Josep "Pep" Clotet Ruiz (born 28 April 1977) is a Spanish football coach, currently in charge of Italian Serie C Group A club Triestina.

Pep Clotet
Clotet with Torpedo Moscow in 2023
Personal information
Full name Josep Clotet Ruiz
Date of birth (1977-04-28) 28 April 1977 (age 47)[1]
Place of birth Barcelona, Spain
Team information
Current team
Triestina (head coach)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
0000–1998 Igualada
Managerial career
1998–2001 Igualada (youth)
2001–2003 Cornellà
2004–2006 Espanyol (youth)
2006 Figueres
2008–2009 Espanyol (youth)
2009 Espanyol B
2011 Halmstad
2012–2013 Atlético Malagueño
2017–2018 Oxford United
2019–2020 Birmingham City
2021 Brescia
2021–2022 SPAL
2022 Brescia
2023 Brescia
2023 Torpedo Moscow
2024– Triestina
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

As well as working as assistant at several clubs, he managed Cornellà, Figueres, Espanyol B, Halmstad, Atlético Malagueño, Oxford United, Birmingham City, SPAL and Brescia.

Career

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Early years

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Born in Barcelona, Catalonia[2] Clotet only appeared for local amateurs Igualada as a player.[3] He became a coach while still in his 20s, starting with Cornellà then moving to Espanyol's youth teams.[4]

Clotet began the 2006–07 season with another side in his native region, Figueres, being fired after only nine matches as they eventually suffered relegation from Segunda División B.[5] He subsequently returned to his previous club, still in charge of the youths.[4]

Clotet returned to senior football in the 2009–10 Segunda División B campaign with Espanyol's reserves.[6] He met the same fate as in his previous experience: he was sacked following the seventh round, and the team were relegated.

Sweden and Norway

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Clotet worked in Sweden for two years, starting as an assistant to Roland Nilsson at Malmö, who won the 2010 Allsvenskan title.[4] He then joined fellow league club Halmstad as head coach,[7] finishing 16th and last in the 2011 Allsvenskan.

On 20 September 2011, Clotet joined Viking as coach in new manager Åge Hareide's backroom staff for the 2012 Norwegian Premier League season.[8] After Hareide was sacked and Kjell Jonevret was appointed as his replacement, he left to look for a new challenge.[9]

Atlético Malagueño

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On 11 July 2012, Clotet was appointed as manager of Tercera División club Atlético Malagueño[10] – Málaga's reserves – where he helped develop several players who would reach the first team shortly after; their progress was aided by Málaga's unstable economic situation.[11] He left the club after only one season, not being able to attain promotion.

Swansea City

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On 19 November 2013, Clotet was appointed academy consultant at Swansea City as part of Michael Laudrup's coaching staff.[12] In May of the following year, he was promoted to assistant manager under Garry Monk.[4]

In November 2015, Clotet was offered the manager's job at Championship club Brentford, but rejected the offer out of loyalty to Monk.[13][14] He left his post at the Welsh club on 9 December of that year alongside first-team coaches James Beattie and Kristian O'Leary, following the sacking of Monk.[15][16]

Leeds United

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On 13 June 2016, Clotet joined Monk's staff at Leeds United as assistant head coach.[17] On 25 May 2017, after the pair led the team to seventh place in the 2016–17 Championship, Monk resigned.[18][19] A month later, after the appointment as manager of Thomas Christiansen, who was intending to bring in his own backroom staff, director of football Victor Orta confirmed that Clotet wanted to leave to seek a new challenge.[20]

Oxford United

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Clotet was appointed manager of League One club Oxford United on 1 July 2017.[2] He was sacked on 22 January 2018,[21] with a record of 12 wins from 36 matches in charge.[22]

Birmingham City

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Clotet with Birmingham City in April 2019

When Monk took over as manager of Championship club Birmingham City on 4 March 2018, Clotet was appointed as his assistant.[23] He became caretaker head coach in June 2019 after Monk was sacked;[24] ahead of the November meeting between Birmingham and Monk's new club, Sheffield Wednesday, Monk claimed he had made an "error of judgment" in working with Clotet, suggested he was untrustworthy, and refused to shake his hand.[25] After six months, during which Clotet made a start on implementing the board's footballing philosophy as well as demonstrating "coaching expertise, man-management and leadership skills, allied to exemplary professional conduct", and integrated the 16-year-old Jude Bellingham into a regular role in the first team, he was appointed as head coach on a permanent basis.[26] Two months with only one league win at the end of the year was followed by the arrival of striker Scott Hogan, whose return to form sparked a ten-match unbeaten run in early 2020[27][28] which left the team 16th in the table when football was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On 8 June, Clotet confirmed that he would leave the club at the end of the season to "explore other coaching opportunities",[29] but after a series of poor results, he left by mutual consent on 8 July with four matches of the season remaining.[30]

