Bielsa future at Athletic Bilbao in doubt
Reuters - Friday 06 July 2012, 22:46
Marcelo Bielsa's future as
Athletic Bilbao coach remained unclear after an emergency board
meeting at the La Liga club on Friday following a public
disagreement over work being done at the training ground.
President Josu Urrutia and Bielsa left the meeting
without speaking to reporters, failing to dampen Spanish media
speculation that the eccentric and outspoken Argentine was
considering his position.
The problem blew up at the beginning of the week when the
team returned to start pre-season training after the holidays,
and Bielsa lost his temper with contractors carrying out
renovation work at the Lezama training facilities.
The Argentine gave a lengthy news conference on Thursday
when he apologised for the way in which he had acted, but
insisted the work was shoddy and behind schedule and that he was
only defending the club's interests.
He accused the contractors of "ripping-off, robbing, and
deceiving" the club, but Bilbao's board responded on Friday with
a strongly-worded statement on their website saying they
completely disagreed with their coach on all counts.
"[The club] apologise publicly for the damage that has been
done to the construction company and their workers by an
employee of Athletic Bilbao," the Basque side said.
The former Argentina and Chile boss joined Bilbao at the
beginning of last season guiding them to the finals of the
Europa League and King's Cup, only to lose both to Atletico
Madrid and Barcelona respectively.