By: Jonny Rico
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There is something noble and honorable about a captain who decides to stay with his ship even though he knows full well it will sink. But while honorable, how practical is it? Would any of you who are reading this do the same? (I invite you to comment or tweet your opinion).
How about for football managers? Is it honorable and noble for a football manager to remain with his team knowing full well they are destined for failure?
I think in both cases the specific circumstances have to be weighed in. In the case of ship boat captains I believe it is the captain’s responsibility to see that everyone on board his vessel has some kind of means to safety. Then and only then do I believe that the captain should ‘jump ship’ (pun very much intended).
And in the case of football managers I also believe that particular circumstances have to be taken into account. Also what are the motives for said manager leaving. Does the manager resign because he believes that it is in the best interest of the club to find someone else who can possibly do a better job and lead the club to better places? If that is the case, I fully agree. That is a real leader willing to sacrifice his own job for the benefit of the collective team in which he belongs to.
But if a manager decides to hand in his resignation because he knows full well that the team is struggling and wants nothing to do with the bad times ahead and wants to save his own prestige. Then I see that as nothing more than a ‘coward’.
So what to make of the Pedro Caixinha/Santos Laguna situation?
The reigning Mexican league champions have started its title defense with four losses in the opening five matches, with one win stuck in between there. Do we categorize Caixinha as the first ‘type A’ who steps aside for the benefit of the club? Or do we say he took the cowards road and left the club before things got really bad and his good name got stained?
It is not easy saying one or the other. And looking a big picture of what Santos has been lately I will have to say 50/50 ratio between valiant sacrifice and coward’s run.
The future is not at all bright at Santos Laguna. Ever since the beer company Grupo Modelo (former parent company) got bought out by Belgian beer mongols InBev, things have not looked good for Santos. The Belgians did not wish to keep investing in Mexican soccer like Grupo Modelo had been doing. This meant that the once star heavy roster would need to be chopped up in order to prevent player salaries from bankrupting the club.
Big time players like Oribe Peralta, Carlos Darwin Quintero, Juan Pablo Rodriguez, Oswaldo Sanchez, and many more were shown the exit door one way or another. Younger (and less expensive) players were brought in to replace those big names.
If Pedro Caixinha were the coward type manager this is where he would would have decided to take a walk and look for new opportunities. But very valiantly he stay at the head of Santos and was rewarded in the biggest of ways. During the Clausura 2015 season Santos got off to a bad start and looked like it was going to have the type of season many predicted with the loss of so many players.
But a mid-season turnaround, plus a lot of luck in the combination of results at the end of the season got Santos Laguna through to the playoff. Once in the playoffs more fortune followed the team all the way to becoming unlikely champions.
Now here we are again with Santos struggling as its roster size suggest it should be. But now the Portuguese manager has decided to say goodbye and step away from Santos.
Like I mentioned before I don’t believe Caixinha is the ‘Type B’ manager that decided to leave solely to save face (he would have done it a year ago). But I do believe he has realized that lightning will not strike twice and that with the current roster and current club finances there is no way to top last season’s championship run. He realizes that he has given everything he can for Santos and that things will only get worse.
MLS
