La Liga strugglers Las Palmas reappoint Paco Jemez as coach

La Liga basement club Las Palmas have reappointed former Rayo Vallecano and Granada coach Paco Jemez as their manager, the Canary Island side said Thursday.

“Las Palmas have reached an agreement until the end of the season with Paco Jemez,” said a statement on the club’s official website.

“He arrives as a free agent after finishing his journey in Mexican football with Cruz Azul. He will be presented officially on December 27.”

Jemez, who coached Las Palmas when they were in the Segunda Dision A (second tier) between 2010 and 2011, is best known in Spain for his stint at Rayo, whom he kept in the top flight on a shoestring budget for three consecutive years before being relegated in May 2016.

He then took over at Granada at the beginning of the last campaign but was sacked little more than a month into the new season. He parted ways with Mexican side Cruz Azul on November 27.

He is the third appointment Las Palmas have made since July, after Manolo Marquez resigned in September and Pako Ayestaran was sacked on November 30.

Paquito Ortiz has been caretaker coach of the club since then, and they tried to appoint Argentine Jorge Almiron as their permanent coach although the move was blocked by the Spanish soccer federation, who ruled he was not sufficiently qualified to take the job despite leading Lanus to the 2017 Copa Libertadores final.