Celades tells Valencia squad: "I know it's a bit strange but it's just the way it is"
Newly-appointed Valencia coach found himself in charge of players who were shocked, confused and angry at the decision to sack Marcelino.
When Albert Celades entered the Valencia dressing room on Wednesday, he encountered a squad of shocked and confused players - many of whom were angry at the club's decision to sack Marcelino earlier this week. Celades, who has been brought in as Marcelino's replacement, now has the task of repairing psycologically damage done to the squad and getting the players to focus back on the the job in hand. And on top of that, he must also win over the players and earn their respect.
That isn't going to be an easy task but Celades has plenty of experience of working with the elite - both as a player and as a coach; he must have also had a good idea about what the Valencia job entails when he flew out to Singapore to meet Peter Lim and accept his proposal. He is joined by just two assistants in a spartan coaching team and must also deal with and placate the team captains Dani Parejo and Rodrigo who have been openly critical of the club's treatment of Marcelino.
Barcelona and Chelsea away
Celades, who was introduced to the squad by Anil Murthy on Wednesday, gave a short speech in which he recognised that the situation both he and his players are in "is a bit strange, but that's just the way things are". The coach has asked the players to put what has happened behind them and focus on the short-term objectives - Saturday's meeting with Barcelona at Camp Nou and their opening Champions League game away at Chelsea on Tuesday.