John Toshack Swansea City Deportivo La Coruna

1st August

Having spent over a decade managing in Spain, John Toshack is not short of La Liga knowledge.
For a man that started his career in management at Swansea City, Toshack's CV includes being at the helm of football giants Real Madrid (twice) along with spells at Real Sociedad and Real Murcia during his time spent in Spain.
Add to that list, Swansea City's opponents today - Deportivo La Coruna.
While Toshack worked with the calibre of top-quality players such as Emilio Butragueño, goalscoring machine Hugo Sánchez, Míchel and Fernando Hierro at the Bernabeu, he had the likes of Brazilian magician Rivaldo and Bebeto at his disposal at 'Super Depor'.
The former Wales boss would lift silverware with the club, adding the Spanish Super Cup to the La Liga title he had won with Real Madrid.
He spent two years at Deportivo, leaving in 1997, with Toshack continuing to spread his wings by taking up jobs in Turkey, Spain, France, Italy, Wales, Macedonia, Azerbaijan and Morocco, where he currently manages Wydad Casablanca.
And with two of his former clubs facing each other at the Liberty on Saturday (5.30pm), Toshack has reflected on one of the fondest chapters in his career to date.



"Real Sociedad are my club in Spain because I was there for nine years, but I have fond memories of my time at Deportivo," said Toshack, speaking in an interview for Jack Magazine.
"I met some good people there, and I keep an eye out for their results to this day.
"It was a new experience for me. I had been in the Basque country for a long time, so Galicia - in the north of Spain - was different.
"At the start of my first season, we beat Real Madrid over two legs (3-0 and 2-1) to win the Spanish Super Cup, which was a proud moment.
"I was fortunate enough to coach some great players there in World Cup stars such as Bebeto, Rivaldo and Mauro Silva, as well as a Moroccan player called Noureddine Naybet, who is one of the finest players I've worked with.
"During my second season I had a few differences of opinion with the president over players coming in and players leaving the club, of whom I wasn't happy to lose, and I left in the February.
"It was a pity because we had just set a club record for the longest run of games unbeaten (17) and were doing well in the league.
"But despite that, I still look back at my time at Deportivo with fondness. Over two years, I enjoyed some very happy memories.
"It was the era of 'Super Depor' where we went elbow-to-elbow with Real Madrid and Barcelona, which is something I'm very proud of."
As the man who took the Swans from the old Fourth Division to the top flight in successive seasons, Toshack also feels a sense of pride seeing another of his former clubs flying high.
During our interview, the 66-year-old talks in depth on the Swans' success in the Premier League, along with sharing his thoughts on Garry Monk's time as manager so far.

You can read the full interview in Saturday's Jack Magazine edition, which costs just £1. You can buy your copy in the Club Shop and around the ground on matchday.

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