Having successfully preserved their La Liga status at the first time of asking, Elche were keen to avoid second-season syndrome and made sure they reinforced Fran Escriba’s squad. Consequently, the club embarked on a significant recruitment drive, snapping up the likes of Przemyslaw Tyton and Mario Pasalic on loan, along with South American prospects Enzo Roco and Jonathas.
However, the sheer amount of changes to their squad backfired as the Coach struggled to find his best XI, to the extent that they won just two games in the first half of the campaign, leaving them rock bottom at Christmas and New Year. Nonetheless, the Valencians remained loyal to the man who ended their 24-year wait for a top-flight return, and a much-improved second round followed.
Two winning runs between January and March, which included their best result of the season – a 2-1 win at then-champions Atletico Madrid, and April and May, among them victories over relegation rivals Cordoba and Deportivo La Coruna, saw Elche enjoy their best League finish since 1977, but their dire financial situation means they could still be relegated before the start of 2015-16.
Levante, on the other hand, felt a change in Coach was necessary as a run of just one win in their first nine matches, with six defeats during that time, was enough for Jose Luis Mendilibar to be jettisoned from his role and relegation specialist Lucas Alcaraz to arrest their slump. The trainer debuted with a 2-1 victory over Almeria, and Les Granotes’ climb up the table had begun.
The Valencia-based side lost just two games from mid-October until the last week of the campaign’s first round and were out of the relegation zone by then, albeit in still a precarious position of 17th. However, eight defeats in their next 12 matches saw them drop back into the bottom three until Week 29, when they again got the better of Almeria in a colossal 4-1 success at Mediterraneo.
From there, Levante kept their nerve and ended the season in a significantly-better 14th thanks to three wins and as many draws in their last 10 matches, while many of their rivals near the bottom were struggling to pick up any points at all. Having been confirmed to lead the side next term, Alcaraz will also hope to experience some stability after a nomadic career as a crisis Coach.
Moving down to 15th, Getafe’s decent start to the season gave them important headway in the battle for survival as they were as high as ninth in Week 11. Yet, between November and mid-January, the side failed to win a single match. Continued doubts over their financial state also meant Cosmin Contra’s position at the helm became the subject of intense speculation over the winter.
The Romanian’s lack of job security came to a head in late December, when Chinese club Guangzhou R&F bought out his contract, but the club received a welcome boost with the return of Quique Sanchez Flores, the most successful Coach in their history, just two days after his predecessor officially departed, and he initiated a crucial run of three wins in his first six games back.
Getafe’s turbulent season then took another dramatic turn with the 50-year-old’s resignation on February 26 for personal reasons, and B-team Coach Pablo Franco, who became La Liga’s youngest trainer at 34, came in to steady the ship as he eventually guided the team to top-flight safety for the 10th straight year. He is now likely to be handed El Geta’s managerial reins on a permanent basis.
To round things off, Deportivo’s first season back in the Primera was dogged by inconsistency from start to finish. They fared well for the opening 22 matches, having only gained promotion from the second tier months earlier, as they threatened to break into the top half of the table. However, a damning collapse in form and mounting fan pressure saw Victor Fernandez lose his job in April.
With the Galicians in the relegation zone for the first time since November, the club’s former winger Victor Sanchez was drafted in for the last eight games with the mission objective of averting relegation. Depor may have won just once under the Coach, in his first managerial role, but a sensational comeback against champions Barcelona on the final day kept his side afloat against all odds.
