Gilberto leaves Panathinaikos as sporting director
Wednesday, December 14th, 2016After just seven months of Gilberto working at Panathinaikos in Greece as Sporting Director, he has left the club.
He had been finding it hard to adapt to club life not as a player. In this interview with Goal.com, he told the website:
“It is a real challenge being a sports director,” Gilberto told Goal in his scenic office overlooking the Hymettus mountain in Athens. “It’s the first time I’m in this job and you have to understand how everything works very quickly.
“I came to the club at the end of last season and didn’t know much about the previous campaign and gave the best support I could to find the right players and balance in the team. There are a lot of challenges in the club and you have to slowly overcome them but I’m enjoying it so far.”
It sounds like the difficulty of the job led to him stepping down in his role.
President of the club, Yannis Alafouzos, asked Gilberto to become a club ambassador to keep him at the club, but Gilberto declined.
In a statement on the Panathinaikos website, the club said:
Panathinaikos FC and Gilberto Silva have come to an agreement to terminate their contract by mutual consent. During his time as sporting director he honored the club by representing it.
We say farewell to one of the greatest men of football to have ever been associated with our Club. His status and the longevity of his relationship with Panathinaikos make him a permanent part of our history and this will never change.
We wish Gilberto every success to his future endeavors whatever they may be.