Real Sociedad head coach Sergio Francisco sacked following poor start to the season..
2025-12-15 04:52
Real Sociedad announced on its official website on Sunday that its Spanish head coach Sergio Francisco, has been sacked effective immediately.
According to Real Sociedad's official statement, assistant coach Iosu Rivas will also be sacked effective immediately.
Until a new manager is appointed, B team head coach Jon Ansotegi will temporarily take over as first-team head coach, and Imanol Agirretxe will temporarily serve as assistant coach.
In fact, calls for Francisco's sacking have been long-standing. As early as the end of September, when the club was experiencing a dismal run of five losses in six matches, speculation was already circulating that Francisco might become one of the first managers to be sacked in La Liga this season.
Txuri-Urdin subsequently achieved an unbeaten run in November, temporarily alleviating concerns about Francisco's sacking. However, after a recent defeat to Villarreal, and seeing no significant improvement, Real Sociedad's management ultimately decided to part ways with Francisco.
It's worth noting that Francisco's future has been bleak since the day he took over.
Real Sociedad's failure to find suitable replacements after selling key midfielders Mikel Merino and Martín Zubimendi to Arsenal has severely imbalanced the team's midfield, leading to a collective decline in form.
Furthermore, the departure of their long-serving sporting director, Roberto Olabe, to Aston Villa this summer has ultimately resulted in Francisco paying a heavy price for the uncertainty surrounding his appointment.
According to a follow-up report from Marca, Real Sociedad has already identified several candidates to replace Francisco, and the new manager is likely to be a foreign coach.
Currently, former Juventus head coach Thiago Motta and Italian-American coach Pellegrino Matarazzo are the club's top considerations.
If Real Sociedad cannot appoint either of them, they may opt to hire former Sevilla head coach Javier García Pimmienta.
Currently, after 16 rounds of matches, Real Sociedad, with 4 wins, 4 draws, and 8 losses, sits in 15th place on the La Liga table with 16 points, just one point above the relegation zone.
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