Vissel Kobe managed to halt their losing streak at three games but failed to hand Takayuki Yoshida his first coaching win in a 0-0 draw with Yokohama F. Marinos in the J. League on Sunday.
Vissel dismissed Nelsinho on Wednesday after suffering their third defeat in a row that had the Rakuten-owned club wallowing in the bottom half of the table.
Yoshida was named caretaker amid chatter that Barcelona's shirt sponsor Rakuten was aiming to bring in a big-name manager from Europe on the heels of the summer addition of German World Cup winner Lukas Podolski.