epitomised after falling behind to Milan, the Vecchia Signora showed little appetite to force their way back into the game. As time lapsed, so did the effort and enthusiasm as Juve failed to muster any sort of offensive to trouble the visitors. The response was limp and lethargic with a definite void of leadership and guidance as Milan effortlessly held Juve at arms length before Ronaldinho's late double compounded their misery. Such inadequacies will not be tolerated long.

The silence from within the club is not exactly a resounding comfort for Ferrara, although news also seems to be thin on a potential replacement. As speculated previously, Dutchman Guus Hiddink would be a good fit to take the reigns on a temporary basis, but that prospect appears to be waning. However, given Russia's none participation in the World Cup there would be few restrictions on Hiddink occupying a similar role to that he did at Chelsea last year, and a deal could be thrashed out fairly swiftly. How swiftly depends on Juve's immediate results, a win at the Bentegodi will prolong Ferrara's stay for another week at least, dropped points to the flying donkeys, and there could be a P45 flying his way.

Juve now find themselves a massive twelve points off the top, a position which is now firmly on the radar of Leonardo's resurgent Rossoneri. Having won seven of the last eight games - the Nerazzurri dropping seven points over the same period - il Diavolo have slashed their neighbours lead at the summit to eight points, with a game in hand, and the Derby della Madonnina to come at the end of the month. It's perhaps a vindication of President Blanc's reluctance to pull the trigger on his manager, that Berlusconi and Co. allowed Leonardo to right his wrongs to handsome effect. Milan have bred a new understanding in Leonardo's revamped 4-3-3 to produce some stylish and productive football, with Ronaldinho at the forefront of things.

Last weeks fixtures concluded the first half of the league schedule, and it's Milan who are carrying the momentum going into the second half. Jose Mourinho would never admit to apprehension about the Rossoneri's proximity, but it's far from comfortable. Mourinho and his squad are endowed with the experience of heading a title charge and have proven to be able to cope with its rigours, but with various departures from the squad, reinforcements are required. Mourinho will be allowed to feast on the carcus of Lazio's contractual mess by picking Cristian Ledesma up on the cheap, and are also looking to prize Aleksandar Kolarov away from the Biancocelesti to replace Cristian Chivu. The move to sign Julio Baptista in a cash plus Nicolas Burdisso deal with Roma is almost complete, whilst out of favour Real Madrid midfielder Guti has said he would join Inter 'with open arms.'

The remaining Coppa Italia last 16 games were completed midweek, Fiorentina beat Chievo and will now meet Lazio in the quarters after they put out Palermo. Juve's 3-0 over Napoli sees them travel to Inter. Milan and Udinese both overcame lower league opposition and will meet at the San Siro. Roma, who beat Triestina, will host Catania after they defeated Genoa.

Finally the Italian Disciplinary Commission have decided to get tough and deal with some of the behaviour on the terraces. After Juve fans set small fires, caused a bit of a nuisance and chanted more racist rubbish at Mario Balotelli, the commission have decided to take the draconian step of closing the Curva Sud for one match, on January 23 for Roma's visit. So, by getting tough, the troublemakers are now going to disperse to other areas of the ground for a game before reconvening the week after for more of the same? It might work