Marcelino Garcia Toral He will return this Thursday to the Velodrome stadium, where he began training the current season before resigning and where he left better memories in the locker room than in the stands.
In just three months, the Spanish coach did not know defeat in the league, but after his sudden departure he made several statements about the club and its fans that did not go well in the French Mediterranean city.
Marcellin He arrives in June 2023 with a two-year contract under his arm at one of the world’s most troubled banks. The position was left vacant due to Croatian fear Igor Tudorwho had a good season but couldn’t handle the pressure of another club.
Something similar happened in recent years with the Argentines Marcelo Bielsa or Jorge Sampaoli, who decided to leave a club used by technicians on fire. Since leaving Marcellinthere are already three names in the position.
Death threats
The reason for the removal of Marcellin of Olympics It is never clear. This is the main outcome of a meeting between the president, Pablo Longoriawith a group of radical fans on September 18, 2023, which turned into a fight and where, according to the concerned, death threats were made.
In that meeting, which the coach did not attend, the friendship between Marcelino and Longoria and they were both dismissed.
The Spanish coach was scared and decided not to continue leading a project that was beginning to take shape, but it left a deep wound when he fell in the third stage of the qualification of Champions League against him Panathinaikoswhich deprived the third party of France of the leading competition in Europe.
That incident with the fans also almost ended the season Longoriathe highest supporter of Marcellin on the Marseille bench, but after weeks of doubt, the club’s Spanish president established himself in the position supported by the owner, the American billionaire. Frank McCourt.
Marcellinwho is preparing to start his first adventure outside of Spainafter working with Longoria within Valencialeft without making a statement.
The climate in the city was electric, the tension was at its highest expression and the Spanish coach preferred not to continue the adventure in France.
A moment later he broke his silence, justifying that the trauma had been profound.
Three weeks later he chose the newspaper ‘L’Equipe’ to refer to his passing Marseilles and words are not a gift to the ears of the club’s fans.
“My very short experience leads me to think that this is a club where creating a project is absolutely impossible. Because such a big club cannot be manipulated by a few,” he said in reference to the all powerful fans association.
Since he came to the club, Marcellin He was always in awe of the atmosphere of the Velodrome stadium, but the divorce ended gradually.
The team was dismissed with loud whistles on September 17 after a poor draw against Toulouseat the direction of another Spaniard, Carles Martínez Novel.
So, no one should predict that things will speed up and the meeting the next day between the president and the most radical fan associations will reach the tone it did.
Marcellin he barely had time to fake the Marseilles that I dreamed His adventure ended suddenly, although the coach left a positive mark in the locker room, where the players keep good memories of his short time at the club.
This Thursday, the Asturian coach will return to a stadium where, surely, he had one of his biggest disappointments as a coach.
The acceptance that the public of the French Mediterranean city reserves for him will be examined with a magnifying glass and will remain a good sign of the mark left by the coach in the stands.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Rose Herman and I work as an author for Today Times Live. My expertise lies in writing about sports, a passion of mine that has been with me since childhood. As part of my job, I provide comprehensive coverage on everything from football to tennis to golf.
