After their brief stint together at Leeds United, Victor Orta and Javi Gracia may be reunited as Sevilla has reached out to the 53-year-old manager.
Since departing Leeds towards the end of the previous season, Javi Gracia has not yet accepted a new position. Needless to say, his brief reign ended with the crushing 4-1 loss against Bournemouth.
Victor Orta also found that the game was the last straw. In fact, his resignation was revealed before of Gracia’s as Leeds got closer to handing the reins to Sam Allardyce for the last four games of a dismal season.
Victor Orta has discussed the Sevilla position with Javi Gracia.
Victor Orta has discussed the Sevilla position with Javi Gracia.
In the end, Orta was named director of football at Sevilla. Additionally, AS in Spain believes that Orta has already communicated with Gracia and Quique Sanchez Flores following his weekend separation from Diego Alonso.
Orta Gracia
For Orta, life in Andalusia has not started off well. Sevilla’s single point differential in La Liga keeps them out of the relegation zone. Furthermore, since September, they have not triumphed in any competition save the Copa del Rey.
Thus, it should come as no surprise that they placed last in their Champions League group. Additionally, Alonso was substituted during Saturday’s 3-0 loss against Getafe at home.
Chance for manager to prove a point after brief Elland Road tenure?
Orta will be desperate for his spell at Sevilla to work out. And thus, the next appointment appears to be particularly critical. So it will be interesting to see if it is Gracia who gets the role, and whether he can succeed where he failed at Leeds.
In fairness, Gracia appeared to be popular with some of the players, actually remaining in contact with Patrick Bamford. And Leeds fans were optimistic when his tenure started with a handful of positive results. He won three of his first six league games in charge.
But the last of those – against Nottingham Forest in early April – would be our last win of the campaign altogether.
And after the Bournemouth game, Leeds unfortunately simply had to roll the dice.
Perhaps history would have been slightly different had Jesse Marsch been sacked sooner and Gracia had been given more time.
So it will be intriguing to see what happens if Orta and Gracia are now reunited at Sevilla with more than enough time left to turn their campaign around.
