Martino snubs Colombia to join Old Boys
Reuters - Friday 30 December 2011, 02:32
Gerardo Martino, who coached
Paraguay to the 2010 World Cup quarter-finals, has turned down a
lucrative offer from Colombia to take charge of his Argentine
hometown club Newell's Old Boys.
The 49-year-old, who ended his four-and-a-half-year tenure
with Paraguay after steering them to the Copa America final in
July, is a lifelong Newell's fan and spent almost all of his
playing career as a midfielder with the team.
"After realising the situation Newell's is going through and
analysing everything, what led me to take this decision was to
have been convinced [by the offer] and above all to have inner
peace," Martino said.
"It's true that with the Colombian [Football] Federation we
had an agreement that was practically settled... through their
president Luis Bedoya who did all the right and necessary things
to contract me," he told a news conference at Newell's Marcelo
A. Bielsa stadium.
"I had to decide and I chose this. Faced with two work
proposals, a national team and the club that saw my [footballing] birth, I chose the latter," added Martino, who is
nicknamed "Tata" (grandad) from the days he was a veteran
captaining a team mainly of youngsters.
Martino replaces the sacked Diego Cagna, who was appointed
at the end of September midway through the Apertura, the first
of two championships in the Argentine season.
Cagna took over at Newell's with the club struggling after
one win and six draws from nine matches and failed to reverse
their fortunes.
Newell's failed to pick up another victory although they
drew another seven games to finish the 19-match championship
with 16 points and will need to improve in the Clausura starting
in February to avoid the risk of relegation.
When Newell's renamed their stadium at Rosario's Parque
Independencia in 2010 after their former coach Bielsa, now at
Athletic Bilbao, they also put Martino's name to one of the
stands.
Colombia will continue their search for a new coach after
sacking Leonel Alvarez earlier this month.