Pako Ayestarán

Francisco Martín "Pako" Ayestarán Barandiarán (born 5 February 1963) is a Spanish football manager and coach, who is currently the assistant head coach at Premier League club Aston Villa.

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Ayestarán and the second or maternal family name is Barandiarán.
Pako Ayestarán
Personal information
Full name Francisco Martín Ayestarán Barandiarán
Date of birth (1963-02-05) 5 February 1963
Place of birth Beasain, Spain
Team information
Current team
 Aston Villa (assistant)
Youth career
Years Team
Real Sociedad
Managerial career
1996 Osasuna (assistant)
1997–1999 Extremadura (assistant)
2000–2001 Tenerife (assistant)
2001–2004 Valencia (assistant)
2004–2007 Liverpool (assistant)
2011–2012 Al-Ahli (assistant)
2013–2014 Tecos
2014–2015 Maccabi Tel Aviv
2015 Santos Laguna
2016 Valencia (assistant)
2016 Valencia
2017 Las Palmas
2018–2019 Pachuca
2020–2022 Tondela
2022– Aston Villa (assistant)

He spent 11 years as assistant to Rafael Benítez at clubs including Valencia and Liverpool. Starting in 2013, he managed as head coach in Mexico, Israel, Portugal, and at Valencia and Las Palmas in La Liga.

Career

Assistant manager

Ayestarán was born in Beasain, Gipuzkoa, and had a short stint as a youth player at Real Sociedad. After starting his career as a fitness coach, he was appointed Rafael Benítez's assistant at Osasuna, and remained behind the manager at Extremadura, Tenerife, Valencia and Liverpool. On 1 September 2007, Ayestarán announced his departure from The Reds after 11 years partnering Benítez. Benítez accused Ayestarán of "betrayal" as Ayestarán "contacted other clubs behind his back" while Ayestarán rejected the accusations, claiming instead that Benítez "forgot his principles".[1][2]

Ayestarán joined Real Sociedad as sporting director in 2008, but left after a few weeks due to conflicts with the club president. He then served as fitness coach at Benfica[3] and Valencia,[4] leaving the latter in June 2010 for "professional reasons".[5] In mid-2011, Ayestarán was named Quique Sánchez Flores' assistant at Al-Ahli Dubai, but left the club roughly a year later.[6]

Manager

On 24 August 2013, Ayestarán took up coaching, being appointed at the helm of Estudiantes Tecos.[7] On 29 May 2014, after failing to win promotion despite reaching the final of the tournament, Ayestarán announced his departure from Tecos, saying he had "no intention of continuing to manage in the Ascenso MX".[8]

Ayestarán was appointed Maccabi Tel Aviv manager on 26 August 2014, replacing fellow Spaniard Óscar García who had resigned due to the war in Gaza.[9] He led Maccabi to a first-ever treble in Israeli football, winning the Premier League (the club's third in a row), the State Cup and the Toto Cup.[10] On 20 August 2015, however, he resigned from the club.[11]

On 20 August 2015, Ayestarán returned to Mexico, being appointed at the helm of Santos Laguna.[12] He and the club terminated his contract on 21 November "upon mutual consent" after a 15th-place finish in the Apertura 2015.[13][14]

It was announced on 14 February 2016 that Ayestarán would join Gary Neville's backroom staff at Valencia.[15] On 31 March, he was appointed manager of the club for the remainder of the season after the Englishman's sacking.[16] He suffered defeat against Las Palmas in his debut match[17] before recording consecutive La Liga wins over Sevilla, Barcelona and Eibar in April.[18]

On 24 May 2016, Ayestarán was appointed Valencia manager until 30 June 2018.[19] However, he was sacked on 20 September with the team in last place in the league table, having lost all four games of the season and 8 of his overall 12 fixtures.[20]

Ayestarán replaced Manolo Márquez as the new Las Palmas manager on 27 September 2017.[21] He recorded 1 draw and 6 defeats before his dismissal on 30 November, as the Canary Islands club suffered relegation.[22]

On 29 May 2018, Ayestarán returned to Mexico's top flight to become manager of Pachuca.[23] He was sacked on 20 January 2019, after missing the Apertura play-offs and underperforming three games into the Clausura season.[24]

Ayestarán returned to work on 10 August 2020 with a two-year contract at Tondela in Portugal's Primeira Liga. He succeeded his fellow Basque Natxo González in the job.[25] With a 3–1 home win over Estoril on 21 December 2021, he guided the team to the quarter-finals of the Taça de Portugal for the first time in their history.[26]

On 16 March 2022, after a run of five losses and a draw in the league, Ayestarán was dismissed by Tondela. Nonetheless, the team had a 3–0 lead to take into their cup semi-final second leg against Mafra.[27]

Assistant head coach

On 4 November 2022, Ayestarán was officially announced as assistant head coach to Unai Emery at Aston Villa.[28]

Managerial statistics
As of 19 March 2022
Team Nat From To Record
GWDLWin %
Tecos Mexico 24 August 2013 29 May 2014 28 10 13 5 035.71
Maccabi Tel Aviv Israel 26 August 2014 1 June 2015 37 22 9 6 059.46
Santos Laguna Mexico 20 August 2015 22 November 2015 17 4 5 8 023.53
Valencia Spain 31 March 2016 20 September 2016 12 3 1 8 025.00
Las Palmas Spain 27 September 2017 30 November 2017 9 1 1 7 011.11
Pachuca Mexico 29 May 2018 20 January 2019 28 12 9 7 042.86
Tondela Portugal 10 August 2020 16 March 2022 68 21 10 37 030.88
Total 199 73 48 78 036.68

