Valverde reaches Athletic milestone against Valencia
The Athletic coach became the club's longest-serving manager in terms of games when he chalked up his 290th in charge of the Lions in Mestalla.
Ernesto Valverde has already inked his name in the record books at Athletic Bilbao, landing the club’s first trophy in 31 years when he guided the Lions to Spanish Supercup glory over Barcelona in 2015.
Valverde 290 games in charge
On Sunday in Mestalla, Valverde also overtook the legendary figure of Javier Clemente as the manager who has overseen the largest number of games in charge of Athletic. After surpassing Clemente’s league total of 212 against Deportivo, Valverde beat el Rubio de Barakaldo’s overall mark of 289 when he settled into the dugout in Valencia.
Txingurri (the Little Ant) had already surpassed club legends Juan Urkizu (235), Joaquín Caparrós (187), Luis Fernández (184) and Fred Pentland (178).
Contract renewal up in the air
While Valverde’s future remains unclear – his contract expires at the end of the current season and he has refused to confirm or deny if he will continue – Athletic president Josu Urrutia is eager for his trusted coach to stay on.
In his 289 games in charge Valverde has 131 victories, 67 draws and 91 defeats, at a win ratio of 47.45 percent since he took over for his second stint at San Mamés in 2013.
Urrutia has made his desires plain and admitted there is no Plan B if Valverde decides to call it a day. And his coach is determined to keep him guessing. When asked for the umpteenth time about an extension before the Valencia game, he replied: “We’ll see. I’m just trying to enjoy myself and win as many games as possible. Then everybody’s happy, right?”