Domingo Catoira arrived at Espanyol three years ago to act as technical secretary. The non-renewal of Rufete last year opened the doors of the club's sports management, but his work has not been up to the task, to the point that the team finally went to the Second Division.
Espanyol has informed through a statement that "Domingo Catoira has been dismissed from his responsibilities as Sports Director. The club has made this decision after the painful relegation to the Second Division and with the desire to open a new stage for the 2023 project /24".
In recent days the fans had spoken out against the continuity of Catoira, who had another year on his contract. Chen Yansheng came to propose his continuity, but finally dispensed with his services two weeks after the team's relegation to the Second Division.
The Galician's job was to sign the coach and make the squad. He chose Diego Martínez, a decision applauded at first, but the differences between the two were not long in coming after the transfer promises were not fulfilled.
Catoira and Martínez dropped fifteen players that summer, but the difficulties to sign made the squad clearly unbalanced. The problem in the goal was one of the most bloody. He did not renew Diego López or Oier and chose Lecomte, who only lasted six months at the club, as the first goalkeeper. He achieved the transfer to Álvaro Fernández in the last days of the market. The errors of both in the first days caused a psychosis in the club. Finally, in January, Catoira signed Fernando Pacheco for 2.2 million euros. The goalkeeper had gone free to Almería the previous summer, but then his claims were considered too high.
Another decision that has meant a significant loss of assets for the club was the departure of De Tomás. The player was removed from the group dynamics for not being liked by the coach. No destination was found for him and on the last day of the market a sale to Rayo Vallecano was attempted. But it did not arrive on time. A completely surreal situation. A few days later its sale was announced for 8 million euros. Espanyol had paid more than 20 million for a player who had been the team's benchmark in the First and Second Divisions, and had become international.
Martínez's complaints about Catoira's work did not stop until the winter market. Nobody understood the signing of Lazo or the transfer of Dani Gómez. In January the club made a financial effort and Denis Suárez, José Gragera, César Montes, Fernando Pacheco and Pierre-Gabriel arrived.
And the team seemed to respond, but then it went under again. Luis García came to the rescue, but it was already too late. The club is now working to tie his replacement in office, which will have as a priority the construction of a team that returns to LaLiga Santander.
