Valverde was one of the so-called house technicians when he was in charge of the Athletic first team. After passing through the lower categories of Lezama, acting as second to Txetxu Rojo on the rojiblanco bench in the 2000-2001 season and acting as deputy sports director Andoni Zubizarreta in 2001-2002, Txingurri made the leap as coach of the first team in the 2003-2004 season. A contract that started with Ugartetxe in charge of Ibaigane’s seat in the first campaign and ended with Lamikiz in the second.
After going through various clubs in the League and even succeeding in Greek football, Valverde returned to Athletic in the hands of Josu Urrutia. The first rojiblanca midfielder and president of the Bilbao club offered him a two-year contract for the first time. Once that biennium (2013-14 and 2014-15) was over, both parties decided to extend their relationship for another year (2015-16) for the first time and another second as a full stop (2016-17) .
This time, despite being a bet for the first team bench for both the candidacy of Uriarte and Barkala, Valverde signed only one season with the new Athletic president. “I have signed for a year, but you never know how long you will stay,” said the current rojiblanco coach at the time of making his signing official sitting next to the current head of the Ibaigane entity.
The rojiblanco coach made it clear at the time that “this is an exciting, stimulating and complex challenge. There were times I never thought it would happen. I know there are many keys in the Athletic dressing room, but I also know it is not enough”.
Source: La Verdad
I am Shawn Partain, a journalist and content creator working for the Today Times Live. I specialize in sports journalism, writing articles that cover major sporting events and news stories. With a passion for storytelling and an eye for detail, I strive to be accurate and insightful in my work.
