Toshack sacked by Real
Tuesday, March 12, 2002
Article summary
Real Sociedad have ended John Toshack's third spell as coach.
Article body
Real Sociedad have ended John Toshack's third spell as coach after the club dropped back into the relegation zone in Spain's Primera División.
Emergency meeting
The Welshman was released after an emergency meeting lasting nearly three hours on Monday night. Toshack was called in during the talks to be informed of the decision.
'No surprises'
"It's not a surprise," Toshack said. "In football there are no surprises. When I got the call to come in I knew what was going on, especially after seeing so many journalists around. It's a brave decision and I hope, I really hope, that it's the right one."
'Extremely demanding'
Real were left in trouble after losing 2-0 at home to fellow strugglers CD Tenerife at the weekend. "This is down to recent results and, above all, is a way of inspiring an improvement over the last nine games of the season," club president Jose Luis Astiazaran said on Monday. "The team have not been able to beat direct rivals (in the race to avoid relegation) and the calendar for the remainder of the season is extremely demanding."
