Valencia have sacked
Javi Gracia as coach, the Spanish club
announced on Monday, with just four games left of the season.
اضافة اعلان
A 3-2 defeat by
Barcelona at Mestalla on Sunday proved to be
Gracia’s final match after just 10 months in charge.
Valencia are 14th in La Liga after six games without a win
but Gracia had steered them clear of the bottom three, a feat in itself after
the club sold several key players last summer.
They are currently six points above the relegation zone.
“Valencia CF announced this Monday the dismissal of Javi
Gracia as coach of the first team,” a club statement read.
“The Club wants to publicly thank him for his work and
dedication during these months leading the team and wishes him the best of
success for the future.
“Salvador Gonzalez ‘Voro’ will lead the first team on a
provisional basis.”
Valencia have endured a miserable season to continue the
club’s decline under the unpopular leadership of owner Peter Lim and president
Anil Murthy.
Gracia’s job was made more difficult when the club made no
signings last summer while allowing the likes of Ferran Torres, Rodrigo Moreno,
Daniel Parejo and Francis Coquelin to leave. Parejo and Coquelin joined rivals
Villarreal.
In September, Gracia criticised the club’s activity in the
transfer window and even considered resigning, according to reports in the
Spanish press at the time.
Three wins in the first 18 La Liga games had Valencia
sitting in the bottom three in January but a slight improvement in results was
enough to edge them away from the relegation zone, before another dip in recent
weeks.
Lim and Murthy will now be looking for Valencia’s sixth
permanent coach in five years.
It is also the sixth time Voro has been placed in temporary
charge, with the first game of his latest spell coming at home to fellow
strugglers Real Valladolid on Sunday.
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