Barcelona sack ‘B’ coach Garcia Pimienta

In a stunning move, Barcelona has decided to sack Barca B manager, Francisco Javier Garcia Pimienta.

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ESPN broke the news and, according to Sport, it was a move that the club had been contemplating for a while despite having previously communicated to Garcia Pimienta that he would stick around as manager.

In fact, Garcia Pimienta was working on transfers for next season.

The Barcelona B manager’s sacking comes as a complete surprise.

The decision comes as a surprise given the work Garcia Pimienta has done with the ‘B’ team. Under his watch, they reached the final of the Segunda B playoffs in two consecutive seasons.

When he took over, the ‘B’ team was in a bit of a mess and he was able to get them back on the right course.

He isn’t the only person leaving, however.

La Masia coordinators, Jordi Roura and Aureli Altimira were also let go despite being told more than two weeks ago that they would be continuing.

While many expected Laporta to bring in his own people and get rid of some of those who were appointed under former president Josep Maria Bartomeu, La Masia was an area where things were working well and the right people seemed to be in charge.

Sport are reporting that one of the reasons the club decided to fire Garcia Pimienta was because he failed to promote the team on back-to-back occasions.

If that is the case, then it is very harsh on the manager considering the structure of the Segunda B and the role of a youth team manager.

Winning is important but not as important as developing players and making sure they are ready once they are promoted to the senior team. In that aspect, Garcia Pimienta did an excellent job.

He helped with the growth of players like Ronald Araujo, Riqui Puig and Alex Collado — all three who, barring any change, will all be part of the first team next season. He’s also helped with the growth of Nico Gonzalez, Arnau Comas, Konrad de la Fuente and Alex Balde to name a few. All players who have tremendous potential.

As for who will take over, Mundo Deportivo report that former Barcelona player Sergi Barjuan is set to be named as the replacement. He was part of the famous “Dream Team” under Johan Cruyff and a vocal supporter of Laporta during his candidacy.

His managerial record leaves a lot to be desired with his last stint being with the Chinese side Hangzhou Greentown. Barjuan will be under a lot of pressure when he takes over as he’s going to have big shoes to fill.