José Manuel Rielo

Born in Xàtiva in the Province of Valencia, Rielo played as a midfielder for minor clubs in the Valencian Community before joining the coaching staff at Valencia CF. He managed the reserve team, C.D. Mestalla, to promotion to Segunda División B.^[1]

Rielo was assistant manager at Valencia under Guus Hiddink, who was dismissed in November 1993. In March 1994, when Francisco Roig Alfonso [es] was installed as club president, he accepted the resignation of Héctor Núñez and brought in Rielo as interim manager until Hiddink could return.^[2][3] On his debut on 13 March, Rielo won 2–1 away to RC Celta de Vigo, following this a week later with a 1–0 home win over Sporting de Gijón in his only other match.^[4] Before his first match, he had said that he would have been happy with a draw, due to the potency of opposing forward Vladimir Gudelj.^[5]

At the start of June 1995, Valencia sacked Carlos Alberto Parreira – the manager who had won the 1994 FIFA World Cup for Brazil – and installed Rielo until the end of the season. The team were 11th with three games remaining; as Rielo did not have the appropriate licence to manage more than two games, the club paid a fine for the last match.^[6] His debut on 3 June was a 5–0 loss at RCD Espanyol.^[7] Ten days later, his team won 2–1 at Albacete Balompié in the semi-finals of the Copa del Rey, improving on a 1–1 draw in the home leg under Parreira; it was their first qualification for the cup final since 1979. Rielo's team played a defensive game and took their opportunities on the counter-attack; before the match, player Robert Fernández had said "If we play football, we will lose".^[8] The final on 24 June against Deportivo was abandoned due to rain with 11 minutes remaining and the score at 1–1; the remainder was played three days later and Alfredo Santaelena scored the winning goal for Depor.^[9]

Rielo had a third and final stint as Valencia manager in 1996, between the resignation of Luis Aragonés and the hiring of Jorge Valdano. His only game on 24 November was a 4–2 loss at Real Madrid, who went top of the league.^[10]

In February 1998, Rielo was hired at Elche CF of the Segunda División, on an 18-month deal.^[1] His debut on 15 February was a 3–0 loss at Atlético Madrid B, and the performance was called "awful" by Jaume Soler of Mundo Deportivo.^[11] He was sacked with two games remaining, with Delfín Álvarez seeing out a campaign that ended in relegation.^[12]

Rielo returned to Valencia B in June 1998, still in the third tier.^[13] He resigned in April 2000, leaving Manuel Gálvez in charge for the final five games before relegation.^[14]

• José Manuel Rielo at BDFutbol
• José Manuel Rielo manager profile at BDFutbol