Olabe to lead Almeria

Relegation-threatened La Liga club Almeria have appointed Roberto Olabe as interim coach in a desperate bid to save their season.

Monday’s 3-1 loss to Athletic Bilbao left Almeria stranded at the bottom of the Spanish table, four points adrift of safety with eight games remaining, and prompted the sacking of manager Jose Luis Oltra.

Oltra had only been in the job since late November, having replaced Juan Manuel Lillo, and was sacked despite leading the club to the semi-finals of the Copa del Rey, their best-ever showing at the cup tournament.

And the club has wasted no time in handing the reins to former Real Sociedad coach Olabe, with a brief to keep Almeria in the top-flight for another season.

The 43-year-old previously served as Almeria’s sporting director during their 2006-07 promotion-winning run under now Valencia boss Unai Emery.

“Olabe is a hard-working and methodical coach who knows the club and the team perfectly,” a club statement on their website read.

The new manager faces a near-impossible task of beating Barcelona at Camp Nou in his first game at the helm on Saturday.