By Mark Elkington
MADRID, July 7 - Former Spain coach Javier
Clemente said he was sacked by Athletic Bilbao because president
Fernando Lamikiz gave in to a media campaign.
"Lamikiz told the media his decision could be seen as unfair
but a more colloquial way of saying it would be that he gave in
to media pressure," Clemente told a news conference on Friday.
"Lamikiz has been swayed by what he read in some newspapers.
He is directly responsible for my dismissal because I had a good
relationship with the rest of the board."
Clemente was sacked on Thursday after he publicly criticised
Bilbao's recruitment policy, saying the club had not signed the
players he wanted.
Lamikiz said he had explained his decision to Clemente and
the recruitment criticism was only one of a number of reasons
why the coach was dismissed.
Clemente continued to speak out against the club president
on Friday.
"He likes to dominate his coaches. He couldn't manage me,"
said Clemente.
"Bilbao cannot afford to be a president's plaything."
COACHING STAFF
Clemente also denied Lamikiz's assertion he did not get on
with his coaching staff.
"If that was the case I wouldn't have started the season as
we did," he said.
Clemente took charge of Bilbao for the third time last
October when they were bottom of the Primera Liga.
The team eventually finished 12th, six points clear of the
relegation zone.
In his first spell at the club, Clemente led Bilbao to the
league title in 1983 and the league and Cup double the following
season.
He had a six-year stint in charge of the national side,
guiding Spain to the quarter-finals of the 1994 World Cup and
the 1996 European Championship.
Spanish media reported that former Espanyol and Celta Vigo
coach Miguel Angel Lotina was the favourite to take over at
Bilbao.