Barcelona’s preparations for next season were thrown off course on Friday when the Spanish champions unexpectedly announced coach Tito Vilanova was stepping down due to ill health.
At a hastily-arranged news conference attended by shell-shocked members of the first team squad, including World Player of the Year Lionel Messi, Barca president Sandro Rosell said Vilanova would be having treatment that meant he will be unable to continue in his current role.
“We are here to give you some news that I would have liked never to have had to give,” said a grim-faced Rosell, adding that the club had decided to cancel Saturday’s friendly against Polish side Lechia Gdansk.
“Life goes on, this is a very severe blow but Barca always comes through and this time it will be no different,” Rosell said.
Vilanova, 44, has been battling throat cancer since shortly after he was promoted from assistant coach to succeed Pep Guardiola at the end of the 2011-12 season. He had a tumour removed from his saliva glands in November 2011 before a second round of surgery a year later and his number two Jordi Roura later took charge while he relocated to New York for two months for a course of chemotherapy and radiotherapy, returning at the end of March.
Only on Tuesday, in his first news conference since the players returned from holiday, he spoke of his excitement about the new season and the prospect of seeing new signing Neymar playing alongside Messi.
A replacement for the 44-year-old, who was promoted from assistant coach to succeed Pep Guardiola at the end of the 2011-12 season, would likely be announced early next week, Rosell added.
Many of the first team squad were at Rosell’s news conference, including World Player of the Year Lionel Messi, and the club cancelled a friendly they were due to play against Polish side Lechia Gdansk on Saturday and suspended training until Monday.
“Life goes on,” Rosell said. “Obviously this is a very hard blow to take but Barca has suffered many blows in our history and we have always come through. This will be no different.”
Barcelona-based newspaper La Vanguardia reported that Joan Francesc Ferrer, known as “Rubi”, could be in line to take over, while daily Sport said the former Girona coach might be a temporary replacement.
Ferrer led Girona to the second division playoffs last season and was appointed Vilanova’s assistant for the coming campaign to help with technical analysis of Barca’s rivals.
Other names mentioned, all former Barca players, were Swansea’s Danish manager Michael Laudrup, Celta Vigo’s Spanish coach Luis Enrique and Dutchman Frank de Boer of Ajax Amsterdam.
Jupp Heynckes, who led Bayern Munich to an unprecedented treble of Bundesliga, German Cup and Champions League titles last season before being replaced by Guardiola, and Argentine Marcelo Bielsa, who was in charge at Athletic Bilbao until the end of last term, were also named as possible candidates.