Barcelona president Joan Laporta has not provided long-term assurances to coach Ronald Koeman. The Dutchman joined Barcelona in the year 2020 and is still under intense pressure. The outcome of Thursday’s football match with Cadiz has no bearing on Ronald Koeman’s job as Barcelona head coach, but president Joan Laporta has warned that “if decisions have to be taken, we will take them.”
During a media conference on Wednesday, Koeman refused to answer questions on his future rather he read a prepared statement in which he urged Barcelona fans to be patient with the process while claiming the club’s hierarchy – including Laporta – was completely behind him.
In the Spanish press, there have been suggestions that the 58-year-old will be fired if Barcelona fails to win all three points on Thursday at Estadio Nuevo Mirandilla. While Laporta insisted that was not the case, the Barcelona manager stopped short of guaranteeing that the former Netherlands manager would remain in charge if results did not improve.
“Koeman’s future doesn’t depend on the result tonight,” he told El Chiringuito outside the Barcelona team hotel on Thursday. “We are with the coach. He’s Barca’s first-team coach and what we want is for things to go well. All coaches, not just Koeman, depend on results, and in Barca’s case on their style of play. Koeman is our coach and we’re with him today.”
Dating back to last season Barcelona has lost five of their last eight La Liga games, as many as they had in their previous 24 matches in the competition. With a game in hand, Barcelona currently sits eighth at the table with 9 points.
Barcelona has already shortlisted a new coach to replace Ronald Koeman if the Dutchman fails to meet expectations set by the club’s president. Barcelona looking forward to signing Belgium coach Robert Martinez and is willing to pay at least €7.8 million fee.
