It’s Pronounced No-Má-Tes Actually

[BobBev]

September 2004

Sunday 5th

September gets underway with a trip to Córdoba and with José Luis serving the first of a 3-match suspension for his sending-off last week Rafa starts and we have no substitute keeper on the bench. The only other change is the inclusion in defence of Jubera instead of Usta. Cabello puts us into the lead after 20 minutes but the home side equalise almost immediately due to some slack marking at the back. However, Cabello scores his second of the game just before half time and Carlos Rivera puts us 3-1 up with 25 minutes remaining. Córdoba get a late consolation in stoppage time but we travel home with a decent 3-2 win.

Monday 6th

Kévin Jacmot has signed a new 3-year contract as his previous deal had become non-protected.

Sunday 12th

Our next game is at home to Lleida who will be looking to avenge the 6-1 defeat that we inflicted on their own ground back in March of this year. The visitors singularly fail to gain revenge as our Brazilian star Jorginho is the catalyst for an excellent 4-0 win. He scores twice with Cabello and Molist adding the other goals.

Sunday 19th

We make the relatively short trip to Alicante to take on Hércules, a team that we have never played before in my time at Motril. After two consecutive promotions to reach the Primera Liga they were relegated last season. For this game I am playing Orife on the left of midfield instead of Jacmot to see how he performs as a wide player. The game is somewhat frustrating as we have plenty of possession and chances but have a major problem in actually hitting the target. We hit the woodwork twice but can’t get the ball in the net. With 20 minutes remaining I replace Orife with Javier Guerra and he transforms the game, scoring the winning goal 10 minutes after his introduction.

Sunday 26th

For the visit of Valladolid I decide to start with Javier Guerra to see if last week’s performance was a fluke. He has never really impressed in the three seasons that I’ve been in charge but perhaps we now have a formation that will suit him. I am also giving Jesús a starting role in the holding position instead of Juan and I want to try out Olivares in central midfield rather than Carlos Rivera. Cabello gives us the lead midway through the first half and we reach the break 1-0 up. Molist adds a second shortly after the restart but the visitors pull a goal back soon afterwards. With less than 15 minutes remaining Cabello gets his second of the game and despite conceding again shortly before time we gain a good 3-2 win. All of the players coming in performed well with Jesús in particular looking very solid.

Our good form from the end of last season seems to have carried forward to the start of this campaign and to my surprise and delight we head the table at the moment. I am particularly pleased with the contribution of our loan players, the undoubted star of which is José David Cabello with 6 goals in 5 games so far.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">*******************************************************************************************

Spanish Second Division - Thursday 30th September 2004

*******************************************************************************************

Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1st MOTRIL 5 2 1 0 9 4 2 0 0 4 2 13

2nd Xerez 5 1 1 0 5 1 2 1 0 6 2 11

3rd Badajoz 5 1 1 0 6 2 2 1 0 6 3 11

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

4th Salamanca 5 1 2 0 3 2 2 0 0 4 1 11

5th Extremadura 5 1 1 0 4 3 2 0 1 5 3 10

6th Ourense 5 1 1 0 3 1 1 2 0 5 3 9

7th Racing Santander 5 2 1 0 5 3 0 1 1 2 6 8

8th Ceuta 5 2 0 1 6 5 0 1 1 1 2 7

9th Levante 5 1 1 0 4 3 0 3 0 6 6 7

10th Burgos 5 1 0 1 2 2 1 1 1 5 5 7

11th Las Palmas 5 1 2 0 6 5 0 1 1 3 4 6

12th Getafe 5 1 0 2 4 5 1 0 1 2 1 6

13th Valladolid 5 0 2 0 2 2 1 0 2 5 5 5

14th Hércules 5 1 0 1 1 1 0 2 1 2 3 5

15th Zaragoza 5 1 0 2 3 6 0 2 0 2 2 5

16th Díter Zafra 5 0 1 2 3 5 1 1 0 3 2 5

17th Elche 5 1 2 0 4 2 0 0 2 0 3 5

18th Recreativo 5 1 0 2 3 5 0 2 0 5 5 5

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

19th Lleida 5 0 0 2 0 4 1 1 1 3 6 4

20th Alavés 5 0 3 0 3 3 0 0 2 1 4 3

21st Córdoba 5 0 1 1 3 4 0 1 2 0 7 2

22nd Pájara Playas 5 0 0 2 1 4 0 0 3 2 5 0</pre>

[BobBev]

October 2004

Friday 1st

We have been on the lookout for an additional keeper and have come across Emilio Alvarez, an experienced 32-year-old recently released by Extremadura. He has agreed a package and will join the club when the transfer window reopens in December.

