Rubi’s appointment as the new Real Betis manager is undoubtedly a statement of intent by the La Liga club. The 49-year-old has arrived at the Benito Villamarin Stadium after leading Espanyol to 7th in the league last year and a place in the Europa League qualifiers.
Rubi paid up his release clause of over £800,000 to leave Espanyol after just over a year in charge, having moved from promoted Huesca last summer.
With Betis having recently agreed a lucrative sponsorship deal with Easy Markets these are exciting times for the club.
The financial trading experts’ brand will feature on the front of Betis’ shirts for the next three seasons, in a deal that cements the feeling that Betis is a progressive club.
Betis returned to the top flight in 2015 after an absence of just one season and have finished in the top half of the table in three of the last four years.
Betis were the only team to defeat both Real Madrid and Barcelona in La Liga last term, but that was not enough to keep head coach Quique Setien in a job.
Although the team finished 10th in the table, there was a feeling around the club that Betis had underachieved.
They were fifth at Christmas, but a run of just five wins and 11 defeats in their next 20 league matches was a disappointing end to the campaign.
Rubi’s appointment this summer has been welcomed by the club’s fans, with the former winger building up an impressive coaching CV over the past few years.
He was in charge of several Tercera Division teams in his native region, before winning promotion to the third tier with Espanyol B back in 2006.
Rubi subsequently led Girona to fourth position in division two in 2013, which at the time was their best ever finish in Spanish football.
His efforts brought him to the attention of Barcelona, and he was added to Tito Vilanova’s staff during that summer.
Rubi has since gone on to manage Real Valladolid, Levante and Sporting Gijon, before taking charge of Huesca in Spain’s second tier.
After guiding the team to their first-ever promotion to La Liga in 2018, Rubi accepted an offer to return to Espanyol as head coach of the first team.
It took him a little while to get to grips with the job at the Estadi Cornella-El Prat, but a run of just two defeats in their last 17 matches secured the club’s highest finish since 2004/05.
His move to Betis is certainly a brave one, with expectations at the club fairly high after their solid performances in La Liga over the past few seasons.
However, having gained plenty of experience since taking up coaching, Rubi looks an ideal fit for Betis and they should be pushing for a top six place this season.
