Gunners hero Adams out to boss it in Spain
Surprise as he’s made manager of Granada
Tony AdAms has landed a surprise return to football management as head coach of struggling spanish club Granada.
The 50-year-old former Arsenal and England captain was named as the club’s sporting director last week. But following the sacking of Lucas Alcaraz, he has been asked to step in until the end of the season to steer the team away from relegation. It’s not quite Gary neville to Valencia mkII but Adams’ appointment does have many similarities with last season’s arrival of his old England team-mate at the mestalla.
Granada are in even more trouble than Valencia. With seven games left they are seven points from safety. Both clubs have been bought by overseas investors, and just as neville was close to Valencia’s singaporean billionaire owner Peter Lim, Adams’ arrival at Granada stems from his friendship with ddmC Football Club management Company president Jiang Lizhang.
But Adams (right) is seen as a company man stepping into the breach, rather than a rookie risking his reputation on one of the hardest jobs in spanish football.
Arriving at the club in november, Adams was not impressed by the coaching set-up, but Alcaraz was given the benefit of the doubt.
supporters turned on the team when they lost 3- 1 at home against Valencia on sunday. Alcaraz was gone within hours, having lost 14 and won four of his 24 games. If Adams saves the club from the drop he could stay on, but it could also see him take a management job in England if ddmC succeed in attempts to buy an English club — Crystal Palace have been considered.
As with neville’s arrival in spain, the first reaction has been positive because of his fantastic playing career. There is respect for the 14 seasons he captained Arsenal, even if previous stints in management at Wycombe, Portsmouth and Azerbaijan club Gabala far from reached those heights.
How long the good feeling lasts will depend on results. They play Celta Vigo this weekend, then sevilla, malaga and Real sociedad before a home game against Real madrid on may 7.
Granada have three players on loan from the Premier League: Victorien Angban and Jeremie Boga from Chelsea, and Andreas Pereira from manchester United.
But chaos reigns at Granada as their position in the table suggests. They signed 17 players in the summer and have a United nations of team-mates who can struggle for a common language.
And they are on their third coach this season: Paco Jemez was axed after six games. It is into his chaos that Adams has been parachuted. His remit was to find a new sporting director. He must now find one of those and a new coach — unless he does so well that fans at the small but noisy Los Carmenes stadium start singing for him to stay in charge.