Juan Carlos Oliva

Football career

Born in Mequinenza, Zaragoza, Aragon, Oliva started coaching at an early age, his beginnings being in amateur football. In 2005 he arrived at Deportivo Alavés, being first assigned to the reserves in the third division.

In early 2006, Oliva was appointed at the first team following the sacking of Chuchi Cos, being in charge for five games – three wins, one draw and only one loss, against FC Barcelona – before being dismissed himself by eccentric club chairman Dmitry Piterman. Alavés would finally suffer relegation from La Liga.

Returned to the third level with CE L'Hospitalet, Oliva led the Catalans to the fourth position in the regular season and the subsequent promotion playoffs, which ended without success. After a few months in Greece with Aris Thessaloniki FC, he returned to his country and its division three, being one of three managers for Villarreal CF B as the Valencian side finished in midtable.

In 2008–09, Oliva returned to the top flight, acting as assistant for both Manolo Zambrano and his successor Lucas Alcaraz as Recreativo de Huelva finally ranked in the 20th and last position. In late January 2010 he was fired by UD Salamanca, but the Castile and León team finally managed to stay afloat in the second tier.

On 6 December 2010, Oliva joined Gimnàstic de Tarragona in the second division, replacing sacked Luis César Sampedro as the team ranked in last position. He managed to finally lead them out of the relegation zone, notably with a 3–1 home win against eventual champions Real Betis on 15 May 2011.

After 11 games without one win in 2011–12, Oliva was relieved of his duties at Nàstic.