Third RFEF
The coach from Santurtzi was Joseba Núñez’s priority option and has closed the definitive agreement to direct the factory players
In a few weeks of great movement through the Lasesarre offices, little by little all the issues are being clarified. While the conversion to a sports public limited company is in its last throes, the Biscayan investors who will take command of the club have wanted to close the sports organization chart as soon as possible to work in advance for the next season. A campaign that they start with a lot of ambition due to the great financial muscle that they will have. Therefore, the looks point only to ascending from that Third RFEF.
To do this, they have relied on two people who have been closely linked to Lezama in recent years. As EL CORREO anticipated, the sports management falls to Joseba Núñez, who has been working for several weeks on the manufacturing staff. After the departure of Nando Alonso, the first thing the Bilbao-born wanted to leave closed was his substitute on the bench. This newspaper revealed that his priority option was Imanol de la Sota, although he was also considering other options such as Oskar Vales and Jon Ander Lambea.
Finally, Imanol de la Sota has accepted the proposal and has closed the agreement to join the factory team. It only remains for you to stamp your signature on the contract. In this way, the sports field of the Gualnegros is now fully covered with Joseba Núñez as sports director and the Santurtziarra coach leading the first team. They both know each other perfectly. Not only have they coincided for several years in Lezama, but Joseba Núñez was Imanol de la Sota’s second at the helm of the División de Honor youth Athletic, with whom they won the league.
In the particular case of Imanol de la Sota, he is a coach who for much of his career has led teams in their formative stages. He entered the rojiblanca factory for the first time in 2015 under the mandate of Josu Urrutia to direct the youth Division of Honor, with which he won the league. The following season he acted as second to Joseba Etxeberria at Basconia, but disagreements with Amorrortu made him leave for the youth team of the Division of Honor at Eibar, where he remained for the next two seasons occupying fourth and sixth place in the table, respectively.
It was then that Rafa Alkorta called him up again to return to Athletic. He did so, proclaiming himself champion twice in a row of his group in the youth Division of Honor. Although on the first of these occasions, the league was paralyzed due to the pandemic. The great results he achieved during his stay at Lezama made the club firmly bet on him and they entrusted him with the Bilbao Athletic bench after the departure of Joseba Etxeberria this season. The results were not as expected and he was replaced by Patxi Salinas, who managed to save the subsidiary.
Experience in the category
In this way, Imanol de la Sota has spent the last seven seasons directing teams in formative stages or subsidiaries. This gives him great knowledge of the footballers who currently compete in these categories, since many have passed through his hands. Furthermore, he also has experience in this echelon. Before landing in Lezama, he directed Cultural de Durango for two courses in what was the Third Division. There he was characterized by trust in players from the area and from lower categories. In the first year he had a somewhat gray performance, placing himself in the middle of the classification. In the second he exceeded expectations by qualifying for the promotion play-off.