Sunday 3rd

The month gets underway with a relatively short trip to Jerez to take on Xerez. As they are currently just one place below us in the table I expect a tough encounter. The team is unchanged from last week and even though José Luis is back from suspension, Rafa keeps his place between the posts. We control the game for long periods and always look like gaining the win but we have to wait until early in the second half before scoring. Zurita is left with a simple tap in after a shot from Cabello comes back off the bar. Olivares scores his first goal of the season to put us 2-0 ahead with less than 20 minutes to play. Xerez do manage to pull a goal back with a rare attacking foray and the 2-1 final score is a poor reflection on our superiority.

Sunday 17th

After a weekend off because of international fixtures we are refreshed and keen to get back into action against visiting Salamanca. Despite our eagerness we actually play very poorly initially and the visitors take the lead after 10 minutes. But two minutes later José Luis Rico scores his first goal for the club to equalise. We are back on level terms but our play doesn’t improve much and then we get a penalty out of the blue. Olivares tucks it away to take us into the break with a slender advantage. Things improve markedly in the second half and Jorginho underlines this with a goal to give us a 3-1 win.

Saturday 23rd

I am very surprised to hear that Juan Carlos Mandia, one of the coaching team, has accepted an offer from fellow Division Two side Zaragoza to join their scouting staff. This obviously leaves us short-handed so I start looking around for a decent replacement.

Sunday 24th

For our next game we have made the journey across to North Africa to play Ceuta. Having just missed out on promotion for the previous two seasons, our opponents finally made it to Division Two last season. With no injury problems or suspensions I can field an unchanged team, which is always a positive. We are fortunate that an offside decision denies Ceuta an early goal and shortly after that incident Cabello gives us the lead. In the second half defender Jubera gives us a two-goal cushion – just as well as the home side pull a goal back with 20 minutes remaining but we hang on for a 2-1 win.

Thursday 28th

We have identified a new member of the coaching staff to replace Mandia. Brazilian Marco Aurelio is an experienced central defender and has been playing in Italy for the last seven seasons or so. He is keen to get involved on the coaching side and he will be coming on board in mid-December.

Sunday 31st

For the last game of the month we entertain another newly promoted team, Getafe. They were relegated from Division Two in the previous season and have made an immediate return although they are sitting in one of the relegation positions currently. I can go with an unchanged team once more and I am hopeful of a good end to the month. We started brightly and took the lead through Zurita after just 3 minutes. But Getafe gradually came back into the game and started to take control and it was only the fine play of keeper Rafa that kept our goal intact. However. midway through the second half they got the equaliser that they deserved. Then we lost Olivares to injury and Carlos Rivera came on. To my relief we were able to hold on for the 1-1 draw as the visitors were certainly the better side.

We have kept up out unbeaten start to the season although we have now dropped to second on goal difference.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">*******************************************************************************************

Spanish Second Division - Monday 1st November 2004

*******************************************************************************************

Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1st Badajoz 9 4 1 0 11 3 3 1 0 8 3 23

