Tito Vilanova has stepped down as Barcelona coach after suffering a further recurrence of throat cancer.
Barcelona called an 8.30pm press conference at which they were due to make Vilanova's departure official. He will be temporarily replaced by the assistant coach Joan Francesc Ferrer Sicilia, known as Rubí, who joined the club from the Segunda División side Girona in the summer
"We inform you that Tito Vilanova needs further
treatment which makes it impossible for him to continue as head coach,"
said the club president Sandro Rosell. A new manager is to be appointed next
week.
Vilanova, 44, missed two months of last season after
travelling to New York for treatment after a relapse. In his absence the team
were coached by Jordi Roura. Vilanova returned for the end of the season, which
ended with a league title and Champions League elimination in the semi-finals,
but Barcelona held concerns over his medium- and long-term health. Vilanova was
determined to continue but a worsening of his condition appears to have made
that impossible.
Vilanova first had a tumour removed from his parotid gland
in November 2011 and underwent radiotherapy and chemotherapy. He returned to
work after only 18 days and at the end of the 2011-12 season he was given the
first-team manager's job. The news of his relapse broke on 19 December,
following a routine check-up carried out at the Vall d'Hebrón hospital in
Barcelona on the previous day. Cruelly that was the very day that the defender
Eric Abidal, who had suffered liver cancer, finally rejoined his team-mates in
training.
The coach underwent surgical intervention and, although he
returned to work in early January, he flew out to New York for two months on 21
January. Barcelona were adamant that Vilanova would remain their coach for as
long as he wished to continue and resisted some calls to hire a permanent
replacement. Barcelona won the league title, equalling Real Madrid's record by
reaching 100 points. The title was widely referred to as "the league of
Tito [Vilanova] and Eric [Abidal]."
Abidal departed Barcelona in the summer after he was offered
a post with the youth academy but not a place in the first-team squad. Vilanova
insisted he would continue to coach Barcelona unless doctors demanded
otherwise. Although the club had prepared contingency plans and expressed their
concerns to the coach, the decision was always his.
Although there are footballing considerations that will come
to the fore in the near future, the immediate concern is Vilanova's health. The
news comes in a week marked by a verbal conflict between the former coach Pep
Guardiola and the Barcelona board about Vilanova's illness that threatens to
create another divide at the heart of the Catalan club.
Guardiola accused the Barcelona board of using Vilanova's
illness to attack him, calling that unexpected and low. Vilanova was
Guardiola's assistant and has been his friend for almost 30 years. The
Barcelona president, Sandro Rosell, denied that accusation and Vilanova said
Guardiola was "mistaken". He also admitted he had been hurt that the
new Bayern Munich manager had not visited him during the two months he was in
the United States. "Pep is my friend and I needed him," he said.
Barcelona will now begin the search for a new full-time
coach, with less than a month before the season begins. A number of potential
candidates have already committed themselves to other clubs for the new season,
including the former Barcelona B manager Luis Enrique, who is now at Celta
Vigo, and the new Athletic Bilbao coach, Ernesto Valverde.
Rubí led Girona to the promotion play-offs last season, only
to be defeated by Almería. He is well respected and has a reputation for
attention to detail and attacking football.
The Guardian
No comments:
Post a Comment