Atletico Madrid sack Manzano, poised to appoint Simeone

Dec 22, 2011, 18:41 GMT

Madrid - Troubled Spanish giants Atletico Madrid announced on Thursday the sacking of coach Gregorio Manzano.

Manzano, 55, had only been in the job for five months. The final nail in his coffin was Wednesday's cup elimination at home to third division side Albacete.

Atletico - who are in disappointing 10th place in La Liga - are poised to bring in Argentine coach Diego Simeone.

Simeone, 41, resigned as coach of Argentine club Racing on Tuesday. He was a popular midfielder at Atletico in the 1990s, and helped the club to a league and cup double in 1996.

If his appointment is confirmed, Simeone will become the 35th coach at Atletico since the Gil family took over the club, in controversial circumstances, in 1987.

Earlier on Thursday, Villarreal sacked coach Juan Carlos Garrido, just hours after crashing out of the cup against Mirandes, another team from the regional third divisions.

According to media reports, the favourites to replace Garrido are Claude Puel, Michel, Victor Fernandez and Juande Ramos.

Villarreal are fourth from bottom in La Liga and lost all six of their Champions League group matches.

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