Born in
Gijón,
Asturias, Menéndez started his managerial career at
Sporting de Gijón's youth setup. After winning the 2004
Copa de Campeones Juvenil de Fútbol and being a runner-up in the
2005 Copa del Rey Juvenil, he moved to
Real Madrid as a manager of the
Juvenil squad. In July 2007, Menéndez was named
Celta de Vigo B manager, with the side in
Segunda División B. On 13 May 2008, he was appointed at the helm of
the main squad, replacing fired
Antonio Lopez, and subsequently
avoided relegation with the club. Menéndez subsequently returned to Celta's B-team and, in 2009, was appointed at another
reserve team,
Real Madrid Castilla also in the third tier. On 4 January 2011, he was relieved from his duties. On 5 March 2013, Menéndez was appointed manager of
Racing de Santander as a replacement for dismissed
José Aurelio Gay. However, he could not avoid the club's
relegation to the third level, and subsequently left the club. In September 2013 Menéndez moved abroad for the first time in his career, being named
Buriram United F.C. manager in Thailand. With the side, he achieved immediate success, winning a domestic treble (
Thai Premier League,
Thai FA Cup and
Thai League Cup) during
his first season in charge. Menéndez resigned on 11 April 2014, after winning the
Toyota Premier Cup and the
Kor Royal Cup. On 28 December of that year, he was named as the new manager of
China League One side
Shaanxi Wuzhou, but left the side one month later due to bureaucratic problems. One year since his last job, Menéndez returned to
Celta B in February 2016, where he signed a one-and-a-half-year contract as a replacement for the sacked
Javier Torres Gomez. In August 2018, Menendez joined
East Bengal F.C. of India's
I-League for the
upcoming season, as part of a spending spree by new owners
Quess Corp. He led the club to second place, one point behind
Chennai City FC, and won both
Kolkata Derby matches against
Mohun Bagan A.C. at the end of the campaign in March 2019 he extended his link by two years. He resigned on 21 January 2020, after taking just eight points from the first seven games of
the season. Menéndez returned to his home country on 8 December 2020, after being appointed
Albacete Balompié's third manager of
the season. Unable to take the club out of the relegation zone, he was sacked the following 4 May. On 22 January 2025, after nearly four years without a club, Menéndez was named manager of
Racing de Ferrol in the second division. He left on 3 June, after
suffering relegation. ==Managerial statistics==