Manuel Pablo García Díaz (born 25 January 1976), known as Manuel Pablo, is a Spanish former professional footballer who played mainly as a right-back. He is currently manager of Primera Federación club Deportivo Fabril.
He spent most of his career with Deportivo, appearing in 482 official matches and notably winning the 1999–2000 La Liga. With stamina as his main asset, he also represented Spain on 13 occasions.El Teresa Herrera de Manuel Pablo (Manuel Pablo's Teresa Herrera); El Desmarque, 7 July 2016 (in Spanish)Manuel Pablo ya es historia de la UD y del Deportivo (Manuel Pablo is already history at UD and Deportivo); Tinta Amarilla, 7 July 2016 (in Spanish)
Club career
Born in Arucas, Las Palmas, Canary Islands, Manuel Pablo was 22 when he joined Deportivo de La Coruña from his hometown club UD Las Palmas in summer 1998, being signed together with Argentine Turu Flores.Turu Flores, entre dos pasiones (Turu Flores, between two passions); La Provincia, 14 December 2011 (in Spanish) He made his La Liga debut on 15 November 1998 in a 2–2 home draw against Deportivo Alavés,El Deportivo, abonado al empate (Deportivo, married to draw); Mundo Deportivo, 16 November 1998 (in Spanish) but faced serious competition from Armando Álvarez in his first season, appearing in just 14 league matches.Manuel Pablo cumple una década en Primera (Manuel Pablo celebrates one decade in Primera); Diario AS, 15 November 2008 (in Spanish)
Manuel Pablo was a vital part of Depors defence as the Galician side were crowned national champions in 2000 for the only time in their history. He contributed 37 games to the feat, 45 in all competitions.El Dépor se estrena como campeón (Debut as champions for Dépor); Última Hora, 20 May 2000 (in Spanish)Manuel Pablo, segundo jugador con más partidos de Liga con el Deportivo (Manuel Pablo, second player with the most League matches with Deportivo); Mundo Deportivo, 5 March 2014 (in Spanish)
On 30 September 2001, Manuel Pablo sustained an horrific tibia injury during the televised Galician derby against RC Celta de Vigo after an unlucky tackle by Everton Giovanella.Deportivo y Celta deleitan (Deportivo and Celta delight); Mundo Deportivo, 1 October 2001 (in Spanish)La operación de tibia de Manuel Pablo crea polémica entre los especialistas (Manuel Pablo's tibia surgery stirs up controversy amongst specialists); El Mundo, 17 November 2001 (in Spanish) Subsequently, he missed the rest of the campaign.Buoyant United ready for Deportivo; UEFA, 2001
Manuel Pablo returned one year later, playing the full 90 minutes against CD Corralejo in a Copa del Rey tie.Luque y Juanmi, claves del Depor y vuelve M. Pablo (Luque y Juanmi, key to Depor and M. Pablo returns); Mundo Deportivo, 12 September 2002 (in Spanish) On 6 October 2002 he was handed his league return by coach Javier Irureta, as a late substitute in the 0–2 home loss to Racing de Santander.El Racing da un baño al Depor (Racing humble Depor); Mundo Deportivo, 7 October 2002 (in Spanish)
In 2003–04's closing stages, Manuel Pablo proved he was fully recovered, as displayed in an excellent performance on 7 April 2004 in a 4–0 win over AC Milan in the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League (5–4 aggregate victory).El Depor baila al campeón (Depor waltz champions); Mundo Deportivo, 8 April 2004 (in Spanish) From the 2004–05 season onwards, he was the undisputed right-back at the Estadio Riazor (although he faced stiff competition from Álvaro Arbeloa in the 2006–07 campaign until the latter departed for Liverpool in January 2007).Arbeloa se va al Liverpool para aliviar la economía del Dépor (Arbeloa goes to Liverpool to ease the burden on Dépor's economy); El Correo Gallego, 31 January 2007 (in Spanish)
In the following two seasons, Manuel Pablo remained first-choice at his position, although he was challenged by younger Laure in 2008–09.Filipe: "Hemos perdido al mejor lateral de la Liga" (Filipe: "We have lost the League's best full-back"); Diario AS, 24 August 2008 (in Spanish)Laure puede sentar a Manuel Pablo en Madrid (Laure may sit Manuel Pablo in Madrid); Diario AS, 25 August 2009 (in Spanish) In early May 2009, following lengthy negotiations, the 33-year-old renewed his Depor contract in a 2+1 deal.Manuel Pablo renueva por dos temporadas (Manuel Pablo renews for two seasons); Marca, 11 May 2009 (in Spanish)
From 2009 to 2015, Manuel Pablo still managed to total 126 league games, being relegated twice from the top flight and achieving as many promotions.Manuel Pablo: "El primer gol lo debe marcar el Gran Canaria" (Manuel Pablo: "The first goal must be scored by the Gran Canaria"); La Provincia, 12 June 2013 (in Spanish) On 16 June 2015, he extended his link for a further year.Manuel Pablo continuará una temporada más como capitán del Dépor (Manuel Pablo will remain one more season as captain of Dépor); Deportivo La Coruña, 16 June 2015 (in Spanish)
On 7 July 2016, after only five competitive appearances during the season, the 40-year-old Manuel Pablo retired.Manuel Pablo cuelga las botas (Manuel Pablo hangs boots); La Voz de Galicia, 7 July 2016 (in Spanish)
International career Manuel Pablo's performances for Deportivo earned him a debut with the Spain national team on 16 August 2000, in a 4–1 away friendly defeat to Germany.Desastre (Disaster); Mundo Deportivo, 17 August 2000 (in Spanish) He played for his country a further 12 times.
