体坛英语新闻：Sevilla sack Michel, replacing him with former Valencia coach Unai Emery

MADRID, Jan 14 (Xinhua) -- Sevilla Football Club confirmed Monday the decision to sack coach Michel Gonzalez following a poor first half of the season, replacing him with Unai Emery.

Michel, who has previously coached Getafe, Real Madrid's B-team and Rayo Vallecano, has paid the price for a poor opening 19 matches in which his side take just 22 points.

Sevilla are currently just six points above the relegation zone, when the club's ambition this season was to be challenging for a place in the top four or at least the top six.

This season has seen Michel's side win just six games while losing nine, scoring just 23 goals in the process.

Michel joined the club midway through last season, replacing Marcelino Garcia and sparked a reaction in performances, all be it not enough to take the club into Europe and hopes were high this season would see the improvement continue.

However, this has not been the case and after a poor display in a 2-0 defeat in Valencia on Saturday, Michel and his players were booed by fans during Monday's training session.

Former Valencia and Spartak Moscow coach, Unai Emery was confirmed as Michel's replacement by the club at the same time they announced Michel had been relieved of his job.

Emery has signed a contract until the end of June 2014 and the Sevilla website calls him a "coach to trust for difficult times."

Emery left Valencia at the end of last season after guiding the club to a third place finish for the third successive season to join Spartak Moscow, where he was sacked before Christmas.

However, his disappointing stay in Russia, where he was given little time to work, does not detract from his excellent work in Spain.

The former Real Sociedad striker led Lorca from the third tier Segunda B to the Spanish second division and took them close to a promotion to the Primera Liga, before joining Almeria.

He succeeded in taking Almeria to the top flight and led them to an impressive eighth place finish before joining Valencia, where despite being unpopular with Valencia's incredibly demanding fans, he did an excellent job for four years.

Emery's first game in charge will be Wednesday's Copa del Rey quarter-final first leg against Zaragoza.