Van Gaal on way out as he negotiates pay-off

Dutchman Louis van Gaal is to leave his post as Barcelona coach by mutual consent, sources close to the club's board said on Monday.

The 51-year-old former Dutch national coach will leave subject to successful talks over negotiating the financial terms of his departure in what is his second unhappy spell at the Catalan giants.

Van Gaal, who led Barcelona to two league titles and the Spanish Cup during his first spell in charge from 1997-2000, did not attend the extraordinary meeting of the board - for which 21 members turned up - exiting his office just before it started.

Club treasurer Ramon Salabert told Spanish radio the payoff would be around four million euros.

Should no agreement over his financial terms be reached overnight he is expected to take team training on Tuesday.

Van Gaal has enjoyed a successful Champions League campaign with Barcelona, winning all 10 of their matches but he has paid the price for their league form which after Sunday's 2-0 defeat by Celta Vigo left them 20 points adrift of leaders Real Sociedad.

Yugoslav Radomir Antic, a former Atletico Madrid coach, Germany's Bernd Schuster, a former Barcelona star now coaching second division Xerez, and Argentina's Under-21 coach Marcelo Pekermann, have been named in the local press as possible successors.

Van Gaal was not totally friendless as he received support from the other side of the world as Argentine coach Marcelo Bielsa said people should look at the Dutchman's record.

"People in football have short memories," said Bielsa, who presided over Argentina's first-round World Cup exit and who in the view of his critics stayed in the post because the federation cannot afford to pay him off given the country's financial meltdown.

"Any coach has moments such as those van Gaal is going through at Barcelona."

"But he created one of the best teams of all time as his Ajax side (European Cup winners in 1995 and finalists in 1996), combined results with elegance," said an admiring Bielsa.

"It seems a coach is only good if he always wins. Then when he doesn't he's useless. That means we coaches are all useless."