Corinthians fires coach Mano Menezes – 02/05/2024 – Sport

One day after supporting Mano Menezes to remain at the helm of Corinthians and saying that he would give the coach “the best working conditions”, the club’s president, Augusto Melo, decided to fire the commander this Monday (5).

The coach had a contract to manage the team until 2025, as the manager also pointed out in his speech after the Corinthians’ defeat to Novorizontino, in Itaquera, but he could not resist the sequence of four games without victory, with defeats also to Ituano, São Berno and São Paulo.

This year, the only black and white triumph occurred at the opening of the Campeonato Paulista, over Guarani, at Neo Química Arena, 1-0.

Mano, in turn, had already adopted a more measured tone on Sunday, when asked about the continuity of his work at Corinthians.

“I understand the pressure, the fans, everything they are feeling, we are feeling it too. But the path is work, it is hard, we will work until they think I am the one who has to lead the process”, stated the coach.

The process he refers to is the reformulation that the Corinthians squad is undergoing, which has not won a title since 2019 and, last season, fought until the last rounds of the Brazilian Championship to avoid being relegated.

After that, players like Renato Augusto, Gil, Giuliano, among others, left the club as their contracts expired at the end of last year and the club’s new president chose not to renew them.

Mano Menezes was also not Augusto Melo’s most desired option to lead the team. During the election, the then opposition candidate criticized the way in which the former president hired the coach, at the end of his term and with a contract until 2025. Augusto even released a note in which he said that the commander “would not be his priority.”

In addition to the coach, technical assistant Sidnei Lobo and physical trainer Diogo Linhares leave the team. In a statement, the club stated that it “thanks the professionals for the services provided to Corinthians and wishes them success in their careers.”

This Monday (5), the black and white team begins preparations for the classic against Santos, on Wednesday (7), in Vila Belmiro, under the command of assistant Thiago Kosloski.

At the moment, the name on the representative’s table is Márcio Zanardi, from São Bernardo. The coach, however, could not manage Corinthians in the Campeonato Paulista as the competition regulations prevent a professional from managing another club during the same edition of the tournament.

In item 3 of article 26 of the specific regulations it is established that “the club is prohibited from hiring coaches who have already played for another club in the Campeonato Paulista for the 2024 season.”

Zanardi also had a spell at Corinthians, working in the youth teams from 2012 to 2016, when he was fired from the club while working in the department alongside Augusto Melo.

Zanardi’s lack of experience as a head coach also weighs against Zanardi. The work leading São Bernardo was his first with professional athletes.

At Corinthians, he would face the same problem that hampered Mano’s career. After accelerating the departure of players, the board was unable to provide the same speed for the arrival of reinforcements.

So far, six players have been signed, but one of them hasn’t even made his debut yet, the Argentine Rodrigo Garro, a midfielder who was from Talleres and who has not had his documentation regularized by the club even though he was announced almost a month ago.

Mano Menezes, in turn, debuted at the club in October 2023, when the Corinthians team was eliminated by Fortaleza in the semifinals of the Copa Sudamericana.

The coach from Rio Grande do Sul took over the team flirting with the relegation zone in the 2023 Brazilian Championship, but managed to achieve some good results that guaranteed 13th place in the last round of the Nacional.

With a contract until 2025, Mano leaves Corinthians with a 38% success rate — in 20 games, there were six wins, five draws and nine defeats.