I have a dear friend who says he is a little frustrated that he has not married. He thinks he was unlucky in his relationships - which were not few.

Without any value judgment or sexist (or sexist) proposition - on the contrary - I think I've seen him, without exaggeration, with about fifty girlfriends (not counting the dozens of fleeting relationships), with the most distinct characteristics: famous or not , actresses or self-employed professionals, intellectuals or alienated, progressive or conservative, sportsmen or sedentary, tall or short, national or foreign; in short, I can't even group them anymore, such is the diversity.

In fact, the people who live around him no longer want to get attached because, at the end of each story, short or relatively long by his standards, which invariably starts with the impetus of novelty - even when it comes to a rescue attempt relational - ends with the most varied justifications, some repeat offenders, which could even be grouped in order to identify patterns of conduct based on the characteristics of the ex.

In common, the exteriorization (or projection) of the ailments. After all, as Jean-Paul Sartre would say, hell is other people.

Perhaps. But also maybe the devil is us.

This narrative reminds me of São Paulo and its most recent relationship with its coaches, inaugurated from the first signs of political, moral and sporting decadence - whose revelation coincides with the end of its hegemony, marked by the third consecutive Brazilian championship.

Since then, after the departure of three-time champion Muricy Ramalho, the list is extensive: Ricardo Gomes (more than once), Paulo César Carpegiani, Adílson Batista, Émerson Leão, Ney Franco, Paulo Autuori, Muricy (again), Juan Carlos Osorio, Doriva, Edgardo Bauza, Rogério Ceni, Dorival Júnior, Diego Aguirre, André Jardine, Cuca, Fernando Diniz, Hernán Crespo and, again, Rogério Ceni. Not to mention homemade or improvised solutions, involving Milton Cruz, Sérgio Baresi, Pintado, Vagner Mancini and Vizolli.

There are technicians from at least 4 countries (including Brazil), endowed with the most distinct characteristics, qualities and defects, and who were, with very rare exceptions, crushed by the tricolor grinding machine.

Some were really bad; others as well. It matters little, in any case, for the reflection that takes place here. It is important to investigate the origin of the problem (despite the relevance of the effect).

And then it would be dishonest to say that - just like in the situation of my friend and his girlfriends - all the technicians did not understand São Paulo. Or did not absorb your line of action. Or they missed the game pattern that was intended to be imposed. Or they didn't realize that São Paulo is different. Or...

Also because some of them projected themselves there, in Morumbi, and are part of its history. They know your insides.

Others left and returned (cases of Carpegiani, Cuca and Ricardo Gomes), so that, if there had been any incompatibility, they would not have been rehired.

And heroes of great victories, such as Paulo Autuori, were rescued to, as a result, fall without the glories for which they should be remembered and celebrated.

Based, therefore, on the premise that, excluding a few coaches who really didn't make any sense, most are qualified and victorious, and even if they had - like my friend's 50 girlfriends -, some portion of guilt, the greatest guilt was and is on the employer: that is, in São Paulo.

It is often said that coaches, even after vigorous starts, lose control of the locker room. That's what was said about Crespo (looking from the outside, the best bet since 2009). If, in fact, a coach with the Argentine's history and qualities was unable to control a group of players who are not known, with rare exceptions, for their achievements, it is because they did not have support from those above him. Even to deal with and ward off problems that, perhaps, each in their own time, have made other good coaches unfeasible.

This is how Rogério Ceni's return is justified: a (dangerously) populist movement, a cover-up of structural corrosion that he, Rogério, will not solve either. On the contrary: he will, paradoxically, intensify them, especially if he succeeds in his mission to save the team from relegation and lead it to Libertadores. Because he is the bet (and the dream) of continuity (which he chose, it is important that the fans never forget, the São Paulo championship as the new São Paulo world cup).

Rogério knows this, as he knew on his first visit that he had been hired as a protection shield for the board. So much so that he imposed, as a condition of signing a contract, a pornographic fine on a novice who, strictly speaking, at that time, could have worked gracefully to learn the new profession. How you actually learned. So good that, in addition to collecting titles as a coach, he should receive another fine if he fails in his messianic mission or if the players go, as happened with Crespo, not to understand his work proposal-and ask for his head.

And so the cartolarial lineage that has for years reduced the three-time Libertadores and world champion to São Paulo champion will say - like that friend of mine, in relation to his girlfriends - that Ceni was not for São Paulo. Because São Paulo is different. It is sovereign.