Juan Manuel Lillo

Juanma Lillo

Personal information
Full name	Juan Manuel Lillo
Date of birth	(1965-11-03) 3 November 1965
Place of birth	Tolosa, Spain
Managerial career
Years	Team
1981–1985	Amaroz KE
1985–1988	Tolosa
1988–1989	Mirandés
1990–1991	Mirandés
1991–1992	Cultural Leonesa
1992–1996	Salamanca
1996–1997	Oviedo
1998	Tenerife
2000	Zaragoza
2003–2004	Ciudad Murcia
2004–2005	Terrassa
2005–2006	Dorados Sinaloa
2008–2009	Real Sociedad
2009–2010	Almería
2014	Millonarios
2014–2016	Chile (assistant)

This name uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is Lillo and the second or maternal family name is Díez.

Juan Manuel 'Juanma' Lillo Díez (born 3 November 1965) is a Spanish football manager.

Having entered the coaching business before his 20s, he became the youngest manager ever to coach a La Liga side, having taken over UD Salamanca at not yet 30.

Manager career

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. Afterwards he moved to CD Mirandés also in that level, 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 the club's 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 changes to the team. This prompted reported interest from La Liga side Real Valladolid, but the coach stayed with Salamanca until the end of 1995–96 as it competed in the top flight – 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 – Salamanca finished in last position, eleven points behind 21st-place 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 was 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.

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 (the Catalans were even relegated).

In 2005 Lillo went to Mexico, joining Dorados de Sinaloa and resigning mid-season (the club would also eventually drop down a division). 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 division two. Despite losing only once during his tenure, he saw the club 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.

On 20 November 2010, following a 0–8 home loss against FC Barcelona, Lillo was sacked by Almería who were placed in the relegation zone, eventually being relegated after a four-year stay. After several years of inactivity, he was appointed at Colombian club Millonarios FC, being fired on 2 September 2014 after four consecutive Primera A losses and elimination in the Copa Sudamericana.

On 8 October 2015, Lillo joined Jorge Sampaoli's staff at the Chilean national team, being handed the role of handling the transition of players from the youth sides to the main squad.

External links

• Juan Manuel Lillo manager profile at BDFutbol