Barcelona Remove Rijkaard
Barcelona have announced that manager Frank Rijkaard will not return as manager next season.
Rijkaard, 45, led Barca to consecutive Spanish titles in 2005 and 2006, as well as a Champions League victory in 2006. He is also the only Barcelona manager to beat Real Madrid twice at the Santiago Bernabeu. At his peak Barcelona were the best club in the world, though internal discord and a dearth of silverware scarred his last two seasons.
Barcelona will replace Rijkaard with former Barca star Josep Guardiola, who managed the B squad last season.
After the profound disappointment, a Rijkaard divorce made the most sense for Barca. The club needs a clear-out. Rijkaard’s relationships with the board and players are strained. A fresh gaffer was needed to gut and construct anew.
Barca’s hiring of Guardiola, however, arouses curiosity. Pep possesses only a single year of lower league managerial experience. Barcelona grabbed a three year-old with a kickboard and tossed him into a tumultuous undertow. Even if he is a precocious three year-old, it is not a safe bet.
The club needs a stern presence to nullify their nattering nancies. One wonders if a rookie manager can handle such a task.
But, then again, he has worked in the Barcelona system all year. They appointed him immediately. Maybe the see something to which the rest of us aren’t privy. At the very least, we hope he forgoes the tight pants during his tenure–the gratuitous Rijkaard crotch shots during matches were not pleasant.
I think that the appointment of Pep could yet prove to be a good move. The likelihood is that most of the big egos at Barca (Eto’o, Henry, Ronaldinho et al) will be culled in a similar bout of galacticide that Real Madrid underwent a couple of years ago, and the new team will be built around products of the Barca academy (the likes of Messi, Bojan, Dos Santos and Iniesta), for whom Pep is still an idol (if they don’t follow his orders, who will they follow?) He’s also done a reasonably good job with the B team (to all intents and purposes Barca’s youth team), so I guess that he fits the project Barca are trying to put in place.
What a tough job, maybe they are just hiring a scapegoat for next year when they will have to make a new machine, less beautiful to watch, maybe Gattuso should have grabbed a job for the experienced angle buster in the new team here, they are gonna need one, any idea where Rijkaard is going?
I’m not sure. I think he will probably sit out a year.
Despite his success, he doesn’t have the reputation as an astute tactical manager, so I don’t see one of the top ten clubs in the world going after him as a first choice.
I think a lot of second tier (Newcastle, Manchester City) clubs might be interested, but I don’t see him taking those jobs. He doesn’t need the money.