Madrid - Manolo Jimenez is all set to continue as coach of Spanish giants Sevilla. The club's sporting director Monchi has denied rumours that the club was looking for another coach.
"In the general balance, the satisfaction with his work is total," Monchi said late Thursday.
"In a season with many complications, he has managed to straighten the route of a ship that was undergoing a complicated moment."
Monchi admitted that the objective this season had been to return to the Champions League "and it is disappointing that this has not been achieved."
Jimenez's team will finish fifth in La Liga and thus return to the UEFA Cup, a tournament they won in 2006 and 2007.
Monchi defended Jimenez - his former Sevilla team-mate in the 1990s - by pointing out that he has had "to work in very difficult circumstances."
Sevilla's season started to go wrong in August, when left-back Antonio Puerta died after suffering a series of heart attacks.
In October coach Juande Ramos jumped ship to Tottenham Hotspur, leaving Monchi with little choice but to promote Jimenez from the nursery team.
Monchi also alluded to a "plague of injuries" that Jimenez has had to contend with.
Jimenez managed to take Sevilla to the Champions League round of 16, where they were eliminated on penalties by Fenerbahce.
Monchi refused to comment on the rumours that agreement had already been reached with Barcelona to sell right-back Daniel Alves to the Catalans.
He called Alves "one of the best players ever to play for Sevilla," and commented that "if he has to leave, then it should be in the most ordered way possible, satisfactory for all parties concerned."
Barcelona - facing a difficult summer of rebuilding - are also interested in three other Sevilla players: midfielders Christian Poulsen and Seydou Keita, plus left-winger Diego Capel.
