It’s happened again. Former Nottingham Forest manager Aitor Karanka has been dismissed as manager of Spanish second-tier outfit Granada.
A statement was released earlier today that confirmed the departure of the former Reds incumbent. He had been at the club for seven months.
Karanka was handed a clear remit when he took over the La Liga club. He had to ensure that if the team were to be relegated, they’d go down with a bit of a fight.
In fairness, he did manage to achieve that. Granada were relegated on the campaign’s final day and this season it was all about promotion.
Karanka wasn’t really on course to achieve that. His final game saw Granada lose 1-0 to Real Oviedo, despite playing against 10 men for some of the contest.
That result leaves Granada eighth in the table, eight points away from the summit. Ultimately the board felt that a change now would still give them a fighting chance at promotion.
A short statement from the club read: “Granada CF has decided to do without the services of Aitor Karanka as coach of the first team.
“From the club, we want to thank Aitor Karanka for all his work and effort since his arrival last season and wish him the best of luck in his future professional projects.”
Granada have moved quickly to secure a replacement for Karanka. They’ve handed the job to Paco Lopez who was formerly in charge of Levante.
Karanka dismissed as Granada manager
It has to be said that Karanka is starting to look like a spent force in management. He leaves Granada with a win ratio of 38%.
In fairness, that’s better than what he managed at Forest. He spent 52 games in charge of the Reds, winning 16 times and finishing with a win ratio of 30%.
He left the City Ground in 2019 citing some false promises from the board. In fairness though, it was a similar case for Karanka at Middlesbrough.
Now, it’s a mystery what the future holds for the 49-year-old. He was a trusted lieutenant of Jose Mourinho at Real Madrid and perhaps his old mentor might have something for him.
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