Juan Manuel 'Juanma' Lillo Díez is a Spanish footballmanager, currently an assistant coach for English club Manchester City. Having began working in that profession before his 20s, he became the youngest manager ever to coach a La Liga club, having taken over Salamanca at not yet 30. He also coached Oviedo, Tenerife, Zaragoza and Almería in the top flight.
Coaching career
Early years / Salamanca
Born in Tolosa, Gipuzkoa, Lillo began coaching local Amaroz KE at just 16 and, four years later, he took charge of Tolosa CF in Tercera División. He moved to CD Mirandés also in that level afterwards, and led the side to promotion to Segunda División B in the 1988–89 season, as champions. Lillo spent the 1991–92 campaign at Cultural y Deportiva Leonesa, advocating a 4–2–3–1 formation. He became the youngest coach to attain the national coaching badge in Spain. Lillo made his name as a manager at UD Salamanca, joining the club in mid-1992 at the behest of its chairman Juan José Hidalgo. In his first season he finished second in the third level, narrowly missing out on promotion playoffs which he attained the following campaign without any major squad changes. This prompted reported interest from Real Valladolid, but the coach stayed until the end of 1995–96 as they competed in La Liga– this made him the youngest ever person to manage at the highest level, at only 29; after 28 games in charge, with Salamanca four points into the relegation zone, he was dismissed, but players and fans publicly opposed the sacking, supporting him in recognition of his achievements – the team finished in last position, eleven points behind 21st-placed CP Mérida. Lillo then had some spells in the top division: in the 1996–97 season he worked with Real Oviedo, but was fired before its closure due to poor results. He returned to management in February 1998 with CD Tenerife, helping them avoid relegation in his first year; the following campaign, however, he did not see out the year, being sacked after 15 matches as the team were ultimately relegated. After a year-and-a-half break, Lillo returned to take the reins of Real Zaragoza – the team had qualified for the UEFA Cup the previous season, and manager Txetxu Rojo moved to Athletic Bilbao. He set about fulfilling the task of progressing in the European competition and repeating European qualification through the league but did not achieve this, being relieved of his duties after barely three months.
2000s
Lillo did not return to coaching quickly: he worked as a sports commentator for television channel Antena 3, during its 2002 FIFA World Cup coverage. From 2003 to 2005 he coached in Segunda División, with Ciudad de Murcia and Terrassa FC, with little success. Lillo went to Mexico in 2005, joining Dorados de Sinaloa and resigning mid-season. He insinuated that the team he was battling against to avoid relegation, Televisa-owned San Luis FC, had gained unusual victories against more powerful opposition, which were also owned by the Televisa group; this caused much controversy in both the Mexican press and football league. Following the incident, Lillo spent the following two years away from football until he was appointed as the new head coach of Real Sociedad in April 2008, with the Basques in the second tier. Despite losing only once during his tenure he saw them fail to reach a promotion spot after finishing in sixth position, and was replaced by Martín Lasarte. In late December 2009, Lillo replaced Hugo Sánchez at the helm of struggling UD Almería, just one place above the relegation zone. After helping the Andalusian team finish 13th, his link was renewed for a further season. After a 8–0 home loss against FC Barcelona on 20 November 2010, Lillo was dismissed with the side in the relegation zone, and eventually being relegated after four years.
