Real Sociedad have sacked coach Gonzalo Arconada after the team dropped into the relegation zone following Wednesday’s 2-0 defeat at Osasuna.
“The board of directors of Real Sociedad have decided to rescind the contract of first team coach Gonzalo Arconada,” club president Miguel Fuentes told a news conference on Thursday.
“The reason for the decision is simple, the club’s recent results.”
Fuentes said the club’s 42-year-old sporting director Jose Mari Bakero would take charge of the first team until the end of the season.
Arconada has only been in charge for seven weeks, having been appointed following the dismissal of Jose Maria Amorrortu.
The team have taken six points in the eight games since then and have the worst defensive record in the league.
They are 18th in the 20-strong Primera Liga, two points behind of Real Betis and Basque rivals Athletic Bilbao and Alaves.
“We have no more room for error,” said Fuentes. “None of us who are involved with Sociedad can afford to make any more mistakes now, but we cannot be scared, we have to be courageous and determined.”
Arconada said he appreciated that the club had to act quickly if they were to preserve their top flight status.
“We both realised that this was the best option,” he said. “Things did not work out with me as coach and the most important thing is that the club and the team should benefit from this decision and stay in the first division.”
Bakero spent eight seasons at Sociedad as a player and was a member of the team that won back-to-back league titles in the early 1980s.
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