It's official. AS Roma fired their French head coach, Rudi Garcia, today. Actually, I believe it happened yesterday but the formal announcement came out a few hours ago. With the team on a non-winning streak (notice I mentioned "non-winning".... which doesn't mean they've been losing. It just means they've been tying most of their games for the last two months). This has put AS Roma in 5th place in the Serie A table. The team's goal (as every team) is to be 1st for the title, but a minimum of 2nd in order to qualify for Champions League next season (top 2 teams play Champions League). With half the season over, change was needed before Roma slips too far down the line and can't make a come back.
This isn't Darcy's first "Change of the Guards". Back in 2009, the coach that brought him (us) to FC Bayern (Munich) was fired 9 months after starting. Jurgen Klinsmann, who is the current US Men's National Team coach, was the coach the club fired. This sent all our new friends packing. There were only a few that Jurgen brought to the table that the club kept on, Darcy being one of them. It was an awful, sad experience. The media is so brutal and not even honest. To watch someone go down in a blaze of no glory being nothing short of a public spectacle of humiliation, is sad. But it's not personal. It's soccer. It's business. Still, hard to swallow. When a team starts losing, desperation of answers start swelling. People start questioning everything - including the fitness. It's fare to say Darcy's been thrown under the bus. But the media doesn't report the whole story, or barely even half the facts making it easy to assume anything. Yet if someone would ask Darcy about the team's injuries and stat numbers, the story is complete and makes total sense. Fortunately those inside AS Roma walls get to hear the whole story. There is no fitness issue. Cross that off the list. But the public is still left to come to their own opinion and people are quick to judge. We know not to believe everything we read. This environment is prime for drama.
The new appointed coach, Luciano Spalletti, already once coached Roma from 2005-09. Sounds like he gladly accepted this position with "unfinished" business in mind. After his departure from the club in 2009, when AS Roma was under different ownership, he went to St. Petersburg, Russia with the last few years free of work. Hopefully after the smoke fades the team can get back to business and the chemistry will be spot on. There are so many working parts to a successful team. If folks aren't on board, it's nothing but an uphill battle. Fortunately, I'm proud to say, Darcy has always gotten along with the coaches he's had to work with. I'm sure he's optimistic about the team's future. He always is. Here's to a new year and a new chapter!
For media report of Rudi Garcia - view here.
Follow along with the weekly update of Serie A table
Team's schedule
Team of players/staff
Soon to come...
- AS Roma Fans and why the stands are empty
- Club Teams, Champions League, Euro Cup, World Cup and how they all connect
