Espanyol named former player Mauricio Pochettino as their third coach of the current season this Tuesday.

Pochettino replaces Jose Maria Esnal "Mane," who was sacked in the early hours of the morning after taking just two points from his six league games in charge to leave the team rooted in the Primera Liga relegation zone.

The 37-year-old Pochettino spent two spells playing for the Barcelona-based club and won the Kings Cup with them in the year 2000.

A former Argentine international, he obtained his coach's qualifications in 2008 and had been working as assistant coach for the Espanyol women's team before being promoted and given the task of saving the club from descending in the second division.

Pochettino's first game in change is on Wednesday when Espanyol entertain FC Barcelona in the first leg of their Kings Cup quarter-final.

(Xinhua News Agency January 21, 2009)