Coaching career Shortly after retiring, Manuel Pablo continued to work with his main club Deportivo, being named an assistant to the B team in October 2018.Oportunidad para Manuel Pablo (A chance for Manuel Pablo); El Desmarque, 23 October 2018 (in Spanish) In July 2021, he was appointed manager of the Juvenil squad, replacing Óscar Gilsanz.Manuel Pablo será el entrenador del Juvenil del Deportivo (Manuel Pablo will be the manager of Deportivo's Juvenil); Diario AS, 19 July 2021 (in Spanish)
Manuel Pablo became head coach of Deportivo's reserves on 5 November 2024, again taking over from Gilsanz.Manuel Pablo sustituye a Gilsanz en el Fabril (Manuel Pablo replaces Gilsanz at Fabril); La Opinión A Coruña, 5 November 2024 (in Spanish) On 26 March 2026, with the side leading their group in the Segunda Federación, he renewed his contract until 2028;Manuel Pablo, tras renovar con el Fabril: «Esta es mi casa, llevo toda la vida aquí y me siento a gusto trabajando con los chavales» (Manuel Pablo, after renewing with Fabril: "This is my home, I've been here all my life and I feel comfortable working with the lads"); La Voz de Galicia, 27 March 2026 (in Spanish) promotion was eventually achieved as champions.El Fabril inicia este lunes la pretemporada con cinco juveniles convocados (Fabril begin preseason this Monday by calling five youths); La Voz de Galicia, 12 July 2026 (in Spanish)
Career statistics Club + Appearances and goals by club, season and competitionClubSeasonLeagueCupIncludes Copa del Rey and Supercopa de EspañaOtherIncludes La Liga play-offs, UEFA Cup, UEFA Champions League and UEFA Intertoto CupTotalDivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsLas Palmas1996–97 Segunda División20100002011997–98 Segunda División3600020380Total5610020581Deportivo1998–99 La Liga14050001901999–00 La Liga37020604502000–01 La Liga371401405512001–02 La Liga500020702002–03 La Liga10081101912003–04 La Liga18010802702004–05 La Liga30010603702005–06 La Liga31050704302006–07 La Liga15050002002007–08 La Liga34000003402008–09 La Liga23030603202009–10 La Liga33030003602010–11 La Liga30030003302011–12 Segunda División8020001002012–13 La Liga24021002612013–14 Segunda División26010002702014–15 La Liga502000702015–16 La Liga30200050Total38314925004823Career total43924925205404
International + Appearances and goals by national team and yearNational teamYearAppsGoalsSpain200050200170200410Total130
Managerial statistics
+ Managerial record by team and tenure TeamNatFromToRecord Deportivo B 5 November 2024PresentTotal —
HonoursDeportivo' La Liga: 1999–2000 Supercopa de España: 2000 Segunda División: 2011–12Fútbol Segunda División – El Deportivo culmina el ascenso a Primera División (Football Second Division – Deportivo complete promotion to Primera División); RTVE, 27 May 2012 (in Spanish) UEFA Intertoto Cup: 2008
References
External links Deportivo official profile (archived)