2nd MOTRIL 9 3 2 0 13 6 4 0 0 8 4 23

3rd Racing Santander 10 4 1 0 9 5 3 1 1 11 10 23

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

4th Xerez 9 2 1 2 9 6 3 1 0 10 4 17

5th Valladolid 10 3 2 0 14 5 1 1 3 6 7 15

6th Recreativo 9 1 1 2 4 6 3 2 0 12 8 15

7th Elche 10 3 2 0 9 3 1 1 3 2 5 15

8th Extremadura 9 2 1 2 10 12 2 1 1 5 3 14

9th Zaragoza 9 2 0 2 5 7 2 2 1 8 6 14

10th Levante 9 2 1 1 8 6 1 3 1 9 9 13

11th Ourense 9 2 1 2 8 8 1 3 0 7 5 13

12th Salamanca 9 1 3 0 4 3 2 0 3 6 11 12

13th Burgos 9 2 2 1 6 5 1 1 2 6 8 12

14th Lleida 10 2 0 3 4 7 1 2 2 7 11 11

15th Hércules 10 2 0 3 4 6 0 3 2 3 6 9

16th Las Palmas 9 1 3 0 6 5 0 2 3 7 10 8

17th Alavés 10 1 4 0 8 6 0 1 4 7 13 8

18th Ceuta 9 2 0 2 7 7 0 2 3 2 5 8

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

19th Getafe 9 1 0 3 6 9 1 1 3 5 6 7

20th Pájara Playas 9 2 1 2 7 8 0 0 4 2 8 7

21st Córdoba 10 0 2 3 8 11 1 1 3 4 12 6

22nd Díter Zafra 10 0 2 3 6 9 1 1 3 8 12 6</pre>

[BobBev]

November 2004

Monday 1st

Central defender Jubera will be out for a couple of weeks with a knee injury sustained in training.

Sunday 7th

Our trip to Huelva to play Recreativo presents us with a challenging game that will offer a stiff challenge. Olivares will be unavailable for another few weeks after his injury last week so Carlos Rivera comes into midfield. Suat Usta also comes in for the injured Jubera. This is the most frustrating game of the season so far as we play well enough to win by a comfortable margin but end up losing 1-0. We hit the woodwork three times and find the home keeper in outstanding form. We also lose Carlos Rivera to a knee injury that will keep him out of action for a fortnight.

Wednesday 10th

We travel to Zaragoza for a rare midweek match with Abraham coming into midfield and Pía drafted into central defence. Our opponents were relegated from the First Division last season and although we have never played them whilst I have been at the club I anticipate a hard game. My worst fears are confirmed as we give away two early goals to fall 2-0 behind after less than 15 minutes. We struggle for the rest of the first half as we just can’t get any rhythm going. Things improve slightly after the restart but all we have to show for our efforts is a penalty converted by Cabello. The 2-1 defeat is disappointing and I am concerned that we are in danger of starting a losing run.

Sunday 14th

The visit of struggling Diter Zafra gives us the perfect chance to get back on track. Promoted to Division Two last season, they are at the wrong end of the table and finding life at this level difficult. We make heavy weather of the game however, and having taken a two-goal lead into the break thanks to Molist and Cabello we allow the visitors back into the game in the second half. In the end I am grateful to hang on for a 2-1 win and three valuable points.

Monday 15th

We agreed a couple of free transfers for next month when the transfer window opens again. Tony O’Brien, an 18-year-old forward and Darren Fletcher a 20-year-old midfielder are the players in question. I am particularly pleased to have landed Fletcher as he was released by Manchester United back in August and I am surprised that he was still available,

Sunday 21st

We have made the long trip to Santander more than 1000 kilometres directly north on the coast of the Bay of Biscay. Having spent the last three seasons fighting relegation Racing Santander finally lost the fight last season and were relegated from the First Division. However they looking to make an immediate return and are just two points behind us in the table. In expectation of a very tough game I decide to go for a more defensive approach and Luis Miguel Carrión and Victor come into the wide midfield positions instead of my usual attack-minded players. Jubera is fit enough to come back into central defence in place of Pía. José David Cabello gave us the lead after quarter of an hour but less than 10 minutes later Santander equalised. It looked like we would reach the break all square but the home side scored a second in stoppage time at the end of the first half. When they added a third 10 minutes after the restart I decided that my cautious approach wasn’t working so Carrion and Victor came off and Zurita and Javier Guerra came on. Cabello pulled a goal back with less than 10 minutes remaining but we couldn’t find an equaliser and were defeated 3-2. We have now slipped to 3rd in the table and hold the final promotion place.

Thursday 25th

Another player will be arriving next month in the shape of Nicola Legrottaglie a 28-year-old Italian defender recently released by Chievo.

