Madrid, Jan 20 (IANS): Struggling Real Betis have named former player Gabriel Calderon as the replacement for sacked coach Juan Carlos Garrido.

The 53-year-old Calderon has signed a contract until the end of the current season, with an option to continue if he is able to steer them clear of relegation, reports Xinhua.

Calderon, who played 23 times for Argentina in his career, also played for Betis between 1983-1987, before moving to play for Paris Saint Germain.

He will be the third coach at the Seville based side this season. Betis kicked off the campaign with Pepe Mel, who will make his debut as West Brom coach in the Premier League Monday night, but despite leading the club into Europe, Mel was sacked Dec 2 and replaced by Garrido as Betis slumped to the bottom of the table.

Garrido was a disaster at the club, managing just one draw in five league games and also seeing Betis knocked out of the Copa del Rey by Athletic Club Bilbao.

Saturday saw Betis humiliated 5-0 at home to Real Madrid with the crowd chanting for Garrido to leave and the Betis directors duly sacked him Sunday with the club five points adrift at the bottom of the league table and seven points adrift from safety.

That has not served to put off Calderon, who described his return to Betis as "a dream".

"I've come here filled with hope and convinced we can turn the current situation around," added the coach, who was until recently in charge of the Bahrain national team and has coached teams such as SM Caen, FC Lausanne-Sport, Saudi Arabia and Oman.

His first game in charge will be next weekend when Betis travel to face fellow strugglers Celta Vigo.