Imabari sack Mourelo after three months: When the J1 promotion dream hits bottom-table reality

On September 21, FC Imabari terminated the contract of head coach Abel Mourelo after just over three months in charge. The club sits at the bottom of the J.League table, and the dream of J1 promotion for the 2026/27 season has moved further away. General manager Kosuke Ota called the situation 'very severe' and admitted the team is 'far from its goal'. Imabari immediately promoted assistant coach Yoshikiyo Kuboyama to head coach. Kuboyama answered with a short sentence: 'My challenge has ended'. The coaching change is a sign of a rapid collapse. Mourelo arrived in June and had less than a quarter of a season to prove himself. With a stated target of J1 promotion, bottom place after about three months is a results-driven disaster, not a tactical experiment. No xG, PPDA or pass completion data appears in any official statement, which suggests the decision was made from the league table, not from a tactical drawing board. Kuboyama's public message is cultural rather than tactical. He wants 'Imabari-style football': aggressive in attack and defense, hard-working, winning the ball and heading speedily toward goal. That is a survival blueprint, not a possession doctrine. Yet the deeper question remains: why was the squad left so short of the quality needed? A coaching change does not recruit players, fix wage budgets or repair confidence. The next five matches will define the season. If the new-manager bounce works, the internal promotion is praised. If not, the board will face the same question again, because in football, the table is the only indictment that matters.