Espanyol have sacked coach Manolo Gonzalez. The club made the decision on Tuesday night, only hours after they were knocked out of the Copa del Rey by fourth-tier Sestao River.
“RCD Espanyol have decided to bring Manolo Gonzalez’s tenure as coach of the club to an end,” the club said in a statement.
Three seasons and 107 games
The club says Gonzalez was in charge for 107 official games over more than three seasons. On Wednesday Espanyol said his staff are leaving too, including his assistant Gerard Garrido.
That is a long spell for one coach at one club. It makes the end feel sudden, even with the team in trouble.
Bottom three in La Liga
Espanyol are 18th in La Liga with 8 points from 10 games, in the relegation zone.
The call was reportedly made by the club’s owners, Velocity Sports Limited. The same group owns Burnley, who sacked their own coach, Nicky Hayen, four days earlier. Two coaches gone in under a week shows the owners are ready to act fast when results go wrong.
Sergio Garcia takes over for now
On Wednesday the club handed the first team to Sergio Garcia, the coach of Espanyol B, on an interim basis. He is a former Espanyol player, and he took his first training session with the first team at midday.
His first game is away at Villarreal on Friday at 21:00 our time. The club is still looking for a permanent coach.
Garcia has only two days to prepare. He is unlikely to change much in that time, so the focus will be on the players’ heads more than on new ideas.
Our take
Losing to a fourth-tier side was the last straw, but the real problem is the league table. Espanyol have only 8 points, and a new man has very little time before a hard trip to Villarreal.
Garcia knows the club well. A good result on Friday would give him a real chance to keep the job, and the fans would be happy to see one of their own former players in charge.
Who should Espanyol bring in as their next coach? Tell us in the comments.
Photos via Wikimedia Commons: RCDE Stadium (then Stage Front Stadium), Cornella, by RCD Espanyol de Barcelona (CC BY-SA 4.0), Sergio Garcia playing for Espanyol by Daniel Thornton (CC BY 2.0), Sergio Garcia by Xavier Rondon Medina (CC BY-SA 2.0), Espanyol stadium in Cornella by JT Curses (CC BY-SA 4.0).