José Riga (born 30 July 1957) is a Belgian former football player and manager.

Managerial career

Charlton Athletic

Riga was appointed as manager of Charlton Athletic on 11 March 2014, one day after the sacking of

Chris Powell Christopher George Robin Powell (born 8 September 1969) is an English football coach and former player, who is currently head of coaching at Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur's Academy and a coach for the England national team. As a left b ...

, who had been dismissed when he and the club owner were unable to reach agreement over the long-term vision for the club. At the time Charlton were fourth from bottom of the

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

. Riga was appointed the manager with a contract until the end of the 2013–14 season; the main task was to avoid relegation. This was achieved on 29 April 2014 following a 3-1 home win against

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, a ...

Blackpool

On 3 June 2014 it was reported that Riga had agreed to a deal to become manager of

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...

, and was set to start the following week. The following day, club chairman

Karl Oyston Karl Samuel Oyston (born 20 February 1968) is an English businessman and the former chairman of Blackpool Football Club. Oyston took over the chairmanship at Blackpool from his mother, Vicki Oyston, in 1999. Mrs Oyston had taken over three years ...

confirmed that there was a verbal agreement in place, and on 11 June he was confirmed as the new manager. Three weeks later, newspaper reports claimed that Riga was unsettled and ready to quit. Whilst the club and Riga did not comment, no coaching staff had been appointed and even though the club had just seven contracted players, no signings had been made. With so few players, no assistant or backroom staff appointed, and the squad due to report back on 30 June, Riga had to delay the start of pre-season training. On 9 July it was confirmed that, with still just eight players at the club, Riga had three backroom staff, all of whom had agreed to start working the previous week but had still not signed contracts. Two days later it was stated that tensions were high at the club, and between Riga and Oyston. On 17 July, having already cancelled a pre-season trip to Spain to focus on signings, it was claimed that Riga's future was even more uncertain following reports of a dispute with the chairman over transfer policy. Two days later Blackpool played a friendly away against Northern League

Division One The Football League First Division was a division of the Football League in England from 1888 until 2004. It was the top division in the English football league system from the season 1888–89 until 1991–92, a century in which the First ...

side Penrith F.C., Penrith, fielding five triallists in the starting line-up with two more on the substitutes bench and with just six fit registered players, the rest of the match day squad was made up of youth team players. Riga was given a standing ovation by the Blackpool fans. Then after the match it was reported that when the media requested to speak with Riga, he had told his staff and players not to give any interviews. Having won only one of fifteen games in charge, Riga was sacked by Blackpool on 27 October 2014. He became the club's second shortest-serving manager in their history, behind Michael Appleton.

Standard Liège

On 2 February 2015, Riga returned to Standard Liège in Belgium, where he was re-appointed as manager following Ivan Vukomanović's departure. He took charge of his first game four days later, winning 3–0 against Royal Mouscron-Péruwelz, Mouscron. Towards the end of the season, he announced he would not be prolonging his contract. Slavoljub Muslin was announced as his successor on 5 June.

Return to Charlton Athletic

On 14 January 2016 Riga was appointed head coach of Charlton Athletic for the second time. His first win came away at Rotherham United in a 1-4 victory. Following the relegation he left the club and was replaced by Russell Slade.

Cercle Brugge

Riga was appointed head coach at Cercle Brugge K.S.V., Cercle Brugge in the Belgian First Division B on 1 November 2016 but was sacked in October 2017.

URSL Visé

On 14 October 2019, Riga was appointed sporting director of URSL Visé.

JS Kabylie

On 22 June 2022, Riga was appointed head coach of JS Kabylie. On 6 September, he was sacked.

Managerial statistics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Riga, Jose 1957 births Living people Belgian people of Spanish descent Belgian football managers Standard Liège managers C.S. Visé managers R.A.E.C. Mons managers Charlton Athletic F.C. managers Blackpool F.C. managers FC Metz managers Cercle Brugge K.S.V. managers English Football League managers Expatriate football managers in England Belgian expatriates in England Belgian expatriate football managers Sportspeople from Liège Belgian footballers C.S. Visé players Association footballers not categorized by position