Inigo Perez extends contract as Rayo Vallecano coach

Madrid, April 16 (IANS) La Liga club Rayo Vallecano announced on Wednesday that the club has extended the contract of coach Inigo Perez for another season until the end of June 2026. Perez, 37, has done an excellent job since replacing Francisco Rodriguez at the Vallecas Stadium in February 2024, with Rayo in danger of relegation.

He led Rayo to safety in his first months in charge, and this season, Rayo is 10th in La Liga, with a chance of qualifying for Europe thanks to Perez's open and aggressive style of play, which sees his players pressing their rivals high up the pitch.

"The coach arrived at the club just over a year ago, and his good work in the dugout has won him the confidence of the club for another season," the Rayo website stated, reports Xinhua.

Perez's work has already won him admirers at other clubs, and he had been linked with a possible return to Osasuna, where he spent much of his playing career, while Athletic Bilbao could view him as a long-term successor to Ernesto Valverde.

Meanwhile, a few days back, Sevilla sacked coach Xavier Garcia Pimienta after a poor run of results and replaced him with veteran Joaquin Caparros until the end of the season.

Garcia Pimienta, who had a contract until the end of June 2027, has paid the price for a run of four consecutive defeats in La Liga, ending with a 1-0 loss away to Valencia on Friday night.

Recent results have seen Sevilla drop to 13th in La Liga, seeing the end of any realistic hope of the club qualifying for Europe next season, while leaving it just seven points above the bottom three.

The former Barcelona B and Las Palmas coach is the latest in a long line of coaches to be sacked by the club in the last two years, following Julen Lopetegui, Jorge Sampaoli, Jose Luis Mendilibar (despite leading the club to success in the Conference League), Diego Alonso and Quique Sanchez Flores. The 69-year-old Caparros is hugely experienced, having coached Sevilla between 2000 and 2005, while also having two further spells as caretaker coach in 2018 and 2019.

--IANS

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