Rijkaard, who won the European Cup as a player with Ajax and AC Milan as well as the European Championship with the Netherlands, was the fourth Dutchman to bring Barcelona a league title after Johan Cruyff, Louis van Gaal and Rinus Michels.

Rijkaard had previously led the Netherlands to the Euro 2000 semifinals but subsequently stumbled when as manager he took Sparta Rotterdam into the Dutch second division.

However, he guided Barcelona to a runner-up finish in his first season, its best position since 2000.

Rijkaard then gained widespread praise for his team's attacking play which featured the brilliance of former world player of the year Ronaldinho and the marksmanship of Cameroon's Samuel Eto'o.

However, the Dutchman has appeared unable to deal with divisions which surfaced in the locker room over recent years, with Eto'o publicly criticising Rijkaard and Ronaldinho last year.

This season, Barcelona made a host of new signings including former Arsenal striker Thierry Henry, but Ronaldinho made little impact amid suggestions that he had lost interest. Injuries to Eto'o and several other top players hampered Rijkaard's chances of repeating his early success.

Laporta yesterday accepted blame for "not having taken decisions which would perhaps have corrected the way events have turned out.

"Keeping the coach on after last season's failure has not worked," he said.

Laporta also exonerated sports director Txiki Begiristain from blame for the club's slump.

"The technical secretary does the planning and this season, we planned one of the best squads in the history of Barcelona," Laporta said.

(Agencies via Shanghai Daily May 9, 2008)