Brescia

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On 5 February 2021, Clotet was hired as new head coach of Italian Serie B club Brescia, a club owned by Massimo Cellino, his former chairman at Leeds United.[31] He guided Brescia to qualification to the promotion playoffs, where they were eliminated in the first round by Cittadella. Clotet and Brescia subsequently parted ways by the end of the season.

SPAL

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On 2 July 2021, Clotet was officially unveiled as the new head coach of Italian Serie B club SPAL.[32]

He was removed from his managerial duties on 5 January 2022, leaving SPAL three points above the relegation zone.[33]

Second stint at Brescia

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On 18 June 2022, Clotet agreed to return to Cellino's Brescia, signing a two-year deal with the Rondinelle.[34] After a good start of the season, Clotet experienced a negative string of results by December, leaving Brescia out of the relegation zone and leading to him being sacked on 21 December 2022.[35] On 16 January 2023, however, Clotet was reinstated as head coach with immediate effect,[36] only to be dismissed once again less than a month later, on 6 February, after he failed to improve the team results.[37]

Torpedo Moscow

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Clotet was appointed head coach of Russian Premier League club Torpedo Moscow on 28 March 2023.[38] On 16 April 2023, in his third game in charge, against Spartak Moscow, Clotet was sent off after gesturing at the referee following Spartak's third penalty kick in the first half. However, he did not leave for the dressing room as he was supposed to, but instead climbed into the stands and continued to instruct his team from there.[39]

On 13 May 2023, Torpedo lost their fifth league game in a row and lost their chances of avoiding direct relegation.[40] The start of the second tier 2023–24 Russian First League campaign was below expectations as well, with five wins and five losses in the first 12 games, and in October 2023, Torpedo announced the dismissal of Josep Clotet.[41]

Triestina

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On 21 October 2024, Clotet returned to Italy, accepting the head coaching job at bottom-placed Serie C club Triestina.[42] On 8 November, after Spezia loanee Raimonds Krollis was sent off with a red card in the 34th-minute in a match against Giana Erminio, Clotet physically confronted Krollis as he returned to the sidelines by grabbing him by the collar and shoving him. Triestina would go on to lose the match 0–1 and in a press conference after the loss Clotet said that his reaction was justified due to the nature of Krollis' red card and that he had told Krollis that he was done playing for the club as long as he was the coach.[43]

Media

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Clotet worked as a pundit on Sky Sports' La Liga review, and also wrote a column for daily newspaper Marca.[44]

Managerial statistics

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As of match played 26 September 2023
 
Clotet in 2011
Managerial record by team and tenure
Team From To Record Ref
P W D L Win %
Cornellà July 2001 June 2003 76 36 18 22 047.4 [45]
Figueres July 2006 October 2006 9 1 3 5 011.1 [46]
Espanyol B July 2009 October 2009 7 0 4 3 000.0 [47]
Halmstad January 2011 July 2011 15 2 4 9 013.3 [48]
Atlético Malagueño 11 July 2012 11 July 2013 40 20 13 7 050.0 [49]
Oxford United 1 July 2017 22 January 2018 36 13 8 15 036.1 [22]
Birmingham City 18 June 2019 8 July 2020[30] 47 13 15 19 027.7 [22]
Brescia 7 February 2021 9 June 2021 18 10 4 4 055.6 [50]
SPAL 2 July 2021 5 January 2022 19 5 5 9 026.3 [51]
Brescia 18 June 2022 21 December 2022 20 7 6 7 035.0 [50]
Brescia 16 January 2023 6 February 2023 3 0 0 3 000.0 [50]
Torpedo Moscow 28 March 2023 3 October 2023 22 6 3 13 027.3 [52]
Triestina 21 October 2024 Present 3 0 2 1 000.0
Total 315 113 85 117 035.9

