The departure of Lionel Messi always meant this was going to be a new era for Barcelona, while the lack of financial muscle to sign a direct replacement did make them an interesting proposition.
It appeared that most fans were gutted about Messi going, but there was also some mild optimism to see what Koeman would do with this squad as it would open up opportunities for other players to come forward and play a bigger role.
The problem is that this doesn’t feel like a team that’s planning to rebuild with Ronald Koeman at the helm, so we’re currently seeing a strange situation of a club who are going through the motions until the manager leaves.
It’s not even clear if Koeman is that happy in his role so it might even be a blessing for him if he is moved on, but the draw with Cadiz tonight is only going to raise more questions about his future.
There’s no obvious replacement lined up and it’s a short turnaround until they play again on Sunday so it would be a risky move to sack him tonight, but it’s clear that these fans have just had enough:
It would be a horrible end to his tenure for Koeman when you consider what he achieved as a player with Barca, but it’s also likely that his reputation and legacy becomes worse the longer he stays.
In time he may receive some praise for bringing the younger players into the team and perhaps we’ll see this as an episode that Barca had to go through to rebuild and bounce back, but it’s honestly impossible to see a situation where he stays and turns it all around.