Cut-Throat Board Rooms: Managerial Changes in la liga this season

On a fickleness scale the average Spanish football club president probably sits somewhere between an insecure teenage girl discovering an even squeakier-clean version of the boy band she’s already pledged her existence to and a cat, basing the amount of affection it shows it’s owner on how hungry it is. To remind ourselves of the kneejerk mentality within the executive circles of Spanish football, let’s look at some of the decisions this privileged group of people have made in the recent past: there was Florentino Pérez’s assertion in 2003 that Vicente del Bosque, who helped Real Madrid lift the league and Champions League twice, “was not the right coach for the (club’s) future”, and near neighbour Enrique Cerezo’s contract breaking antics, which have seen 13 changes of management since he took over at Atlético Madrid in May 2003.

This season in La Primera, whether because of the increased financial pressure or the particularly “meh” performances on offer by many of the teams, the men in suits have been especially sack-happy even by their high standards, with eight of the 20 clubs changing coaching staff already.

So just how spot on or way off have these respective technical area revamps been?

To begin this story in chronological order, we must venture all the way back to October. It’s easy to forget all the hullabaloo that surrounded Real Mallorca back then, when Michael Laudrup made his way for the exit doors days after his number two, Erik Larsen, was sacked for publicly slagging off the club’s sporting director, Llorenç Serra Ferrer. Defenders of the great Dane, who had argued that the hierarchy had effectively pushed him out, piped down once the dust settled over the Balearic club and his replacement was revealed, the much acclaimed Joaquín Caparrós. Considering the austere measures the club has adopted (the last minute sale of talisman Jonathan De Guzman to Villarreal a case in point), the ex-Athletic coach has done an impressive job so far as, although still skittish, the team is by no means the worst in the top flight, with their last six league results reading LWLWLW. Caparrós, used to operating on a limited pool of resources (e.g. Athletic’s Basque only policy), is probably a better fit for the cash strapped club than the former Barca and Real Madrid legend.

The next coach on the scrapheap was Hector Cúper, which was admittedly his decision. The well travelled Argentine made his way out of Racing Santander for two reasons: firstly he didn’t know who was running the club, and secondly his murky past, which involved an Italian mafia betting syndicate, had caught up with him. Unable to lure in one replacement, the makeshift board of directors entrusted the club on three heads who were willing to work for a fraction of what a mercenary would have asked for: technical director Jaunjo González accompanied by Fede Castaños and Pablo Pinillos. Despite sitting on top of the drop zone, the three new charges have done a remarkable job considering how demoralising the last year has been for the Cantabria club, grinding out some pretty impressive results against difficult opposition along the way, like the three points they took from Osasuna’s notorious fortress, El Reyno de Navarra, and the points they squeezed in the last month against Valencia and Atleti. As of writing, they sit three points below safety, sadly however, even if they were to escape relegation this year, the rap is up for racinguistas, and the inevitable slide is only a matter of time.

With the winter break looming December was an opportune time for guillotine sharpening and three heads had rolled by the time the new year had arrived. First up was Gregorio Manzano, whose role at the Atlético was already reduced to a dead man walking capacity long before getting the boot. Then it was Juan Carlos Garrido’s turn to finally put an end to his disastrous campaign at Villarreal, before Agapito Iglesias decided that Javier Aguirre was a suitable scapegoat for Real Zaragoza’s pathetic showing.

The fine people governing matters at the Calderón made no secret of their intentions to coax club legend Diego Simeone back to instil some of his much needed blood and guts mentality into the decent squad of players available, which had been lacking any sort of cohesion under Manzano. And it seems to have worked. The colchoneros have gone from being the division’s laughing stock, with the worst away record of any club, to one of it’s most resolute teams, conceding just two goals in eight matches under El Cholo’s instructions. So dramatic has the turn around been for the South Madrid outfit that they now have a very realistic chance of finishing in fourth and grabbing the last Champions League spot, which was unimaginable two months ago.

What was more unpredictable than Fernando Roig’s sacking of Garrido, was the Yellow Submarine president’s choice of replacement. The usually level-headed owner has always preferred to promote from within, which is a commendable trait in this day and age, but not when the man coming in has already been having a torrid time with the second team. José Molina has not exactly invigorated Villarreal’s flagging squad and his only victory to date was against a must-beat Sporting Gijón. Damage limitation is the order of the day for the new manager but if he is not careful a relegation dogfight could be on the cards. However, in fairness to the ex-goal keeper, he was had a difficult run of fixtures to start off with and should be able to stir the club away from a calamitous drop.

Zaragoza, having failed to secure ex-Getafe boss Míchel, settled for Manolo Jiménez to do God knows what for the Aragon outfit. One win, two draws and three loses since taking over is not the kind of form required if the club is to climb from the foot of the table. Notwithstanding, the problems at the club are far too deep routed for Jiménez to fix, and the estimated €110 debt is probably a bigger concern than him keeping them in la liga is.

2012 has been just as harsh on poor old coaches, with three more forced to pack up their desks. Sevilla, Granada and Sporting Gijón all gave their managers the heave-ho. At the time Fabri being axed to make way for Abel Resino seemed harsh considering the Galician had guided the team to two promotions in two years, however, the ex-Atleti boss (there are a few of them) has got off to a positive start since joining, boasting nine points from 12 and widening the gap between los empresarios (the entrepreneurs) and the relegation zone.

Spanish football let out a cry when it got word of Manuel Preciado’s sacking, as did the man handing him his P-60, Manuel Vega-Arango. The president explained his decision to let go of the longest serving coach in the league between tears, justifying it with the simple mantra “this is football”. In stepped Javier Clemente, who from the get go declared that pretty stuff had no place in his plans, only results did. Two draws and a lose may look like a poor return, but taken in context it’s not so bad: Osasuna, Valencia and Atleti. Despite rubbing Nacho Novo up the wrong way upon arrival, the straight talking manager seems to have his squad singing off the same hymn sheet now.

The most recent change came in Sevilla, where Marcelino’s shoring up of the defence at the cost of scoring goals saw Míchel take his place at the helm. The former Getafe man didn’t get the immediate reaction from his players as you’d expect, but on it’s third attempt the Andalusian club finally got a win under him. Sitting in eleventh place the team is only four points off fourth place so Míchel, who has drawn blood from stones before with Getafe, will most certainly be aiming to be listening to the famous Champions League anthem on the right side of the tv screen next year.

None of the Basque sides, neither of the Catalan sides and only one third of the Madrid sides have had a turn over of technical staff this campaign. That just leaves Betis, Levante, Valencia and Malaga as the only other clubs to remain loyal to their managers so far this season. In the case of the latter however, things probably won’t stay that way for long, as Pelligrini’s nouveau riche Boquerones show no signs of clicking any time soon.