Monday 8 October 2007 18:37, UK
Celta Vigo have sacked coach Hristo Stoichkov after just seven games of the season.
Celta Vigo have sacked coach Hristo Stoichkov after just seven games of the season and have installed former Real Madrid trainer Juan Ramon Lopez Caro at the helm. The Galician outfit have made an inconsistent start to the new season and the board have acted early to change the direction of the team. Stoichkov only took over in April from Fernando Vazquez, having stepped down after a three-year spell in charge of the Bulgarian national team, and was told that he would be retained even if he failed to save the club from relegation. Having not managed to do that, the former Barcelona forward saw many star names leave over the summer and was still attempting to make the new arrivals gel. Celta defeated Xerez at Balaidos on Sunday, but are in 11th place with only ten points following three wins, three defeats and a draw from their first matches of the new campaign. Despite being early in the season, the club are already six points behind third-placed Numancia and the Celta board felt that things were not improving. The former Real Madrid coach joined Racing Santander in the summer 2006 but left within a month under mysterious circumstances to take over at Levante. As the club struggled near the foot of the first division the 44-year-old was sacked in January of this year and has been out of football since then.
