Spanish Primera Liga side Almeria sacked coach Gonzalo Arconada following a 1-0 defeat to Sporting Gijon on Sunday night.

Arconada, who only arrived at the club in the summer, had been in charge for 16 league games, of which he and his side have won just four. They have won just one of their last 12 games and now lie in 16th place in the Primera Liga table.

"Club President Alfonso Garcia told the coach the news after speaking to members of the board and with the Director of Sport," Almeria said in a statement on its website.

"UD Almeria wants to have a new coach in place when the squad restarts training on December 29," added the statement.

Arconada is the fifth coach to lose his job in Spain this season. Real Madrid's Bernd Schuster, Osasuna's Jose Angel Ziganda,Recreativo Huelva's Manolo Zambrano, Espanyol's 'Tintin' Marquez had all been fired by their respective clubs.

Georgian national team coach Hector Cuper has been touted by Spanish media as a favorite for the job.

(Xinhua News Agency December 23, 2008)