Here at Sport Witness, we love to see former players making the step up into management and this week it’s the turn of former Queens Park Rangers, Derby County and Southampton midfielder Iñigo Idiakez.
For those that don’t know who he is, Idiakez is a former attacking midfielder who played for various clubs around England in the noughties.
The first of those was Derby County, who he joined on a free transfer from Rayo Vallecano in July 2004.
He would spend two years at Pride Park, being named their Player of the Year in 2005, before swapping Derby for Southampton in August 2006.
A return to Southampton beckoned before retirement in July 2008, since when he’s been making his way through the management game, mostly working as a youth coach for the likes of Derby and Leicester City.
Now he’s making the step up into senior management, with Radio Marca Leon reporting he’s been hired by Cultural y Deportiva Leonesa.
They recently sacked manager David Cabello as their coach and ‘quickly communicated’ his replacement, with Idiakez set to take charge of the Bernesga team from Wednesday.
He arrives at the club with them sitting fourth in the Segunda Division B Group 1 Group B table, having won two of their first six games of the season.
Fortunately, that also means they’re only two points from first placed Valladolid II so there’s plenty left to play for, with Idiakez presumably hoping for a longer stay than he managed at the likes of QPR.
