The arrival of Urrutia to the presidency of Athletic led to the hiring of Bielsa as coach of the first team and Ziganda for the rojiblanco subsidiary. Once the tour of the Argentine coach was over, Valverde stamped his signature to start his second stage on the San Mamés bench.
Four seasons later, Txingurri signed for Barça, Ziganda made the leap to the first team and Gaizka Garitano went on to serve as manager of Bilbao Athletic. The Navarrese only completed one of the two years that he had agreed as coach of Athletic since the board decided to bet on Berizzo, a bet that went wrong and he had to amend in the middle of the campaign and in the relegation zone by raising the deriotarra to the first team.
At the beginning of 2021, after beating Elche 1-0, Elizegi dismissed Garitano to sign Marcelino. Etxebe, manager of the subsidiary at the time, continued to work with the puppies and at the end of the campaign he chose to leave Athletic. Imanol de la Sota, his replacement, was dismissed with the team in decline and Patxi Salinas took over the reins, saved the team and closed his time at the club.
Inaki Ugalde
