Gregorio "Goyo" Manzano Ballesteros (; born 11 March 1956) is a Spanish football manager.
In a career of 35 years, he managed for 14 consecutive seasons in La Liga with seven clubs, including three spells at Mallorca and two at Atlético Madrid, winning the Copa del Rey with the former in 2003. In the 2010s, he led three teams in the Chinese Super League.
Football career Early career (1983–1999) Born in Bailén, Jaén, Andalusia, Manzano's training career started in 1983 at the age of 27. He took charge of several teams in his native region, including Real Jaén in the Tercera División.
In 1996, Manzano signed with Talavera from Segunda División B. During his two-season spell he led the Castilla–La Mancha team to a second-place finish in their group (1996–97), and a narrow miss on promotion (1997–98). His good work there prompted the interest – and signing – from Segunda División club Toledo, which he helped retain their league status with a seventh place.
Six clubs in six years (1999–2005) Manzano had his first La Liga experience with Real Valladolid, in 1999–2000. His new side finished eighth, and the season included a 1–0 win against Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium. For the following campaign, he stayed in the top flight with Racing de Santander; in spite of a 4–0 home victory over Barcelona, the Cantabrians were relegated and the coach was fired.
After helping Rayo Vallecano finish 11th in 2001–02's top division, Manzano signed for Mallorca. Season highlights were another win at Real Madrid (5–1) and the conquest of the Copa del Rey after beating Recreativo de Huelva.
Subsequently, Manzano joined Atlético Madrid, nearly qualifying the side for the UEFA Cup after finishing seventh. After the sacking of Iñaki Sáez as Spain national team coach, he was rumoured to be one of his possible successors, but nothing came of it, and he took charge of Málaga instead.
Mallorca and Atlético returns and Sevilla (2005–2013) On 15 February 2006, Manzano returned to Mallorca after Héctor Cúper's dismissal, and continued to work with the Balearic Islands club the following seasons. In 2009–10 they won their first ten home fixtures, eventually only losing three of 19 in the league (Sevilla, Barcelona and Real Madrid) and qualifying for the Europa League as fifth.
On 19 May 2010, it was announced Mallorca would not renew Manzano's contract despite his achievements, due to financial difficulties. He returned to football on 26 September, being appointed at Sevilla as a replacement for the fired Antonio Álvarez. His debut four days later was the first European game of his career, a 1–0 win at Borussia Dortmund in the Europa League group stage.
On 8 June 2011, after leading Sevilla to fifth place, with the subsequent Europa League qualification, Manzano returned to Atlético Madrid to replace Quique Sánchez Flores. Early into 2011–12, he and José Antonio Reyes had a serious altercation, which resulted in the player being relegated to the bench and sometimes not even selected for matchday squads.
Manzano was relieved of his duties on 22 December 2011, following a 1–0 home and 3–1 aggregate loss against Albacete in the domestic cup, with the team ranking tenth in the domestic league. On 5 February 2013, he returned to Mallorca for a third spell after Joaquín Caparrós was dismissed, as the campaign went on to end in top-tier relegation.
Chinese Super League (2014–2018) On 11 February 2014, Manzano was appointed at Beijing Guoan of the Chinese Super League. His two years in the capital city resulted in second and fourth-place finishes, respectively.
Manzano remained working in the same competition in the ensuing years, taking Shanghai Shenhua to fourth place in his only season (2016). He arrived at Guizhou Hengfeng Zhicheng a year later, replacing Li Bing and leading the team to eighth, before being dismissed for a poor start in June 2018.
Managerial statistics
+ Managerial record by team and tenure TeamNatFromToRecord Santisteban1 July 198330 June 1985 Villacarrillo1 July 198530 June 1986Iliturgi1 July 198630 June 1988Villanueva1 July 198830 June 1989Úbeda1 July 198926 February 1990Jaén26 February 199030 June 1991Martos1 July 199130 June 1993Talavera1 July 19962 July 1998Toledo2 July 199824 June 1999Valladolid24 June 199930 June 2000Racing Santander5 December 200019 March 2001Rayo Vallecano1 October 200130 June 2002Mallorca1 July 200230 June 2003Atlético Madrid23 July 200325 May 2004Málaga13 June 200411 January 2005Mallorca15 February 200619 May 2010 Sevilla27 September 20108 June 2011Atlético Madrid8 June 201122 December 2011Mallorca5 February 20135 June 2013Beijing Guoan11 February 201426 November 2015Shanghai Shenhua18 December 20159 November 2016Guizhou Hengfeng Zhicheng30 April 20177 June 2018Total —
Honours Mallorca Copa del Rey: 2002–03
Individual Don Balón Award – Coach of the Year: 2008 Chinese Football Association Coach of the Year: 2014
See also List of football managers with the most matches
References
External links