Monday, September 7, 2009

Joan Laporta: Rijkaard Lost the Authority of the Players


Barcelona president Joan Laporta revealed the reason for the replacement of Dutch manager Frank Rijkaard at the start of the 2008/09 season.

Speaking to Catalan paper La Vanguardia, Laporta said,"Frank lost his authority in the dressing room".

He said he was displeased with the lax rules imposed by Rijkaard which allowed players to do as they pleased. The lack of authority and discipline in the dressing room was something that displeased Laporta.

Rijkaard had helped to lift Barcelona off its knees in his first three seasons in charge, guiding the team to two league titles and the 2006 Champions League title.

1 comments:

Anonymous said...

He "revealed the reason" in September 2009??? Where have you been? Ever since Eto'o blew up in Villafranca, everyone and their puta mothers knew that Frank had lost authority. Laporta even stuck his neck out and gave him one final season to try and gain it back.

It is nice, though, to see Rijkaard doing so well at Galatasaray. "Frank, you'll never smoke alone".