The Japanese soccer club Vissel Kobe announced on Wednesday that it has terminated the contract as coach of the Spanish Miguel Ángel Lotina, who after his arrival in April had only managed to reap two victories in his nine games as coach. The termination is effective from the day before, June 28, and along with Lotina, assistant coach Iván Palanco has also been dismissed, according to the statement issued this Wednesday by Vissel, which did not disclose details about the reasons for the dismissal.
The new coach of the team will be the Japanese Takayuki Yoshida, who has previously been part of the club's technical team, where the Spaniards Andrés Iniesta, Sergi Samper and Bojan Krkic play. "I'm very sorry not to have been able to change the team's bad course or to have been able to help climb the standings," Lotina said in a statement released by the team.
Lotina, 65, arrived at Vissel Kobe at the beginning of April to try to make amends for the Japanese club's disappointing start to the season. During his presentation, he was motivated by the challenge of leading the team: "It's a lot of responsibility, but at the same time it's a gift," he said during a telematic appearance. After nine days at the helm of the club the picture did not improve. In the nine games played since then in the league, the team has recorded two wins, one draw and six losses.
Vissel Kobe is last in the J-League table, 18th, in direct relegation to the second division after 18 games played. Last season they finished third. "The team is playing in four competitions (among them the Asian Champions League) and there is enough time left to turn the season around," added Lotina, who thanked "the trust and the opportunity" of having been able to join "in the history of this great club.
Lotina has been coaching various teams in Japan since 2016, including Cerezo and Shimizu S-Pulse in the first division (J1), and Tokyo Verdy in the second division (J2).
