I sort of follow Alcorcon from here in Catalunya, but I don't much like their owner. I have a soft spot for Girona and Rayo in the second division, and a loathing for Zaragoza - I've been a couple of times and they have nasty element there.
Rayo are a great team to follow: I go a bit and the fans are amazing. I have a bit of a soft spot for Sporting Gijon after going on their stadium tour last year. Since my fourth division team (Puerta Bonita) got relegated last year and then went out of business I have been without a regular team to follow, or at least distract me from Charlton.
Impressive one nil win away against Huesca yesterday after the calamitous end to the Copa del Rey quarterfinal first leg midweek. They will need a miracle to progress in that, but yesterday's league win pulls them a bit further away from the relegation places.
Poor recent run and yesterday conceded in last minute yesterday to lose 1-0 away to Cordoba. Now 15th and only three points above relegation places. Last part of the season looking grim for Alcorcon and their perennially absent owner.
Poor recent run and yesterday conceded in last minute yesterday to lose 1-0 away to Cordoba. Now 15th and only three points above relegation places. Last part of the season looking grim for Alcorcon and their perennially absent owner.
Not much specifically against him but a lot of anti-management and players feeling generally on the message board. RD did manage to get a big feature recently in the national press though:
The last part is quite interesting: one of his priorities has seemingly been to expand the profile of the Alcorcon womens team as part of his equal rights plan.
Other than that, it is pretty standard biography though the headline describes him as 'hiding' behind Alcorcon.
Another crap result yesterday: 0-0 at home to Sevilla Atletico in front of a meagre 2,189 fans. Alcorcon currently 15th but most of their rivals playing today so could drop into relegation places later.
Another home loss yesterday, 1-2-against Valladolid in front of 2589 fans to drop down to 17th. Now only one point above the relegation places after seven games without a win. No sign of RD in Madrid despite the lovely weather here
Alcorcon made a minor headline in Marca, probably the leading Spanish sports newspaper, for the sort of reasons most Charlton fans can identify with. I'm not going to translate the whole article, but Roland Duchatalet gets a passing mention. Basically, they have now spent four matches in relegation places and the article goes on to mention the 'ten keys to their critical situation'. They were near the play offs last season, but they lost various key players, and the summer signings were not up to scratch (sound familiar?) in many cases. Their new manager, who spent a previous year jobless after being sacked by a Chinese club, acheved neither results nor decent football, and was sacked after a nine match winless run saw them drift into relegation. They failed to sign a striker in the Winter window, the team were exhausted by a good cup run (no semblance of us :-( ), they sold off some of their most faithful players, they can't buy a win away from home, and even their second eleven and youth teams are in relegation battles. Finally, point ten mentions owner Roland Duchatalet and president Ignacio Legido , have taken some unpopular decisions that a large sector of the fan bae disliked, such as changing the club badge last summer, and renewing the contract of coach Julio Vazquez until summer 2019 despite there being no grounds for doing so, and relegation by no means averted. In the comments column, one poster says Marca have finally hit the nail on the head, especially with the points referring to the sale of favourite players (the Alcorcon versión of Stevens and Kermo ?) by a bunch of owners who live in the world of marketing and have no clue about the club and it's history. Basically, I cannot for the life of me see why Roland remains involved in football - he is a serial failure. loses money hand over fist, and exhibits little or no interest in the clubs he owns. This guy is a real problem, and the sooner he sells Charlton the better for us (I couldn't give a flying f**k if a sale is beneficial for him, he needs to lose as much money as posible for what he has done).
Two nil home loss today against Cadiz means that relegation is now very likely with four games left. Levante won yesterday to secure promotion back to the Primera Liga at the first attempt.
Beat Oviedo on Friday night and now have five games left. Currently 20th out of 22 but it's very close with only six points separating the teams from 11th to 20th.
Win for Girona yesterday puts them closer to joining Levante for automatic promotion.
Another win at the weekend, this time over fellow Madrid team Rayo Vallecano (who were relegated from La Liga last year), keeps Alcorcon just above the relegation zone with just four games left.
Am going to try to get to one of the last two home games of the season and see what the fans have made of this difficult campaign.
Need to win tonight in last game to have a chance of staying up. Was thinking of going but decided that there are better things to do in Madrid on a Saturday night!
Comments
Barcelona
Atletico Madrid
Real Sociedad
Celta Vigo
Alaves
Eibar
Real Madrid or Sevilla (second leg tonight; Real 3-0 in first leg).
There was a certain amount of positive publicity about the Duchatelet regime beforehand, naturally.
http://www.elmundo.es/loc/2017/01/18/587f86d4ca4741f3588b45bb.html
Other than that, it is pretty standard biography though the headline describes him as 'hiding' behind Alcorcon.
Basically, they have now spent four matches in relegation places and the article goes on to mention the 'ten keys to their critical situation'. They were near the play offs last season, but they lost various key players, and the summer signings were not up to scratch (sound familiar?) in many cases. Their new manager, who spent a previous year jobless after being sacked by a Chinese club, acheved neither results nor decent football, and was sacked after a nine match winless run saw them drift into relegation. They failed to sign a striker in the Winter window, the team were exhausted by a good cup run (no semblance of us :-( ), they sold off some of their most faithful players, they can't buy a win away from home, and even their second eleven and youth teams are in relegation battles. Finally, point ten mentions owner Roland Duchatalet and president Ignacio Legido , have taken some unpopular decisions that a large sector of the fan bae disliked, such as changing the club badge last summer, and renewing the contract of coach Julio Vazquez until summer 2019 despite there being no grounds for doing so, and relegation by no means averted.
In the comments column, one poster says Marca have finally hit the nail on the head, especially with the points referring to the sale of favourite players (the Alcorcon versión of Stevens and Kermo ?) by a bunch of owners who live in the world of marketing and have no clue about the club and it's history.
Basically, I cannot for the life of me see why Roland remains involved in football - he is a serial failure. loses money hand over fist, and exhibits little or no interest in the clubs he owns. This guy is a real problem, and the sooner he sells Charlton the better for us (I couldn't give a flying f**k if a sale is beneficial for him, he needs to lose as much money as posible for what he has done).
Win for Girona yesterday puts them closer to joining Levante for automatic promotion.
Am going to try to get to one of the last two home games of the season and see what the fans have made of this difficult campaign.