Born in Barcelona, Catalonia[2] Clotet only appeared for local amateurs Igualada as a player.[3] He became a coach while still in his 20s, starting with Cornellà then moving to Espanyol's youth teams.[4]
Clotet began the 2006–07 season with another side in his native region, Figueres, being fired after only nine matches as they eventually suffered relegation from Segunda División B.[5] He subsequently returned to his previous club, still in charge of the youths.[4]
Clotet returned to senior football in the 2009–10 Segunda División B campaign with Espanyol's reserves.[6] He met the same fate as in his previous experience: he was sacked following the seventh round, and the team were relegated.
On 11 July 2012, Clotet was appointed as manager of Tercera División club Atlético Malagueño[10] – Málaga's reserves – where he helped develop several players who would reach the first team shortly after; their progress was aided by Málaga's unstable economic situation.[11] He left the club after only one season, not being able to attain promotion.
Swansea City
On 19 November 2013, Clotet was appointed academy consultant at Swansea City as part of Michael Laudrup's coaching staff.[12] In May of the following year, he was promoted to assistant manager under Garry Monk.[4]
In November 2015, Clotet was offered the manager's job at Championship club Brentford, but rejected the offer out of loyalty to Monk.[13][14] He left his post at the Welsh club on 9 December of that year alongside first-team coaches James Beattie and Kristian O'Leary, following the sacking of Monk.[15][16]
Leeds United
On 13 June 2016, Clotet joined Monk's staff at Leeds United as assistant head coach.[17] On 25 May 2017, after the pair led the team to seventh place in the 2016–17 Championship, Monk resigned.[18][19] A month later, after the appointment as manager of Thomas Christiansen, who was intending to bring in his own backroom staff, director of football Victor Orta confirmed that Clotet wanted to leave to seek a new challenge.[20]
Oxford United
Clotet was appointed manager of League One club Oxford United on 1 July 2017.[2] He was sacked on 22 January 2018,[21] with a record of 12 wins from 36 matches in charge.[22]
When Monk took over as manager of Championship club Birmingham City on 4 March 2018, Clotet was appointed as his assistant.[23] He became caretaker head coach in June 2019 after Monk was sacked;[24] ahead of the November meeting between Birmingham and Monk's new club, Sheffield Wednesday, Monk claimed he had made an "error of judgment" in working with Clotet, suggested he was untrustworthy, and refused to shake his hand.[25] After six months, during which Clotet made a start on implementing the board's footballing philosophy as well as demonstrating "coaching expertise, man-management and leadership skills, allied to exemplary professional conduct", and integrated the 16-year-old Jude Bellingham into a regular role in the first team, he was appointed as head coach on a permanent basis.[26] Two months with only one league win at the end of the year was followed by the arrival of striker Scott Hogan, whose return to form sparked a ten-match unbeaten run in early 2020[27][28] which left the team 16th in the table when football was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On 8 June, Clotet confirmed that he would leave the club at the end of the season to "explore other coaching opportunities",[29] but after a series of poor results, he left by mutual consent on 8 July with four matches of the season remaining.[30]
Brescia
On 5 February 2021, Clotet was hired as new head coach of Italian Serie B club Brescia, a club owned by Massimo Cellino, his former chairman at Leeds United.[31] He guided Brescia to qualification to the promotion playoffs, where they were eliminated in the first round by Cittadella. Clotet and Brescia subsequently parted ways by the end of the season.
SPAL
On 2 July 2021, Clotet was officially unveiled as the new head coach of Italian Serie B club SPAL.[32]
He was removed from his managerial duties on 5 January 2022, leaving SPAL three points above the relegation zone.[33]
Second stint at Brescia
On 18 June 2022, Clotet agreed to return to Cellino's Brescia, signing a two-year deal with the Rondinelle.[34] After a good start of the season, Clotet experienced a negative string of results by December, leaving Brescia out of the relegation zone and leading to him being sacked on 21 December 2022.[35] On 16 January 2023, however, Clotet was reinstated as head coach with immediate effect,[36] only to be dismissed once again less than a month later, on 6 February, after he failed to improve the team results.[37]
Torpedo Moscow
Clotet was appointed head coach of Russian Premier League club Torpedo Moscow on 28 March 2023.[38] On 16 April 2023, in his third game in charge, against Spartak Moscow, Clotet was sent off after gesturing at the referee following Spartak's third penalty kick in the first half. However, he did not leave for the dressing room as he was supposed to, but instead climbed into the stands and continued to instruct his team from there.[39]
On 13 May 2023, Torpedo lost their fifth league game in a row and lost their chances of avoiding direct relegation.[40] The start of the second tier 2023–24 Russian First League campaign was below expectations as well, with five wins and five losses in the first 12 games, and in October 2023, Torpedo announced the dismissal of Josep Clotet.[41]
Triestina
On 21 October 2024, Clotet returned to Italy, accepting the head coaching job at bottom-placed Serie C club Triestina.[42]
Media
Clotet worked as a pundit on Sky Sports' La Liga review, and also wrote a column for daily newspaper Marca.[43]
^"Ny tränare: Josep Clotet Ruiz" [New coach: Josep Clotet Ruiz] (in Swedish). Halmstads BK. 5 December 2010. Archived from the original on 16 September 2012. Retrieved 5 December 2010.
