Calleja Returns As Villarreal Manager Seven Weeks After Being Sacked
Villarreal have re-hired Javi Calleja as their coach, despite the former defender only being sacked by them in December.
Javi Calleja has returned as Villarreal coach less than two months after being sacked, the club have confirmed.
But Garcia Plaza suffered the same fate as Calleja on Tuesday, having won just once in nine matches across all competitions since taking the reins.
Calleja, a former Villarreal player, led the club to a commendable fifth-place finish last season, before a poor start to the 2018-19 campaign cost him.
He returns with the Yellow Submarine even more embroiled in a relegation battle than when he left, as they sit 19th and five points adrift of safety.
The club did not confirm how long Calleja's contract is, however president Fernando Roig suggested he will be in place initially until the end of the season.
"Villarreal and I distinguish ourselves by doing the opposite of what many people expect and I assume all the responsibility of the decision," Roig told reporters at a news conference.
"It is my decision and I assume the decision until the end of the season."
