Luis Alcántara's glittering managerial career with Grilled Birds came to an end today, as the Argentine finally made good on his promise to hand over the reins after several false alarms late in his ten-season tenure. As expected, German defender Marcus Liehner was promoted to the hot seat after eight seasons as a more-or-less anonymous assistant coach, but Alcántara was insistent that his understudy would enjoy a painless transition.

"I've made it clear that I have not been enjoying the stress of the top job these days, and frankly the club needs a new man to take them further. Liehner is that man - he's been here for a darn long time, all the players know him, and indeed he's been doing most of my duties without due recognition for the past few months." the outgoing player-coach joked.

Liehner, who has a reputation as a players' coach and man-manager, acknowledged his mentor with a nod as he took over the interview. "Thanks Luis for that admission. To be frank Luis has been absolutely great in taking Grilled to two major trophies, and I'll consider myself a success if I manage half that much. I believe we have a good system in place here and won't be rocking the boat too much, but the guys better don't try to take advantage of my niceness - even Luis here, who continues in his role as a defender."

Be the first to comment