References

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  1. ^ "Clotet, Josep Clotet Ruiz: Manager". BDFutbol. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
  2. ^ a b "Pep Clotet becomes Oxford United manager". Oxford United F.C. 1 July 2017. Retrieved 1 July 2017.
  3. ^ Steel, Rory (28 July 2017). "Leeds United v Oxford United – All you need to know about the Whites' final pre-season friendly". Yorkshire Evening Post. Leeds. Archived from the original on 2 August 2017. Retrieved 2 August 2017.
  4. ^ a b c d "Staff profiles". Swansea City A.F.C. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 2 August 2017.
  5. ^ "Temporada 2006–2007" [2006–07 season] (in Catalan). UE Figueres. Archived from the original on 19 November 2015. Retrieved 19 November 2015.
  6. ^ "El RCD Espanyol "B" de Josep Clotet regresa a la actividad" [Josep Clotet's RCD Espanyol "B" returns to active] (in Spanish). Join Futbol. 22 July 2009. Archived from the original on 13 November 2013. Retrieved 13 September 2013.
  7. ^ "Ny tränare: Josep Clotet Ruiz" [New coach: Josep Clotet Ruiz] (in Swedish). Halmstads BK. 5 December 2010. Archived from the original on 16 September 2012. Retrieved 5 December 2010.
  8. ^ "Spanjol blir ny Viking-trener" [Viking hire Spaniard as new coach]. Verdens Gang (in Norwegian). Oslo. 20 September 2011. Retrieved 10 February 2012.
  9. ^ Brudewitz, Martin (20 June 2012). "Pep lämnar Viking Stavanger" [Pep leaves Viking Stavanger]. Sydsvenskan (in Swedish). Malmö. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
  10. ^ "Clotet, extècnic del Figueres, dirigirà el filial del Màlaga" [Clotet, former manager of Figueres, will manager Málaga's reserves] (in Catalan). Diari de Girona. 12 July 2012. Retrieved 3 September 2020.
  11. ^ Alonso, Pedro Luis (21 August 2013). "Las tres sorpresas del arranque liguero" [The three league surprises so far]. Diario Sur (in Spanish). Málaga. Archived from the original on 13 November 2013. Retrieved 13 September 2013.
  12. ^ "Swans get a Pep-talk". Swansea City A.F.C. 19 November 2013. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
  13. ^ "Dean Smith leaves Walsall to take Brentford job". BBC Sport. 30 November 2015. Retrieved 30 November 2015.
  14. ^ Robertson, Gregor (14 August 2017). "Taught by Pochettino, a Catalan manager called Pep wants promotion and a legacy". The Times. London. p. 17. Retrieved 16 June 2020 – via Gale Academic OneFile.
  15. ^ "Swansea coaches leave club following departure of manager Garry Monk". The Guardian. London. 10 December 2015. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
  16. ^ "Swansea City: Pep Clotet, James Beattie and Kris O'Leary leave club". BBC Sport. 10 December 2015. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
  17. ^ "Duo join backroom staff". Leeds United F.C. 13 June 2016. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
  18. ^ Percy, John (25 May 2017). "Garry Monk resigns as Leeds United head coach with Aitor Karanka job swap on the cards". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
  19. ^ "Garry Monk: Leeds United head coach resigns after one season". BBC Sport. 25 May 2017. Retrieved 3 June 2017.
  20. ^ "Leeds United news: 'He was the perfect man to bridge the gap between last season' – Fans sad to see Pep Clotet leave after Thomas Christiansen's appointment". TalkSport. 19 June 2017. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
  21. ^ "Pep Clotet: Oxford United sack manager". BBC Sport. 22 January 2018. Retrieved 22 January 2018.
  22. ^ a b c "Managers: Josep Clotet Ruiz". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 29 March 2023.
  23. ^ "Birmingham City appoint Garry Monk as manager". Birmingham City F.C. 4 March 2018. Archived from the original on 28 December 2019. Retrieved 4 March 2018.
  24. ^ "Garry Monk: Birmingham City sack manager after 15 months at club". BBC Sport. 18 June 2019. Retrieved 19 June 2019.
  25. ^ "Garry Monk: Sheffield Wednesday boss critical of Birmingham manager Pep Clotet". BBC Sport. 26 November 2019. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
