Atletico axe Manzano and turn to Simeone

Atletico Madrid put Gregorio Manzano out of his misery yesterday when, after their King’s Cup defeat by third-tier Albacete, the club’s unpopular board sacked him and offered Diego Simeone the coach’s job.

The 55-year-old Manzano’s departure came after less than half a season in his second stint at the helm while former Atletico midfielder Simeone said he was ready to take over after quitting as coach of Racing Club in his native Argentina on Tuesday.

Manzano, who has also coached Real Mallorca, Sevilla and Malaga, returned to Atletico in June, coinciding with the departure of prized forwards Sergio Aguero and Diego Forlan and the arrival of striker Radamel Falcao and midfielders Diego and Arda Turan.

Known as “The Professor”, he has overseen an erratic campaign including a 5-0 league drubbing at Barcelona, although Atletico did top a Europa League section which included Celtic.

Meanwhile, Villarreal promoted B-team coach Jose Francisco Molina to replace Juan Carlos Garrido, who was sacked on Wednesday after the club embarrassingly bowed out of the King’s Cup to third-tier Mirandes by a 3-1 aggregate score.