Muricy is from Santos.
The coach signed a contract with the Santos team from Vila Belmiro this Monday.
247, with information from Agência Estado - It's now confirmed: Muricy Ramalho is the new coach of Santos. The coach agreed to a contract with the Vila Belmiro club this Monday, the 4th, and will be officially announced by the club in the coming hours. Desired to lead Santos since leaving Fluminense 20 days ago, Muricy had asked for some time to rest, but has already praised the quality of the group that interim coach Marcelo Martelotte has at his disposal.
Santos' board, through Pedro Luiz Nunes Conceição, preferred to maintain a cautious stance when questioned by journalists about the agreement with the four-time Brazilian champion. "We will only say something about the new coach when the club makes an official statement," he claimed. Luis Álvaro de Oliveira Ribeiro, the club's president, spent the morning undergoing routine medical exams and, so far, has not commented on Muricy's hiring. He is being represented by the football director, Pedro Luiz Conceição.
Santos had been without a coach for almost two months. On February 27th, the club's board dismissed coach Adilson Batista, who had been hired last November. He only lost one game in charge of the team, against Corinthians, but he couldn't get the young players to perform to their potential and failed to impress the fans. The final straw was the draw against São Bernardo in the Campeonato Paulista. With a controversial lineup and the team failing to perform, Santos only managed a 1-1 draw. Adilson left the Vila Belmiro pitch booed and under even more pressure. About 24 hours later he was fired. Since then, the team has been led by assistant coach Marcelo Martellote, without significant results. Santos is in a precarious situation in the Copa Libertadores and occupies only fourth place in the Campeonato Paulista.
The hiring of Muricy is late, but providential. Since becoming a coach in 1993 at the Mexican club Puebla, where he retired as a player, Muricy has maintained a glorious career. At São Paulo, he won the CONMEBOL Master Cup in 1996; the CONMEBOL Cup in 1994; and the Brazilian Championship in 2006, 2007, and 2008. At Shanghai Shenhua, he won the Chinese Cup in 1998. At Náutico, he won the Pernambuco Championship in 2001 and 2002. At Internacional, he won the Rio Grande do Sul Championship in 2003 and 2005. With São Caetano, he won the São Paulo Championship in 2004. And at Fluminense, his last club, he won the 2010 Brazilian Championship.
Muricy Ramalho also holds the titles of "Best Coach of the Brazilian Championship" from 2005 to 2010 (he only didn't win in 2009) and "Best Coach of the Brazilian Championship (Mesa Redonda Trophy)" in 2010. The expectation is that he will take over the position after the 30 days of vacation he requested, which will be completed next Tuesday. If Santos does not defeat Colo Colo next Wednesday, in a match at Vila Belmiro, the coach will take over the team in a desperate situation in the Copa Libertadores.