Villarreal Born in
Valencia, Garrido started managing at only 24, his first club being local amateurs El Puig Club de Fútbol. In the 1998–99 season he coached
CD Onda in
Tercera División as the side was
Villarreal CF's
farm team, a club to which he would be closely associated in the following years. In 2003, Garrido led
the reserves– Onda was now an independent team – to a fourth-division promotion, then was in charge of them for a couple of months in 2004 also in that tier. In October 2004, he was again named manager of the B side in the place of
José del Solar, and narrowly missed out another promotion after
finishing fifth. After the appointment of
Luis García as manager in May 2005, Garrido returned to his previous duties in the backroom staff. On 18 January 2008, he replaced sacked
Juan Carlos Oliva at the helm of Villarreal B, eventually leading them to the
11th position in
Segunda División B and achieving a first-ever
Segunda División promotion
the following campaign. On 1 February 2010, Garrido was appointed first-team manager following the dismissal of
Ernesto Valverde after a 0–2 home loss against
CA Osasuna. On 26 April, before
the season in
La Liga was over, he was handed a contract set to expire in June 2011; the side finished in seventh position but, after
RCD Mallorca were deemed ineligible for
participation in the
UEFA Europa League by
UEFA due to financial irregularities, the
Valencians took their place. The team also reached the semi-finals in the Europa League, being ousted by eventual winners
FC Porto. Garrido and Villarreal could not manage one single point in the Champions League in
2011–12, and the latter ranked dangerously close to the relegation zone in the league in that period. On 21 December 2011, following a 0–2 home loss against
CD Mirandés in the
round of 32 of the
Copa del Rey (1–3 on aggregate), he was sacked.
Club Brugge and Betis On 15 November 2012, Garrido replaced fired
Georges Leekens at
Club Brugge KV. He was relieved of his duties in September of the following year, replacing fired
Pepe Mel at the helm of
Real Betis two months later; on 19 January 2014, after only nine official matches and only one win, he was himself sacked after three consecutive defeats – the last one in the league 5–0 at home to
Real Madrid – and with the
Andalusians finishing
dead last.
Africa and Arabia On 8 July 2014, Garrido was appointed at
Al Ahly SC in the
Egyptian Premier League. Late into the month, he led his new team to a
1–0 win against
Séwé FC for the
CAF Confederation Cup which the club eventually won, also
conquering the
Egyptian Super Cup; on 3 May 2015, however, he was dismissed. On 6 November 2016, Garrido was appointed manager of
Ettifaq FC in the
Saudi Professional League, signing a seven-month deal with an option for another season according to result and team performance. He was relieved of his duties the following February, with the side in eighth place after 22 matches. Garrido switched clubs and countries again in June 2017, joining
Raja CA from Morocco. His first game in charge of the latter took place on 10 September, in a 1–1 away draw against
Olympique Club de Khouribga. He won the year's
Throne Cup with a
penalty shootout victory over
Difaâ Hassani El Jadidi on 18 November, and
a year later the
CAF Confederation Cup with a 4–3 aggregate win over
AS Vita Club from the
Democratic Republic of the Congo. A month after being sacked by Raja, in February 2019 Garrido replaced
Zoran Mamić at
UAE Pro League club
Al Ain FC for the rest of
the season. At its closure, he was succeeded by another Croat,
Ivan Leko. Garrido was hired by Tunisia's
Étoile Sportive du Sahel on 20 November 2019, on a deal until June 2021. Less than three months later, however, he was dismissed due to poor results. On 25 February 2020, Garrido returned to
Casablanca, joining Raja's rivals
Wydad AC. He was fired in September despite taking the team to the
Champions League semi-finals, as they were trailing Raja by four points
on the domestic front. Garrido returned to Spain on 12 January 2021 after nearly seven years, being appointed manager of
CD Castellón in the second division. He was dismissed on 21 May, as the club
faced relegation with two games remaining. On 20 September 2022, Garrido went back to Egypt's top flight, taking over at last-placed
Ismaily SC. He was shown the door on 9 December, after taking two points from five games. Garrido was hired again by Wydad on 26 February 2023, replacing
Mehdi Nafti who had performed poorly at the
recent edition of the
FIFA Club World Cup. He was dismissed by club chairman Said Naciri on 5 May with the club one point behind
AS FAR in the
league and awaiting the
Champions League semi-finals.
USM Alger On 17 October 2023 Juan Carlos Garrido was appointed new coach in
USM Alger for one season. The Usmist management set its sights on Garrido for his experience, particularly in North Africa. In the case of
Tumisang Orebonye, Garrido accused him for his lack of commitment and enthusiasm in the job. The Spaniard accused his player of cheating, by faking fictitious injuries in order not to take part in matches.
Persepolis On 25 June 2024 it was announced that Garrido would take over as manager of
Persian Gulf Pro League club
Persepolis on a two-year contract. He was expelled from Persepolis club after the defeat against [Mes Rafsanjan] on 22 December 2024.
MC Oran On 8 September 2025, he was appointed manager of Algerian club
MC Oran. On 5 February 2026, he was sacked due to bad results. ==Managerial statistics==