Espanyol, third classified in the second division, dismisses Ramis and appoints Manolo González as new coach

Espanyol has made official the dismissal of first team coach Luis Miguel Ramis.

He will occupy his position until the end of the season Manolo González, coach until now of the subsidiary and who will be presented this Wednesday.

“The dynamics of the first team in the last days of competition have led the club's Board of Directors to make this decision with the sole and clear objective of achieving promotion to the First Division,” reads the statement published this Tuesday by the institution.

The Tarragona coach took charge of the team on matchday number 15, taking over from Luis García.

In the 16 league competition matches in which he has led the bench, he has achieved six wins, seven draws and three defeats, and leaves the club in third position in the table with 49 points, one away from direct promotion.

He is already the second coach fired by the Catalan club this season.

“Anything that is not a direct promotion is a colossal failure,” said the Association of Small and Medium Shareholders of Espanyol.

✍️ OFFICIAL |

Luis Miguel Ramis stops being coach of the #RCDE.

Thank you and sort!

— RCD Espanyol de Barcelona (@RCDEspanyol) March 12, 2024

Ramis's dismissal comes after the draw against Alcorcón on the last day, in a season that is not progressing as it should and in which the team has not achieved more than two consecutive victories.

An Espanyol that depends largely on Martin Braithwaite, a Danish forward who has scored 18 goals – translated into 13 points – with the team, and who has a contract until 2025. The Tarragona native never had good harmony with the fans, critical of his work, and his idea of ​​the game did not convince the footballers either.

It was a bet by sports director Fran Garagarza.

After this goodbye, Ramis becomes the tenth coach dismissed by the entity's president, Chen Yansheng, since he arrived at the blue and white club eight years ago.

More information

The sporting and institutional drift of Espanyol, a club remotely controlled from China

The dismissal of the Tarragona coach comes at a time of institutional uncertainty in the Catalan club.

After two relegations in three years, rumors are growing that RASTAR – the Chinese group that bought the club in the summer of 2015 and has run it since January 2016 – wants to sell the club.

Like a fish biting its tail, the sporting situation would not be allowing the sale.

Problem: being in Second.

“There are no buyers at the price they need, it is impossible,” Marc Menchén, CEO of 2Playbook – a company that produces market reports on First and Second Division clubs, in collaboration with LaLiga – told this newspaper.

According to LaGrada, a digital media dedicated exclusively to following Espanyol's sports news, RASTAR is asking for 120 million euros, plus an additional 50 if the club achieves promotion.

“A Second Division club is worth 100 million at most.

To achieve more of that, you need a stability that they do not have,” Menchén added.

Presided over from a distance from China by Chen Yansheng, owner of Espanyol, the entity has not communicated its intentions to partners and shareholders, who demand information.

“We request that we be involved in the decisions regarding the transfer of ownership of the club,” the Association of Small and Medium Shareholders of Espanyol stated in a statement more than a month ago.

González's first match will be against Real Zaragoza, who have also swapped their former coach, Julio Velázquez, for club legend Víctor Fernández, following the defeat against Real Valladolid.

The match, played at La Romareda on March 17, will be matchday number 31 of LaLiga Hypermotion.

Hoping that Espanyol can change its course, and hopefully, its destiny.

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