Garitano out at Depor with Pepe Mel primed to take over
After the side's 4-0 humbling at Leganés the club decided to release the Basque coach. Former Betis coach Mel is the number one candidate to replace him.
Deportivo’s 4-0 defeat at Leganés, which left the Galician side one place above the relegation zone, has cost Gaizka Garitano his job. The coach oversaw a run of seven games without a win and his side were picked apart at Butarque by a team who started the weekend one place below them in the table. The Deportivo board met on Sunday and confirmed Garitano’s departuree.
Caretaker role
One of the possibilities the club are pondering is installing youth team coach Cristóbal Parralo on a caretaker basis. Depor would prefer a coach with extensive Liga experience and someone who will require little time to bed in with the side facing four games in quick succession and require results to avoid being dragged into the bottom three. Next Thursday Depor host Atlético, then on Sunday they travel to El Molinón to play fellow strugglers Sporting. On March 8 the rearranged fixture against Betis will be played in Riazor and then Depor welcome Barcelona to Vigo on March 12.
Pepe Mel the frontrunner
The favourite to succeed Garitano is former Betis coach Pepe Mel, who was under consideration for the post last summer when Garitano was appointed in place of Víctor Sánchez. Also on the board’s shortlist are Sergio González, who is currently the coach of the Catalonia team, and Miroslav Djukic, who has been out of work since being sacked by Córdoba at the end of the 2014-15 season. Both have the added advantage of having represented Depor as players.