Honours
Tecos
Maccabi Tel Aviv

Liverpool

Valencia

References
  1. Ogden, Mark (1 September 2007). "Rafael Benitez's assistant quits Liverpool". London: The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 21 May 2010.
  2. "Benítez quietly furious after No2 of 11 years leaves". The Guardian. 1 September 2007. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  3. "Técnico regressa apenas em Julho" [Manager returns only in July] (in Portuguese). Record. 26 June 2009. Retrieved 18 August 2015.
  4. "Pako Ayestarán regressa ao Valencia" [Pako Ayestarán returns to Valencia] (in Portuguese). Record. 26 June 2009. Retrieved 18 August 2015.
  5. Madden, Paul (7 June 2010). "Valencia To Part With Fitness Coach Pako Ayestaran – Report". Goal.com. Retrieved 28 June 2010.
  6. "Quique prolonga un año más su estancia en Dubai" [Quique extends for a further year his stay in Dubai] (in Spanish). Super Deporte. 8 July 2012. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  7. "Ex auxiliar de Benítez, DT de Tecos" [Former Benítez's assistant, manager of Tecos] (in Spanish). ESPN Deportes. 24 August 2013. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  8. "Ayestarán no irá con Estudiantes a Zacatecas" [Ayestarán will not go with Estudiantes to Zacatecas] (in Spanish). Informador. 29 May 2014. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  9. "Óscar García abandona el banquillo del Maccabi Tel Aviv por la guerra en Gaza" [Óscar García leaves the bench of Maccabi Tel Aviv due to the war in Gaza] (in Spanish). Marca. 26 August 2014. Retrieved 19 October 2015.
  10. "Ayestarán, triplete histórico con el Maccabi" [Ayestarán, historical treble with Maccabi] (in Spanish). Marca. 20 May 2015. Retrieved 19 October 2015.
  11. "Maccabi Tel-Aviv, Ayestaran no continúa pese al triplete" [Maccabi Tel-Aviv, Ayestaran will not continue despite treble] (in Spanish). esFutbol. 20 August 2015. Retrieved 19 October 2015.
  12. "El español Pako Ayestarán dirigirá al Santos Laguna, último campeón en México" [Spaniard Pako Ayestarán will manage Santos Laguna, the last champion in Mexico] (in Spanish). El Mundo Deportivo. 20 August 2015. Retrieved 19 October 2015.
  13. "Santos Laguna and Pako Ayestaran part ways". Santos Laguna. 21 November 2015. Retrieved 14 January 2016.
  14. "LA Galaxy's CCL opponents Santos Laguna open 2016 with a new manager and a new sense of optimism". LA Galaxy. 9 January 2016. Retrieved 14 January 2016.
  15. "Gary Neville: Valencia needed Pako Ayestaran on coaching team". ESPN FC. 14 February 2016. Retrieved 2 April 2016.
  16. "Gary Neville sacked by Valencia after less than four months". The Guardian. 31 March 2016. Retrieved 2 April 2016.
  17. "Valencia's woes continue after defeat to Las Palmas". ESPN FC. 2 April 2016. Retrieved 18 April 2016.
  18. Manuca, David (18 April 2016). "Ayestaran: Barcelona win was for Valencia fans". Goal. Retrieved 18 April 2016.
  19. "VCF Official Statement". Valencia CF. 24 May 2016.
  20. "Valencia sack Pako Ayestaran after losing start". 20 September 2016. Retrieved 20 September 2016.
  21. "Pako Ayestarán, nuevo entrenador de la UD Las Palmas" [Pako Ayestarán, new manager of UD Las Palmas] (in Spanish). UD Las Palmas. 27 September 2017. Retrieved 27 September 2017.
  22. Las Palmas sack Pako Ayestaran after two months as coach, Sky Sports, 30 November 2017
  23. "Pako Ayestarán, nuevo entrenador del Pachuca" [Pako Ayestarán, new manager of Pachuca]. El País (in Spanish). 29 May 2018. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
  24. "Liga MX's Pachuca fires Spanish manager Ayestaran". EFE. 20 January 2019. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
  25. "Pako Ayestarán, nuevo entrenador del Tondela portugués" [Pako Ayestarán, new manager of Portugal's Tondela]. Marca (in Spanish). 10 August 2020. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
  26. "El Tondela de Pako Ayestarán alcanza los cuartos de final" [Pako Ayesterán's Tondela reach the quarter-finals]. Diario AS (in Spanish). 22 December 2021. Retrieved 23 December 2021.
  27. "OFICIAL: Tondela confirma saída de Pako Ayestarán" [OFFICIAL: Tondela confirm Pako Ayestarán's exit] (in Portuguese). Mais Futebol. 16 March 2022. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
  28. "Villa confirm Unai Emery's backroom team". AVFC.co.uk. Aston Villa Football Club. 4 November 2022. Retrieved 4 November 2022.
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