Fran Escriba takes reins at Villarreal

Villarreal CF have announced that Fran Escriba will be in charge of the club this term, taking over from Marcelino, who was relieved of his duties on Wednesday.

After serving as Quique Sanchez Flores's assistant at Atletico Madrid, Escriba decided to embark          on a career as a head coach. Elche CF secured his services in June 2012 and in his first season at the helm, he led them to promotion to LaLiga Santander as champions, having topped the LaLiga 1|2|3 table from the first round of fixtures right through to the final matchday. Once in the top flight, he helped the club finish outside the drop zone in two straight campaigns, before joining Getafe CF. However, he was sacked by the Madrilenian outfit on 11 April this year after a dire run of results.

#CVFEnglish | Fran Escribá, new Villarreal CF Manager. Welcome to the Submarine!
➡ https://t.co/QMvExktRZX pic.twitter.com/UsJzRyTxf3

— Villarreal CF (@VillarrealCF) August 11, 2016

Escriba's first mission in the Villarreal hotseat will come in the Champions League playoffs against Monaco, with a place in the group stage on the line. Meanwhile, his side's maiden LaLiga Santander outing will be against Granada CF on Saturday 20 August, in a 20:15 CET kick-off.

The new Villarreal coach will begin getting acquainted with his players by taking charge of his first training session today at 19:00.