Sergio Pellicer, first-team coach of Malaga CF, has left the club

It is now the day. Malaga CF considered sacking Sergio Pellicer a couple of weeks ago. But the first team’s performance in home matches on La Rosaleda Stadium prompted them to abandon the idea. 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 fire one of their icons, one who had coached the Blue and Whites the most times. On Tuesday night, they announced the open secret’ that the Castellon coach was leaving. Alejandro Acejo – Pellicer’s former club employee and assistant – will now be in charge of the team.

The club has therefore lost a key figure in its recent past, a coach that had to overcome many adversities, including the legal issues of ownership, the Covid epidemic, sanctions against club, and crisis after crisis in each stage. Malaga’s growth in all its facets was unprecedented. He saw the club promoted, relegated and witness the Blue and Whites receiving unprecedented support. He was a man for the club and a man for his supporters. He was almost always the main spokesperson and beacon of the club.

You are surrounded by problems

Pellicer has been surrounded by problems at Malaga for almost the entire time. He always managed to overcome them, until the present, when the situation seemed more in control. Although it appeared that the squad had improved, the injuries and lackluster performances of certain signings caused the team to perform in an unreliable manner, resulting in many weaknesses and constant mismatches. Again, the coach has to take the heat for these issues.

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 was unable to capitalize on a match that theoretically could have been a catalyst for a turnaround. It lost the match with some ease, disappointment and without being convincing. The situation was untenable, and the club, whether it be fair or not decided to act.

Change of direction

Pellicer is able to leave Malaga out of the relegation area, with the same number of points as other teams. The situation dictates, but the equality of the Segunda league allows teams to adjust their goals and react to the circumstances. 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 embarks on a new direction in hopes that the coach will serve as a catalyst to the team changing course in the future, once they have overcome the first third. Pellicer, the coach replacing him, will also be faced with many of the challenges that accompanied his predecessor. His squad is riddled by departures and has many homegrown players. Some of them are also not performing well. It will be important to adopt a new management style. Acejo is currently in interim charge.

Today the Blue and Whites’ squad arrived back in the city with Pellicer at around 2.30pm at the María Zambrano train station. The coach then went to the stadium office where he finalised his departure. Around seven o’clock that evening, Malaga CF announced the departure of the coach. A new era has begun.