2023-10-12 01:38:12
Returning home to Madrid, Marcelino, 58, calmly looks back on his eventful departure from OM on September 19, in an interview published in The team this Wednesday.
The friend of Pablo Longoria and former coach of Villarreal, Valencia and Athletic Bilbao in particular, describes the circumstances of his withdrawal, in the wake of the 0-0 draw against Toulouse at the Vélodrome: “On Monday, we met trained normally. Then, in the evening, Pablo (Longoria) called me and told me what had just happened at the club headquarters. He and other leaders had received threats and were virtually forced out of office. (…) Before training on Tuesday, the decision was made, on his part and on all of our parts. It involved Pablo and the rest of the leaders. They could not accept, under any circumstances, this type of threat, nor continue to work in this situation. »
Starting although undefeated in five Ligue 1 matches, but eliminated in the 3rd round against Panathinaikos in the 3rd qualifying round for the Champions League, the coach specifies: “I did not make the decision to leave, it was a decision general, given the absolutely reprehensible threats. (…) Then, if Pablo, Pedro (Iriondo, the strategic director), Stéphane (Tessier, the administrative and financial director) or Javier (Ribalta, the football director) change their minds, in circumstances that I do not know … There are everyone’s responsibilities, the fact of not leaving the club without leadership, in a period where matches follow one another with a competition in progress, all this has changed the initial decision. I respect all of that. »
Marcelino has a harsh attitude towards those he considers to be responsible for the chaos: “We put all our enthusiasm into developing a super attractive project, in a big club. In any case, we thought it was a great club in every sense of the word, but these deplorable events demonstrate that it is not as great a club as it would like to be. Some radical supporters who want to constantly influence events prevent it from being a big club. »
The coach takes stock of a big waste, in his eyes: “My very short experience makes me think that this is a club where creating a project is absolutely impossible. Because such a big club cannot be handled by a few. Serious clubs are managed from the top, and each problem, each situation is managed and sanctioned if necessary. (…) So the supporters encourage, the leaders work and, at the end of the season, we do the accounts. But not after two months. This seems to mean that everything was orchestrated well in advance. Clubs must evolve, not regress. And OM, as the results have shown for some time, is a club which, instead of evolving, is regressing. »
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