Marseille Part Ways With Marcelino

• Sodiq Lawal

Marseille coach Marcelino has stepped down after less than three months in charge amid tensions with fans who complained this week about the team’s poor showing and the way the club is run.

The club said in a statement that the confrontation on Monday “prevents Marcelino and his coaching staff from being able to do their job in good conditions”.

“As a consequence of this deplorable situation, Marcelino and his staff will not pursue their work at Olympique de Marseille,” the statement added.

The former Sevilla, Villarreal, Valencia and Athletic Bilbao coach, aged 58, was only appointed in June to succeed Igor Tudor, who had led the 1993 Champions League winners to a third-place finish in Ligue 1 last season.

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Marseille are unbeaten five games into the new domestic season but supporters were furious with their insipid performance in drawing 0-0 with Toulouse at the weekend.

They went out of the Champions League in the third qualifying round, losing on penalties to Panathinaikos and dropping into the Europa League instead.

Marcelino’s departure comes after a meeting on Monday at the club’s training centre between management and supporters groups.

Supporters’ representatives expressed their wish to see the club’s current management team resign,” Marseille said in an earlier statement, claiming that the fan groups threatened “war” if that did not happen.

“The management of OM cannot accept personal threats”, the club said, or “a relationship based on intimidation”.

Club president Pablo Longoria and three of his closest colleagues all decided late on Tuesday “to step back” from their roles and would “consider their positions”, a source with knowledge of the situation told AFP.