When Javier Irureta was dismissed by Real Betis in December 2006, very few thought he would ever return to football management. Yet the former Deportivo la Coruna coach, who has spent most of his managerial career in northern Spain, is back into the frying pan – this time as boss of Real Zaragoza.
Sky Sports reports that Zaragoza have appointed Irureta as their third manager in the space of nine days. A statement of the club’s website stated:
”Javier Irureta has signed a contract with the club until the end of the season.”
The appointment of Irureta, who was the creative mind behind Deportivo’s extraordinary rise to prominence in the late 1990s and early 2000s and who won the Galician club their only La Liga silverware in 2000, comes just a day after Ander Garitano resigned from the post, citing personal reasons. Garitano was in the job for just eight days.
Zaragoza lie 11th in the table but are just three points clear of the trouble zone. Yet with Irureta in charge and a squad that is oozing talent and quality from every pore, there’s every chance that they will improve in the second half of the season.