José Manuel 'Manolo' Díaz Fernández (born 30 August 1968) is a Spanish professional football manager and former player who played as a forward.

Coaching career

Born in Madrid, Díaz began his managerial career at the ''Juvenil'' squad of

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

, leaving the club in 2006 after the arrival of the new president

Ramón Calderón José Ramón Calderón Ramos (born 26 May 1951) is a Spanish lawyer who is the former President of Real Madrid. He got his Law Degree in the University of Navarra, Spain in 1974 and he worked in London, England, as a lawyer, in 1975 and 1976. ...

. After a brief period in Mexico he returned to Spain, and was appointed at CDA Navalcarnero in summer 2008. Díaz was named coach of

Real Madrid C Real Madrid Club de Fútbol C, commonly known as Real Madrid C, was a Spanish association football team that played in the Tercera División – Group 7. It was Real Madrid's second reserve team. They played their home games at La Ciudad del ...

a year later, following Florentino Pérez's return as president. In 2011–12 he led the team to the second place in the regular season, and despite losing in the playoffs, saw them achieve promotion to

Segunda División B Segunda División B ( en, Second Division B) was the third tier of the Spanish football league system containing 102 teams divided into five groups, until it was replaced by the new structure in 2021. It was administered by the Royal Spanish Foot ...

due to administrative relegations. On 19 November 2013, Díaz replaced the fired

Alberto Toril José Alberto Toril Rodríguez (born 7 July 1973) is a Spanish retired professional footballer who played as a central midfielder, who currently Manager for Liga F club Real Madrid Femenino. He was mainly associated to Real Madrid during ...

at the helm of the B side. His first match in charge was four days later, a 0–0 home draw against

CD Numancia Club Deportivo Numancia de Soria, S.A.D. is a Spanish football club in Soria, in the autonomous community of Castile and León. Founded on 9 April 1945, it plays in Primera División RFEF – Group 2, holding home games at ''Nuevo Estadio Los ...

. Late into the year, he finally took the reserves out of the last position in

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commercially known as LaLiga SmartBank for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spanish football league system. Administrated by the Lig ...

, after winning 13 out of a possible 15 points and four consecutive wins. In July 2014, Díaz was appointed at SD Ponferradina in the second division. On 31 January 2016, after the sixth loss in seven matches, he was dismissed; the campaign eventually ended in relegation. Díaz returned to the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium on 24 June 2017, being appointed youth system coordinator. In late October 2018, as

Santiago Solari Santiago Hernán Solari Poggio (born 7 October 1976) is an Argentine professional football manager and former player who played as a left midfielder. He spent the better part of his 16-year professional career in Spain, amassing La Liga total ...

was named

Julen Lopetegui Julen Lopetegui Agote (; born 28 August 1966) is a Spanish former professional footballer, currently manager of Premier League club Wolverhampton Wanderers. A goalkeeper, he played 149 La Liga matches over nine seasons, representing Real ...

's successor in the first team, he replaced the former at Castilla. On 8 September 2021, following a brief spell in the Spanish third tier with

Hércules CF Hércules de Alicante Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. () is a Spanish football team in Alicante, in the autonomous community of Valencian Community. Founded on 25 October 1922, it currently plays in Segunda División RFEF – Group 3 and plays its hom ...

, Díaz was announced as the head coach of Indian Super League side SC East Bengal. He resigned at the end of the year, following a poor start to the season.

Managerial statistics

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Diaz, Manolo 1968 births Living people Footballers from Madrid Spanish men's footballers Men's association football forwards Segunda División B players Tercera División players RSD Alcalá players Getafe CF footballers Spanish football managers Segunda División managers Segunda División B managers Tercera División managers Real Madrid C managers Real Madrid Castilla managers SD Ponferradina managers Hércules CF managers Indian Super League managers East Bengal Club managers Spanish expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in India Spanish expatriate sportspeople in India