The scene repeats itself: Milton Cruz takes over at São Paulo.
For the 14th time, the technical coordinator takes over as interim manager after the head coach's failure.
Lucas Reginato_247 - The story is already well-known: a coach arrives at São Paulo, takes over the team and the technical direction. He accumulates bad results and loses the support of the board and the fans. Then Milton Cruz, the club's eternal interim coach, enters the scene. Adilson Batista had a performance below expectations in the Brazilian Championship and was fired. His replacement, for now, is his assistant, who is taking over the team for the 14th time.
When Paulo César Carpegiani left the club in July of this year, Cruz led the team to two victories, against Cruzeiro and Internacional. The great performance against the team from Rio Grande do Sul, with a 3-0 win at the Beira-Rio stadium, might have cheered up the São Paulo fans, but his successor was already there, watching the game from the VIP box.
According to Adalberto Batista, the board is counting on the trusted man for the next two games. The mission is extremely important, since both games will be at home – against Libertad, for the Copa Sudamericana, and Coritiba, for the Brazilian Championship – and the Morumbi team dropped out of the Libertadores qualification zone in the last round after seeing all their opponents gain three points.
It is still unknown whether Milton Cruz will have the peace of mind to manage the team this time, or if he will, once again, only fill the void left by Adílson's failure. There are fears that, with poor results, the fans will lose confidence in the perpetually interim manager, and it is most likely that another coach will arrive to stay, at least until the end of 2011. São Paulo is fighting to return to the top of the Brasileirão table, but many people at the club are already focused on the Copa Sudamericana, which will guarantee at least one title this year and a coveted spot in next year's Libertadores.