José María Gutiérrez stops being in charge of the UD Almería’s squad
The new coaching staff begin to work focused on Sunday's game in Miranda de Ebro
The UD Almería and José María Gutiérrez have reached an agreement, in which the head coach has stopped being in charge of the first team Almeria squad following his contract termination before the end of the current season. At the same time, the new coaching staff began to work focusing on the next game against Mirandes that is going to take place on Sunday, at 5:00 p.m. at Anduva Stadium, corresponding to Matchday 36 of the SmartBank League.
The club profusely thanks José María Gutiérrez for his professionalism and commitment to the team. He took charge of the first team Almería squad back in November on the evening when Almeria took on Real Zaragoza at Juegos Mediterráneos; it was matchday 15 of LaLiga SmartBank.
The former Real Madrid player was in the driving seat during 22 games, 21 belonged to the second tier championship and 1 for the Copa del Rey. Along with José María Gutiérrez, both fitness coaches Antonio Ruiz Vilches and Javier Agenjo, as well as the goalkeeper Borja Álvarez also dissociate themselves from UD Almería. Almería opted for in-house personnel to form the new coaching staff, which has been made up of Mario Silva, Fernando Santos ‘Nandinho’, Pedro Mesquita, Rui Costa, Eurico Pinhal, Víctor Fortes, Ricardo Molina, Víctor Mañas and Jesús Muñoz.
Bear in mind, ‘Nandinho’ joined to the club back in October in order to be in charge of Almeria B, taking them to the play-off promotion spots to Second B after sixteen match weeks undefeated in the IX group of Third Division, although shortly before the competition was halted coronavirus they lost that good position. The Almeria B assistants who worked with the Portuguese, such as Pedro Mesquita (assistant manager), Eudicot Pinhal (fitness coach) and Rui Costa (goalkeeper coach). As for Mario Silva, he held the position of Academy director and now joins the new backroom staff of the first team squad. Last season he championed Porto in the UEFA Youth League. As a player he was champion of Europe with Porto, in addition to winning the League, Cup and Super Cup titles with this same club in Portugal, and Ligue 1 with Nantes, and France. In Spain he played for Cádiz CF and Recreativo de Huelva. Ricardo Molina (goalkeeping coach), Víctor Fortes (fitness coach), Víctor Mañas (analyst) and Jesús Muñoz stay at the club.
The first training under the new coaching staff instructions has been led by Mario Silva since ‘Nandinho’ and his assistants from Almeria B are joining him this Saturday, when the Rojiblancos are undertaking their last afternoon preparation before travelling to Miranda de Ebro on Sunday.