Close menu

Barcelona: Gerardo Martino replaces Tito Vilanova as manager

Last updated on .From the section Footballcomments230

Gerardo Martino
Gerardo Martino

Barcelona have appointed Argentine Gerardo Martino as their new coach after he agreed a two-year contract.

The 50-year-old former Paraguay boss replaces Tito Vilanova, who stepped down as Barcelona manager to continue his treatment for cancer.

He was recently in charge of Newell's Old Boys, who he led to the Argentine Torneo final title last season.

Details of his arrival in Barcelona and official presentation by the Spanish champions will be announced on Tuesday.

He becomes the fourth Argentine to manage Barca after Helenio Herrera, Roque Olsen and Cesar Luis Menotti.

It will be Martino's first job outside of South America since a six-month spell playing for Tenerife in 1991.

A number of coaches had been linked to the vacant position, including former Barcelona B boss Luis Enrique, Tottenham's Andre Villas-Boas, Swansea's Michael Laudrup and Guus Hiddink, who quit as coach of Anzhi Makhachkala on Monday.

However, the Catalan club have ignored more high-profile candidates in favour of Martino, who is considered to have a similar style to former Athletic Bilbao manager Marcelo Bielsa.

Martino was a key player in the Newell's Old Boys side Bielsa managed in the early 1990s and both hail from the Argentine city of Rosario.

Barcelona captain Carles Puyol says Martino's managerial style will fit in with the playing philosophy at the Nou Camp.

"We know about his career, he is a very good coach," Puyol said before Martino's appointment was confirmed.

"He likes Barcelona's playing style. I think all the names mentioned are capable of coaching this team.

"We have a certain way of playing; a philosophy. The coach that comes in will follow that line and I'm sure that Zubi (sporting director Andoni Zubizarreta) and the directors want a coach that can adapt to our characteristics."

Comments

Join the conversation

These comments are now closed.

230 comments

  • Comment posted by U15793929, at 11:03 23 Jul 2013

    A bit of a gamble here, should have gone for Hope Powell

  • Comment posted by DaveSmooth, at 12:36 23 Jul 2013

    I think "Tottenham's Andre Villas-Boas, Swansea's Michael Laudrup" were only linked to the job by the UK press!

  • Comment posted by U2463021, at 12:41 23 Jul 2013

    For those expressing surprise that Pulis wasn't in the frame, I'd like to re-phrase a popular criticism of Barca in recent years: Pulis is all well and good on a grim Tuesday night in February in Hull, Bolton, or any other "grim up north" type outpost, but how would his sides fare on a pleasant September afternoon in Majorca?

  • Comment posted by U15371556, at 11:43 23 Jul 2013

    @16.

    Manchester Utd eschewed high profile managers for David Moyes

    Liverpool went for Brendan Rodgers

    So there is at least some teams employing managers based on character and potential good fit for the club.

  • Comment posted by U8891242, at 11:10 23 Jul 2013

    re: 6. Excellent point - it's the new fans who demand a big name. Credit to Barca for picking who they want rather than drawing up a list of 10 biggest names and going through each one until one says yes. It's got so bad in England that fans of mid-table clubs now complain that there new manager isn't "a big enough name"!

  • Comment posted by KingLaursen - Houllier Out Capello Out, at 11:10 23 Jul 2013

    Notice how Barca give a chance to lesser known managers - Guardiola, Vilanova and now Martino.

    I would like to see the top English clubs do the same and give a chance to an English manager instead of always going for the high-profile foreigner.

  • Comment posted by Abdi, at 11:20 23 Jul 2013

    Messi should be happy with that one - both hail from Rosario and have connections to Newells. I personally thought that Barca would go for Bielsa, but I guess Martino is slightly younger version and has proven himself in various different posts so it makes sense. I disagree with article suggesting that Laudrup or even AVB have such a high profile in comparison.

  • Comment posted by Spurtle, at 11:21 23 Jul 2013

    Steve Kean's wait continues.

  • Comment posted by Stannis Baratheon, at 11:05 23 Jul 2013

    You'd have to imagine that on the forums in Spain, there's plastic new Barca fans and Real Madrid fans trolling this appointment. Complaining that they should've got a "big" name like Guus Hiddink. Writing off Martino before a ball has been kicked.

    Or is that something that only happens in England?

  • Comment posted by U15756024, at 13:17 23 Jul 2013

    West Ham fans can now relax. You have Big Sam for another year.

  • Comment posted by U14771396, at 12:12 23 Jul 2013

    It's really unprecedented how many managers have been changed in a lot of big clubs across Europe. Reasons are different (hope Vilanova will be OK) but the bottom line is, as a result of these changes, the new season looks extremely exciting. Can't wait.

  • Comment posted by Drasticus Maximus, at 12:51 23 Jul 2013

    BBC. When you do an article on a confirmed appointment/signing can you bring back the old style blog where we had no character/time limits please? Then we can get some of decent conversations we used to get on these threads.
    When you do a McNulty speculation piece keep the limits as all that's posted is who spent what/who has the 'history'/who's got no class etc ad nauseum by the same tired lot.

  • Comment posted by U12376444, at 19:44 23 Jul 2013

    lets be honest, anyone could be the manager of Barcelona at the moment and win the league...... well anyone but David Moyes

  • Comment posted by U15796196, at 16:00 23 Jul 2013

    Timmy Franks has it on good knowledge that Martino has signed an interim contract with Barcelona, who hope to snatch up Guardiola if he gets sacked by Bayern this season.

  • Comment posted by greedkilledfootball, at 11:41 23 Jul 2013

    Martino has done very well with Paraguay and Newells Old Boys, hes got a good track record.

    My choice would have been Marcelo Bielsa but Martino is one of the best managers in South America so Barcelona look to have made a shrewd move. Martino isnt on £10m per year like some other managers who are extremely confrontational. Martino is a gent and believes in attacking football. Good luck.

  • Comment posted by Jack, at 11:29 23 Jul 2013

    29. FergyTime

    Your team are playing atm you know, but of course you're not watching, you're on the BBC forums talking about Liverpool, typical.

  • Comment posted by BaggiosPonytail, at 11:16 23 Jul 2013

    I have to say I know nothing of him!

    But Barca have been pretty dominant on the domestic and European stage for at least the last 9 or 10 years. So I don't expect them to suddenly decline, especially with the signing of Neymar.

  • Comment posted by U15795514, at 11:06 23 Jul 2013

    this is a bit of a surprise isnt it? kind of think though, that Barca will play the same way irespetive of who the maniger is.

    best wishes to Vilonova and hope he has a enjoyable rest from the game

  • Comment posted by U14620908, at 15:53 24 Jul 2013

    He is fat

  • Comment posted by groenemeyer, at 08:29 24 Jul 2013

    An award, maybe even a trophy, for a team's performance in the second haf of the season (see above in the stats column).
    An interesting idea. Worthy of a silver plate if not a trophy so it is not seen as the same status as the Premiership trophy? Would give all teams, especially those in the lower half of the league at Christmas, something to aim for in the new year.
    Any thoughts anybody?

Top Stories