Firing the coach worked for Barcelona, but not every LaLiga club got it right this season

To sack, or not to sack? That is the question. All over the world, at season’s end, sports organisations face self-examination: Should we have sacked the coach? Should we now sack, or retain, the coach? LaLiga is no different.

Right now, with the final weekend still to play, the Primera Division has seen nine clubs change their manager: two of them (Levante and Alaves) twice. Some of this ruthlessness has been very successful (Barcelona, Elche, Getafe); other examples are risible and the football equivalent of tying your shoelaces together, donning a blindfold and then attempting to run without falling flat on your face (Levante and Alaves).

It’s also a decent bet that by this stage next week the number of managers dismissed or released will have inflated.

Monchi, Sevilla’s director of football, got quite miffed about suggestions that Julen Lopetegui might be shown the door marked “Salida” so that Diego Martinez could be recruited as the next boss. Nobody at San Mames would be surprised if the departure of president Aitor Elizegi, and the onset of elections in late June, might spell an undeserved end to Marcelino’s reign at Athletic Club. Valencia’s Jose Bordalas is far from immune, and while Unai Emery should be untouchable at Villarreal, so long as he wishes to stay, the fact that he didn’t take the Yellow Submarine into either the Europa League or Champions League will have raised eyebrows among the Roig family, father and son, who are celebrating 25 years running the club. Whether it raised their ire is the key question.

OK, these numbers are a far cry from the prime madness of, say, Jesus Gil, Atletico Madrid’s president, who oversaw 26 changes of coach in nine years (1986-1995.) Yes, soak that in. A new (or returning) “Mister” taking over every four months on average … for nearly a decade. The itinerant incumbents came from Spain, Colombia, Brazil, Argentina, Serbia and England. Totally different men, cultures, ideas. Same result!

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