VILANOVA EXIT - BARCELONA CALLS PRESS CONFERENCE

Tito Vilanova is expected to step down as Barcelona coach on Friday night after suffering
a further recurrence of throat cancer. Barcelona called an 8.30pm press conference at which
they were due to make Vilanova's departure official. He will be temporarily replaced by the
assistant coach Joan Francesc Ferrer Sicilia, known as Rubí, who joined the club from the
Segunda División side Girona in the summer.
Vilanova, 44, missed two months of last season after travelling to New York for treatment
after a relapse. In his absence, the team were coached by Jordi Roura. Vilanova returned
for the end of the season, which ended with a league title success and Champions League
elimination in the semi-finals, but Barcelona held concerns over his medium- and long-
term health. Vilanova was determined to continue but a worsening of his condition appears
to have made that impossible.
Vilanova first had a tumour removed from his parotid gland in November 2011 and
underwent radiotherapy and chemotherapy. He returned to work after only 18 days and at
the end of the 2011-12 season he was given the first team manager's job. The news of his
relapse broke on 19 December 19, following a routine check-up carried out at the Vall
d'Hebrón hospital in Barcelona on the previous day. Cruelly, that was the very day that
defender Eric Abidal, who had suffered liver cancer, finally rejoined his team-mates in
training.
The coach underwent surgical intervention and although he returned to work in early
January, he flew out to New York for two months on 21 January. Barcelona were adamant
that Vilanova would remain their coach for as long as he wished to continue and resisted
some calls to hire a permanent replacement. Barcelona won the league title, equalling Real
Madrid's record by reaching 100 points. The title was widely referred to as "the league of
Tito [Vilanova] and Eric [Abidal]."
Abidal departed Barcelona in the summer after he was offered a post with the youth
academy but not a place in the first-team squad. Vilanova insisted that he would continue
to coach Barcelona unless doctors demanded otherwise. Although the club had prepared
contingency plans and expressed their concerns to the coach, the decision was always his.
Although there are footballing considerations that will come to the fore in the near future,
the immediate concern is Vilanova's health. The cruel news comes in a week marked by a
verbal conflict between the former coach Pep Guardiola and the Barcelona board about
Vilanova's illness that threatens to create another divide at the heart of the Catalan club.
Guardiola accused the Barcelona board of using Vilanova's illness to attack him, calling that
unexpected and low. Vilanova was Guardiola's assistant and has been his friend for almost
30 years. The Barcelona president, Sandro Rosell, denied that accusation and Vilanova said
Guardiola was "mistaken". He also admitted he had been hurt that the new Bayern Munich
manager had not visited him during the two months he was in the United States. "Pep is
my friend and I needed him," he said.
Barcelona will now begin the search for a new full-time coach, with less than a month
before the season begins. A number of potential candidates have already committed
themselves to other clubs for the new season, including the former Barcelona B manager
Luis Enrique, who is now at Celta Vigo, and the new Athletic Bilbao coach, Ernesto
Valverde.
Rubí lead Girona to the promotion play-offs last season, only to be defeated by Almería. He
is well respected and has a reputation for attention to detail and attacking football.