  26. ^ "Pep Clotet: Birmingham City appoint caretaker as new head coach". BBC Sport. 4 December 2019. Retrieved 4 December 2019.
  27. ^ "Birmingham City football club match record: League Championship 2020". 11v11.com. AFS Enterprises. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
  28. ^ Long, Dan (13 March 2020). "Scott Hogan interview: The Aston Villa loanee seizing a second chance with Birmingham". Sky Sports. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
  29. ^ "Pep Clotet: Birmingham City head coach to leave role at end of season". BBC Sport. 8 June 2020. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
  30. ^ a b "Pep Clotet: Birmingham City boss leaves club immediately". BBC Sport. 8 July 2020. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
  31. ^ "Pep Clotet è il nuovo allenatore del Brescia" [Pep Clotet is new Brescia coach] (in Italian). Brescia Calcio. 5 February 2021. Archived from the original on 26 October 2021. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
  32. ^ "JOSEP CLOTET RUIZ E' IL NUOVO RESPONSABILE DELLA PRIMA SQUADRA SPAL" (in Italian). S.P.A.L. 2 July 2021. Archived from the original on 11 July 2021. Retrieved 20 July 2021.
  33. ^ "MISTER CLOTET SOLLEVATO DALL'INCARICO DI RESPONSABILE TECNICO DELLA PRIMA SQUADRA SPAL" (in Italian). S.P.A.L. 5 January 2022. Archived from the original on 7 January 2022. Retrieved 5 January 2022.
  34. ^ "Pep Clotet è il nuovo allenatore del Brescia" (in Italian). Brescia Calcio. 18 June 2022. Archived from the original on 18 June 2022. Retrieved 18 June 2022.
  35. ^ "PEP CLOTET NON È PIÙ L'ALLENATORE DEL BRESCIA" (in Italian). Brescia Calcio. 21 December 2022. Retrieved 21 December 2022.
  36. ^ "PEP CLOTET TORNA ALLA GUIDA TECNICA DEL BRESCIA" (in Italian). Brescia Calcio. 16 January 2023. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
  37. ^ "PEP CLOTET NON È PIÙ L'ALLENATORE DEL BRESCIA" (in Italian). Brescia Calcio. 6 February 2023. Retrieved 6 February 2023.
  38. ^ "ЖОЗЕП КЛОТЕТ — НОВЫЙ ГЛАВНЫЙ ТРЕНЕР "ТОРПЕДО"" [Josep Clotet — new "Torpedo" head coach] (in Russian). FC Torpedo Moscow. 28 March 2023. Archived from the original on 28 March 2023. Retrieved 28 March 2023.
  39. ^ "Тренер "Торпедо" Клотет удален в 1-м тайме матча со "Спартаком". Он перелез через забор и остался на трибунах" [Torpedo coach Clotet was sent off in the first half of Spartak game, he climbed the fence and remained in the stands] (in Russian). Sports.ru. 16 April 2023.
  40. ^ "ЦСКА обыграл "Торпедо" и лишил торпедовцев шансов покинуть зону прямого вылета" [CSKA defeated Torpedo and took away Torpedo's chances to avoid direct relegation] (in Russian). Russian Premier League. 13 May 2023.
  41. ^ ""Торпедо" уволило испанского главного тренера". РБК (in Russian). 3 October 2023.
  42. ^ "La Triestina nomina Pep Clotet allenatore della prima squadra" (in Italian). US Triestina Calcio 1918. 21 October 2024. Retrieved 21 October 2024.
  43. ^ "Serie C side Triestina's coach defends himself after confronting player". Reuters. 9 November 2024. Retrieved 10 November 2024.
  44. ^ Clotet, Pep (10 May 2017). "Conte, el 3–4–3 y un ataque para ganar la Premier / Conte's 3–4–3 & his master plan to secure the Premier League crown". Marca (in Spanish). Madrid. Retrieved 3 June 2017.
  45. ^ "UE Cornellà: Matches". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 2 November 2022.
  46. ^ "Clotet: Josep Clotet Ruiz". BDFutbol. Retrieved 3 September 2020.
  47. ^ "Clotet: Josep Clotet Ruiz". BDFutbol. Retrieved 3 September 2020.
  48. ^ "Halmstads BK: Matches". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 29 March 2023.
  49. ^ "2012–13 At. Malagueño Results". resultados-futbol.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 12 July 2019.
  50. ^ a b c "Brescia Calcio: Matches". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
  51. ^ "SPAL: Matches". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 10 September 2021.
  52. ^ "Torpedo Moscow: Matches". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 29 March 2023.
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