Madrid, Dec 31 (IANS) Deportivo la Coruna have announced that Domingos Paciencia will be the club’s first team coach until the end of the season.
Paciencia replaced Jose Luis Oltra, whose sacking from the side which is currently bottom of Spain’s Primera Liga, was confirmed Sunday night by club President, Cesar Lendoiro, reports Xinhua.
Domingos has worked with Sporting Club Portugal but was sacked earlier in the year with his side fourth in the Portuguese league table.
The main achievement of the 43-year-old was taking Sporting Braga to a second place finish in Portugal as well as qualifying the club for the group stage of the Champions League,
As a player he found fame with Porto and made 35 appearances for the Portuguese national team scoring nine goals.
He faces a difficult task with Deportivo rooted to the bottom of the Primera Liga with just three points from their last eight matches and with severe financial difficulties which could see them call in administrators early in the New Year.
Meanwhile Oltra expressed surprise at being sacked, commenting that the decision was “unusual” in a club such as Deportivo.
Club president Cesar Lendoiro confirmed Deportivo’s defeat to fellow strugglers, Espanyol in the last game of 2012 had been the final straw.
“We don’t like changing coach, but we need to kick-start the season and the change of mentality that comes with a new coach,” added the club president.
Oltra is the third coach in the Primera Liga to be sacked this season, following Mauricio Pellegrino (Valencia) and Mauricio Pochettino (Espanyol), who lost their jobs earlier in the season as a result of their sides’ respective poor performances.
