By: Jonny Rico
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Portuguese manager Pedro Caixinha has taken Club Santos Laguna to the 2015 Clausura final where he and his squad will face off against Club Queretaro. It was not a smooth journey but the Torreon side are there and that is all that really matters.
In the two years (four LIGA MX seasons) that Pedro Caixinha has been at the head of Santos there have been times where I – and a few others – have called for him to be fired. But like a successful marriage, Santos and Caixinha have stuck with each other through better or worse.
Former manager Benjamin Galindo had led Santos to a runner’s up finish in the 2011 Apertura, he then made the final for the second consecutive season six months later this time winning the title in the 2012 Clausura. The following season as reigning champion Santos missed the playoffs by goal difference finishing in 9th place of the league table. Club management controversially decided to let Galindo go and bring in a new face.
Santos thought outside of the box and decided not to pick a manager out of what is known in Mexico as the ‘managerial deck of cards’. Instead the club directors hired Portuguese international Pedro Caixinha.
Based on the success Galindo had brought, Santos had made it all the way to the knockout stages of the CONCACAF Champions League (CCL). Caixinha led the team through the quarterfinals and semifinals.
Santos eventually lost the final to Monterrey; part of Monterrey’s impressive three consecutive CCL championships.
Besides having reached the CCL final Caixinha also finished in 6th place of the league table and led the club to a semifinal finish in the 2012 Apertura, his first season in charge.
With an extremely talented squad Santos reached reached four consecutive league semifinals but was never able to go any further.
Santos coach
Pedro Caixinha
In the 2014 Apertura season Santos missed the playoffs for the first time under Caixinha’s reign. Considering that he had reached four consecutive semifinals and never a final, it seemed the Portuguese manager had peaked at Santos.
Also considering that the previous manager was fired after missing one playoff appearance after having reached two consecutive finals (winning one); it was only natural to think that the Portuguese’s time was up at Santos.
And it was not only the on-field results that suggested Pedro Caixinha had to go. But his aggressive attitude towards the fans and other coaches also came to mind when arguing his dismissal.
The first incident came in the his first season in charge – 2013 Clausura – Santos had qualified to the playoffs and would face Atlas in the quarterfinals. Atlas, managed by Tomas Boy who is no stranger to conflict, was eliminated by Santos after a 3-1 decision in favor of the Torreon side in Guadalajara. Tempers flared and at the end of the match Boy and Caixnha were seen screaming at each other, bumping chests ready to take their argument to a physical level. The incident was blamed on Atlas’ Boy based on his reputation but it was a pattern that Caixinha was establishing for himself.
Other run-ins for Caixinha came in matches against Club America and its manager Miguel ‘Piojo’ Herrera – who isn’t the most level-headed manager either. Caixinha argued that his club did not get the national attention or recognition it deserved and took the opportunity to stir controversy when it was time to play against Club America.
And finally Caixinha and his attitude also got mixed up against the Santos fan base. The manager was seen screaming and arguing with fans behind his bench. And very recently Caixinha described fans that booed an uneventful 0-0 draw as “ignorant”.
Not only did Santos miss the playoffs at the end of the 2014 Apertura but by that season it had sold or gotten rid of some of the biggest players that had led the team to the recent success. Players like Christian ‘Chucho’ Benitez (may he RIP), Carlos Darwin Quintero, Oswaldo Sanchez, Juan Pablo Rodriguez, Herculez Gomez, Daniel Ludueña and a handful of others were already gone.
The new ownership could no longer afford the high salary these star players had.
Santos was owned by one of Mexico’s biggest beer companies – Grupo Modelo, the makers of Corona – but when Grupo Modelo was bought out by the Belgian beer company InBev that signified a huge change. InBev was not as interested in Mexican soccer as Grupo Modelo had been. Alejandro Irraragori the person hired to be the team President under Grupo Modelo bought the majority of the shares from his own pocket. While he is a wealthy man, he could never match the wealth that Grupo Modelo poured into the club.
Tough decisions were made and big players were sold. Despite the attitude problem and the on-field results, Pedro Caixinha was allowed to stay on as manager and now both he and the club are reaping the rewards of rare continuity.
The 2015 did not look too bright for Santos or Caixinha. That Santos made the playoffs was already a huge success even though they were fortunate in that other results went their way on the final day. It needed luck to dictate that Cruz Azul, Club Tijuana, Monterrey, and Toluca all not get their win that would have assured them a spot in the playoffs and knocked Santos right out.
Santos stuck with their manager, Pedro Caixinha has finally made it over the semifinals hump. Both he and the club are already playing with house money.
Everything to win, nothing to lose.
