Roberto Martínez

Infobox Football biography


playername = Roberto Martínez
fullname = Roberto Martínez Gutiérrez
height = height|m=1.78
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1973|7|13
cityofbirth = Balaguer
countryofbirth = Spain
height =
nickname = Robbo
position = Midfielder
currentclub = Swansea City (manager)
youthyears =
youthclubs =
years = 1993–1995
1995–2001
2001–2002
2002–2003
2003–2006
2006–2007
clubs = CF Balaguer
Wigan Athletic
Motherwell
Walsall
Swansea City
Chester City
Total
caps(goals) = 048 0(4)
188 (17)
016 0(0)
006 0(0)
122 0(4)
031 0(3)
411 (28)
manageryears = 2007–
managerclubs = Swansea City
pcupdate = 1 Novermber 2007

Roberto Martínez (born 13 July 1973 in Balaguer, Catalonia, Spain) is a professional footballer who currently is manager of Swansea City. A skilful midfielder, he was recently captain of both Swansea City and Chester City.

Career

Playing

Martínez began his career at his home-town club CF Balaguer in the Spanish Third Division before moving to Real Zaragoza in La Liga where he made his senior debut. He was offered the chance to move to England by Dave Whelan, chairman of Wigan Athletic and he signed on a free transfer on 25 July 1995 , becoming one of Wigan's famous 'three amigos' alongside Jesús Seba and Isidro Díaz. Martínez spent six seasons at Wigan, making 180 appearances for the club (with a further 47 as substitute), scoring 23 goals. He was affectionately known as 'Bobby' to the local fans, who were far from used to having foreign players in their team back in those days.

Released on a free transfer, Martínez signed for Motherwell on 3 July 2001 but made only eight appearances (plus eight more as substitute) in Scotland before joining Walsall on a free transfer on 13 August 2002. Again, he did not feature regularly, starting just one game for Walsall and making five substitute appearances - though still managing to get sent off twice during his short spell in the First Division.

On 31 January 2003, Martínez joined Swansea City on a short term contract until the end of the season, becoming the captain and helping to preserve the club's Football League status despite a brush with relegation. On 23 June 2003, Martínez made a permanent move to the Welsh club.

To the end of 2005-06 season, he had made 111 appearances for Swansea City (with a further eleven as substitute) and had scored four goals. On 30 May 2006, Martinez was released on a free transfer by Swansea City.

Roberto joined Chester City on a free transfer, signing a two year contract. He made his pre-season debut against Huddersfield Town playing for 90 minutes on Saturday 29 July 2006, with his league debut following seven days later against Accrington Stanley. As at other clubs, he became a popular figure with supporters and enjoyed a spell as club captain. His last game for Chester came in their 1–0 win over Bury at The Saunders Honda Stadium on Wednesday 21 February 2007, as he accepted the manager's job at Swansea City.

Martínez is also known to viewers of Sky Sports' coverage of Spanish football: he is a regular studio guest who, despite having been resident in the UK for over a decade, speaks with a degree of authority about the game in Spain.

Managerial

He became Swansea City manager on Saturday 24 February 2007. Although he has not formally retired from playing, Martinez seems to be focusing on his managerial duties and does not have a squad number with Swansea.

He won manager of the month for October 2007 by leading his team to four wins in four in the league including a 5–0 win and a 4–1 win over Leyton Orient and Bournemouth away from home. Then won it again in December after a thrilling 3–2 win over Leeds at the Liberty Stadium. Martinez won his second and third consecutive manager of the months in January after a second 4–0 win away from home this season, against Doncaster. He was also nominated for the February prize but lost out to John Ward manager of Carlisle United. In May 2008, Martinez was awarded the League Mangers Association's manager of the year award for League One after leading Swansea City to the title. [citeweb|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/s/swansea_city/7397679.stm|title=Martinez crowned manager of year|accessdate=May 13|accessyear=2008] Following Manchester United Assistant Manager Carlos Queiroz's departure to succeed "Big" Phil Scolari as Portugal manager, Martinez did emerge as an early favourite to replace him, [ [http://www.dailypost.co.uk/sport-news/man-utd-fc/2008/07/08/swansea-martinez-is-not-going-to-man-utd-55578-21300820/ Swansea: Martinez is not going to Man Utd - Daily Post North Wales ] ] but he has since denied being linked with Manchester United.

League Managerial stats

:As of "19 April, 2008"

References

External links

*soccerbase|id=4873|name=Roberto Martínez
*soccerbase (manager)|id=2075|name=Roberto Martínez