Spanish Soccer – Espanyol Dismissed Coach Marquez

The 46-year-old and former player of the Espanyol, Bartolomé Márquez, was removed of his duties as the coach of Espanyol due to the bad results the team is having recently in the Primera Liga. The team started winning the first two games of the season and the expectations on Márquez were really high for the club, however, that was 11 games ago, things changed afterwards when the club couldn’t find the victory.

Last Sunday’s defeat was the fourth straight loss of Espanyol and the 7th in the season. The team has only scored 10 goals in 13 games, has tied 3 games, won 3 and lost 7 games. With these results Espanyol is in 17th place of the table with 12 points and in the relegation zone of the Spanish Primera Liga.

Espanyol is 20 points away from Barcelona, who is leading at the top with 32 points and is undefeated at the present. This Sunday Espanyol was unable to win at home against Sporting Gijon loosing 1-0, that result gave the delegate commission of the Espanyol a reason to sack coach Márquez of his position. ‘Tintin’ was informed of his relieve after the game and his fitness coach Xavi Pedrero was dismissed as well.

For the club commission it was very difficult to decide releasing Coach Bartolomé Márquez, especially because they knew that he is a true Espanyol. He played for Espanyol 8 years and has been in the coaching staff of Espanyol for approximately 10 years. Since his retirement as a football player, Márquez became coach in the small leagues of the club and scaled progressively to the top earning the position of head coach this past summer. However, with the latest situation of the team, Márquez was unable to find the chemistry to win.

The president of the club Daniel Sanchez expressed that this was an awkward situation but he knows that he needs to decide what is best for the club.“It was a painful decision because he is Espanyol through and through and a good man. He’s a person who understood to the very second the situation he had created. I have to thank him for what he has said to me in such a difficult period. We hope the best for him,” alleged Sanchez.

With this decision the club expects to announce the replacement of Marquez next Wednesday; for now the assistant coach Oscar Perarnau will be in charge of the first two practices of the week until the commission decides for the newcomer coach. The two candidates imposed for the club commission are Serbia coach Miroslav Djukic and Luis Fernandez, who coached the club during the 2003-04 season.

The next game of Espanyol at La Liga will be against Betis on December 7th. Betis is 11th in the table with 17 points and is looking for a victory as they also lost this past week against Valencia 3-2. However, Espanyol is looking to return in the winning path as they need it badly due to the fact that they are in the relegation zone and they really need to add some points. We hope the best for the new coach and Espanyol.