Malaga CF bids farewell to first team coach Sergio Pellicer

The day has arrived. Malaga CF were considering sacking their coach Sergio Pellicer a few weeks ago, but the first team responded in the home matches at La Rosaleda stadium, leaving the option behind on several occasions. But the away games were weighing on the credibility of the team and the coach, until yesterday evening's defeat in León came full circle. The club decided to sack one of its icons, one of the coaches with the most games in charge of the Blue and Whites, and this Tuesday evening announced the 'open secret' of the Castellon-born coach's departure. Pellicer's assistant and former club employee, Alejandro Acejo, will now take charge of the team on an interim basis.

The club therefore dispenses with a key person in its recent history, a coach who had to overcome numerous adversities since the legal problems of the ownership, the Covid pandemic, sanctions against the club and one crisis after another in his different stages. He was relegated, promoted and witnessed an unprecedented growth of Malaga in different facets, above all in its social following, the support of the fans for the Blue and Whites. He always showed himself to be a man of the club, a man of the supporters, and was almost always the beacon and main spokesperson for the club.

Pellicer was surrounded by difficulties at Malaga almost all the time, and always overcame the problems until now, when it seemed that the situation was more under control in every way. It seemed that the squad was better than the previous one, but the numerous injuries and the lack of rhythm of some of the signings have led the team to an irregular performance, showing many shortcomings and constant mismatches that made it a vulnerable situation. Once again, the coach takes the flack for those issues that have arisen.

After the defeat in León, Pellicer knew that his departure was almost certain and imminent, as Malaga were returning from a painful draw at the end of the match with Cordoba at La Rosaleda. The team failed to take advantage of a match that was theoretically conducive to a revival and went down with some ease and disappointment, without being convincing and always accompanied by the usual lack of success in front of goal. The situation became untenable and, fair or not, the club was determined to act, and it has done so.

Pellicer leaves Malaga outside the relegation zone, but with the same points as some of those teams. Circumstances dictate, although the existing equality in Segunda allows for reactions to be effective and for the teams' objectives to vary with some ease. In fact, a win for the Blue and Whites in León would have put them very close to the play-off zone, three points behind and almost in the middle of the table.

Malaga CF, in this way, are embarking on a change of direction in the hope that the new coach can serve as a catalyst for the team to change course from now on, after overcoming the first third of the season. The coach who replaces Pellicer will also have to contend with much of the adversity that has accompanied the outgoing coach. He has a squad riddled with many departures, full of home-grown players and with some footballers who are not performing as well as expected. The new management style will be key. For now, Acejo will take charge of the team on an interim basis.

Today the Blue and Whites' squad arrived back in the city with Pellicer at around 2.30pm at the María Zambrano train station. From there, the coach travelled to the stadium's offices, where his departure was finalised. And at around seven o'clock in the evening, the club formally announced that the coach would not continue at the helm of Malaga CF. Therefore a new era begins...