Can Koeman Rennovate The Valencia Circus?

Even if Valencia had just been battered 3-0 by a FC Sevilla side, who themselves had just lost their coach Juande Ramos, even if the football exhibited so far this season can hardly be termed exciting, even if Sanchez Flores was increasingly scripting himself into the bad books of the club's President Juan Soler, even if the fans made no attempt to eclipse their desire to see the back of their manager, one would struggle to justify the logic of the axing of Sanchez Flores. After all, the Spaniard was the man who had the full backing of the player when a power struggle between him and the then sports director Amedeo Carboni broke out last season; moreover, he had gifted football aesthetics with some marvelous displays last season.

The complaint against Sanchez Flores was that he was consistently failing to claw out the best from this exceptional bunch of Valencia players and that's the precise reason why a certain Ronald Koeman has been drafted into the Valencia unit. Yet a 2-0 humiliation to Norwegian minnows Rosenborg in the Champions League in midweek at the Mestalla---once regarded as a fortress but these days the aura of invincibility has been so ruthlessly ripped off---in Koeman's first game in charge checked the bubbling flow of optimism. Although a modest at best Real Murcia side was easily brushed aside at home on Saturday, the future of Koeman and that of the club is enshrouded in a fog of doubt.

No one questions the managerial pedigree of Koeman, who has won three Dutch Eredivisie titles. With Portuguese club Benfica, the Dutchman had had denied Liverpool FC a chance to play in the Champions League quarter-finals in 2006 and almost accomplished a compatible feat with PSV Eindhoven last season. In his 7 years of managerial career, the former FC Barcelona defender has gathered enough reputation with his flamboyant style to make him one of the hottest coaching properties in mainland Europe.