"We will look to convey that enthusiasm from the very first day. The last two teams I joined were in last place; now Real España has given me a wonderful gift, and I hope not to disappoint them," he said at his presentation. JIM joins a club currently top of the league and is aware that "the bar is very high, but we cannot falter from that position."
"I know the objectives and I have no excuses. I cannot promise things because not everything is easy. What I can say is that my coaching staff and I will be fully dedicated around the clock, and the impact will be reflected in our dressing room," added the coach, who knows he must fight for the league title.
HIS SPELL AT REAL ZARAGOZA
JIM arrived at a Real Zaragoza club mired in a total crisis during the 2020-21 season, sitting second from bottom in the Segunda División with 13 points, four points from safety after the poor performances under both Rubén Baraja and Iván Martínez. The Valencian coach managed to save the club before the final matchday, ending the year with 50 points in 15th place.
He completed the entire 2021-22 campaign, the last season in which a single coach occupied the Zaragoza bench, and finished 10th with 56 points, 12 points short of the promotion playoff places.
During his season and a half in the Aragonese capital, he managed 66 matches, making him the coach who spent the longest time in charge during the club’s Segunda División era, and recorded 22 wins, 27 draws and 17 defeats.
