Portuguese coach Vitor Pereira is the chosen one to manage Olympiacos after the sack of Michel. The 46-year-old coach agreed on a 2,5 year contract.
After the sudden departure of the Spanish coach who lead the Reds to two consecutive championships and great runs in Europe both this season and the previous, owner Evangelos Marinakis had to come up with a rapid plan as the Europa League round of 32 is due in a month. The plan’s codename is Vitor Pereira. The former Porto and Al-Alhi coach will be landing in Greece today to seal the deal, while at the same time Michel will be flying back to his country.
A decision that had been on the table the last few days but most believed it was a fabricated story as many of them are, Michel’s departure came in disagreement with the majority of the fans who respected the Spaniard and his knowledge of the game. After all, it’s not an everyday deed for a well-recognized coach to ditch the glamorous Primera Division and move to the Greek league where weekly battles are against clubs like Ergotelis and Panthrakikos.
The truth of the matter, however, is that Michel had failed to display a team that played fancy football and barely made it through the games with the three points. As a result, Olympiacos is now sitting a point behind PAOK in the league and failed to make it through to the Champions League’s final 16.
“Olympiacos is announcing the end of its cooperation with manager Michel Gonzalez. The entire family of Olympiacos thanks Michel for his contribution to the club and wishes him every success in his career,” read the Olympiacos brief statement. Michel, in an interview to Spanish radio “Cadena SER,” expressed his disbelief to the announcement of his contract’s sudden termination but did agree that some incidents in the locker rooms (namely an incident with Ibrahim Afellay) could be one of the reasons why he was sacked.
Michel walks away as one of the most successful coaches in the Greek club’s history, one who lead the team to victories over the English (Manchester Utd), Italian (Juventus) and Spanish (Atletico Madrid) champions. An unprecedented accomplishment for a Greek club.
See all the latest news from Greece and the world at Greekreporter.com. Contact our newsroom to report an update or send your story, photos and videos. Follow GR on Google News and subscribe here to our daily email!
