Olaizola walks away, having been dismissed as Mallorca's coach.

Olaizola walks away, having been dismissed as Mallorca's coach. | Jaume Morey

Majorca Daily Bulletin reporterPalma04/04/2017 00:00
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The criticism has been evenly spread: players, coach, owners and chief executive Maheta Molango. The message is consistent, though. The fans have had enough. And the home game this Saturday will be the occasion for protests. Real Mallorca, five points adrift of Saturday's opponents Nastic (in eighteenth position), look doomed to relegation to the ever greater obscurity of the third division regions unless something dramatic occurs. Something had to happen, therefore. And unsurprisingly, it's coach Javier Olaizola who is the fall guy.

Olaizola can hardly point to a great record: two wins, six draws and seven defeats. He was another in the seemingly endless list of apparent saviour coaches. He was undone by being inadequate and by the inadequacies of the ownership.

According to sporting director Javier Recio, the decision to let Olaizola go was "a very easy understanding". The club will look for a "formula" to keep Olaizola, whatever this might mean. But he's been sacked, as Molango desperately attempts to stave off relegation. In comes, therefore, Sergi Barjuán, a one-time member of Cruyff's Barcelona side but a coach whose career has been distinguished by having been utterly unremarkable. He was last at Almeria where he was rushed in to attempt to prevent the team's relegation from La Liga in the 2014-2015 season. He was unable to. He stayed on before being dismissed with a total record of ten defeats out of seventeen matches.