On Sunday it was confirmed that Sevilla had decided to return to manager Joaquin Caparros for a fourth time in his career, after sacking Garcia Pimienta. Los Nervionenses currently sit in 14th place, seven points from a European spot, and seven points from the relegation zone, with seven games to go.
There has been plenty of criticism of the current leadership, who have sacked an eighth coach in three seasons now. With pressure rising on President Jose Maria del Nido Carrasco, the decision was taken to sack Garcia Pimienta, despite handing him a contract renewal just seven games into the season.
“We’ve had several coaches since Lopetegui. We thought Garcia Pimienta was a long-term coach, but we’ve lost four games in a row. It’s a mistake because if you hire a coach for 11 months and he’s there for 10, that’s a mistake. We’ve decided to fire him and hire Caparros. Hopefully, we won’t have to fire another coach for the next 15 or 20 years,” he told Diario AS.
Sprting Director Victor Orta claimed that renewing Garcia Pimienta was simply a way of ‘helping’ the manager, but persisting with him would have been a mistake.
“In football, results matter. Very few people at Sevilla have survived four consecutive defeats. Persisting with one mistake is making a mistake twice. As a club, backing a manager is only a way of helping, and now we must do the same with Caparros. It’s an act of maturity to do it in many moments.”
Increasingly, Orta is coming under pressure for his work too, although he is working with the lowest salary limit in Spain’s top two divisions, and a budget that has been halved.
“I’m working with the objectives set by the club. We’ve had some misfortunes with the winter transfer market reinforcements. We wanted to rejuvenate the squad and lower salaries, which fell by 50%. I feel the frustration of having been close to Europe, but I think that, as a whole, we have to acknowledge a lot of mistakes. However, I’ve followed the line set by the Board to try to improve. Caparros has emphasized the quality of the squad, and in January we received offers for €90m.”
In particular, Orta’s choice of forwards has been a particular point of criticism, after Kelechi Iheanacho failed to work out, and Akor Adams is yet to show signs of coming to fruition.
“It’s a mistake I recognise, although two of them were substitutes. Iheanacho was a mistake, and we’re looking into why Akor Adams has suffered these injuries.”
Meanwhile del Nido Carrasco backed his sporting director too.
“We’ve asked him to do more with less; he’s reduced staff costs by 50%. I’m satisfied with his work. We have to take steps one at a time, not five at a time. I don’t know if Victor has considered resigning, but under no circumstances have I thought about firing him.”
The 69-year-old has been given a contract until the end of the season, and it is not yet clear whether he will continue into next season. Caparros was one of the key figures in building the club’s success in the 21st century, but has been out of work since 2022, when he was last in charge of Armenia.
