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On Wednesday, the clubs from Taragona, competing in the Spanish "Primera" league, announced the appointment of new coaches - Jose Manuel Esnalas, former coach of "Alaves" and "Levante", will lead "Bilbao", while Paco Flores, former coach of "Espanyol", "Zaragoza", and "Almeria", will work with Taragona's "Gimnastic" team.
J.M. Esnalas, better known in Spain as Mane, has been the fifth coach of "Bilbao" over the past 18 months. The 56-year-old specialist made a name for himself by leading Vitoria Basque's "Deportivo Alaves" team.
In 1998, he promoted the club to the "Primera" league after finishing second in the lower division of the Spanish championship, and unexpectedly in 2001, with "Alaves", reached the UEFA Cup final, where after a missed "golden goal" they lost 5-4 to the renowned English team "Liverpool".
J.M. Esnalas will take the place of Felix Sarriugarte in the "Bilbao" team, as the latter fell into the relegation zone after a 3-1 loss to "Sevilla" in a recent match.
Meanwhile, Paco Flores, from Catalonia, will lead the "Gimnastic" team until the end of this season, and he had already trained his new team on Wednesday morning.
The board of Taragona club decided to choose P. Flores for his experience in the Spanish "Primera" league and will allow him to reunite with former players Luis Enrique Martinez and Abel Resino.
Some of the major achievements of this coach are the victory of the "Espanyol" team in the King's Cup in 2000, and in 2003, he brought back "Zaragoza" to the highest Spanish division and also helped several unremarkable teams to avoid relegation in the past.
The Basque club "Bilbao" had already avoided relegation to a lower division, but this season they are in 18th place and are only three points ahead of the last-placed "Gimnastic" team in the league table.