Saturday 27th

A Saturday match for a change as Elche visit the Escribano Castilla. They are one of 5 teams that are locked on 22 points, just two points behind us so this is a big game. I go back to my first choice wide midfielders for this one and Rodri replaces a disappointing Abraham in midfield. The match follows a pattern that is frustratingly familiar – we have most of the play, are kept at bay by an inspired keeper and lose to a breakaway goal. A 1-0 defeat is a bad result. Even worse news reaches me later that night when I hear that José David Cabello has agreed a transfer to Espanyol of the Primera Liga and we will lose him in December. Given that he has scored 11 goals in 14 games this is a major blow.

Sunday 28th

Things are definitely not going our way at the moment. I having been fending off regular transfer bids for Sergio, one of our key central defenders. But today First Division Atlético Madrid have agreed to meet the €1.5M release clause in his contract. I have tried to persuade him to stay but there is no way that he is going to pass up an opportunity to play in the Primera Liga. I will now lose my two best players in a fortnight.

This is not the best of months all in all but we are still holding the final promotion place although given the forthcoming departures on the playing side I don’t know how long that will last.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">*******************************************************************************************

Spanish Second Division - Sunday 28th November 2004

*******************************************************************************************

Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1st Badajoz 14 6 1 0 17 3 4 2 1 11 7 33

2nd Racing Santander 14 5 2 0 13 8 3 2 2 14 14 28

3rd MOTRIL 14 4 2 1 15 8 4 0 3 11 10 26

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

4th Valladolid 14 4 3 0 17 7 3 1 3 9 8 25

5th Recreativo 14 3 2 2 9 8 4 2 1 17 11 25

6th Elche 14 5 2 0 14 5 2 2 3 4 6 25

7th Salamanca 14 3 4 0 10 5 3 1 3 9 13 23

8th Extremadura 14 3 2 2 14 13 3 2 2 9 7 22

9th Zaragoza 14 4 1 2 11 9 2 3 2 10 11 22

10th Xerez 14 3 1 3 14 12 3 2 2 12 10 21

11th Las Palmas 14 4 3 0 12 5 1 2 4 10 13 20

12th Ourense 14 2 1 4 9 12 3 3 1 11 9 19

13th Hércules 14 4 0 3 9 8 1 3 3 4 7 18

14th Burgos 14 2 3 2 6 6 2 2 3 9 11 17

15th Levante 14 3 2 2 13 11 1 3 3 10 13 17

16th Alavés 14 2 4 1 10 8 1 1 5 13 18 14

17th Lleida 14 2 0 5 7 12 1 4 2 12 16 13

18th Córdoba 14 1 2 4 11 14 2 1 4 7 16 12

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

19th Díter Zafra 14 0 4 3 9 12 2 1 4 11 15 11

20th Getafe 14 1 0 6 7 16 2 1 4 7 10 10

21st Pájara Playas 14 2 3 2 10 11 0 1 6 2 13 10

22nd Ceuta 14 2 0 5 9 12 0 3 4 3 8 9</pre>

[BobBev]

December 2004

Saturday 4th

Our second in a run of three Saturday games sees us visit Alavés and I hope that a game against a side at the wrong end of the table can get us back to winning ways. Olivares is now fully fit so he comes into central midfield. We start quite brightly and Jorginho gives us the lead after quarter of an hour but within two minutes the home side equalise. Cabello puts us back in front just before half time but once again we let the lead slip as Alavés score in stoppage time. There is no further scoring in the second half and we have to settle for a frustrating 2-2 draw.

Monday 6th

We tied up a €500K transfer deal that will bring 25-year-old central defender Mora from Racing Santander in 10 days time. The offer of first team football was key and I hope that he will settle into the side quickly.

Saturday 11th

Our next game is at home to Las Palmas who sit just below us in the table. I am now getting pretty desperate for a win as we are showing all the signs of entering a slump in form and hitting a run of bad luck. I have brought in loan signing Juan on the left side of midfield to see if that will help us any. My prayers are answered as we put together a good performance and goals in each half from Zurita and Cabello give us a 2-0 win.

Wednesday 15th

There is much activity on the transfer front today. In come Emilio Alvarez, Tony O’Brien, Darren Fletcher, Nicola Legrottaglie and Mora and out go Cabello and Sergio. New coach Marco Aurelio also joins the backroom staff. We have a first round cup match at home to Espanyol and Mora comes straight into the team with Legrottaglie sitting on the bench. Cabrera gets a start in place of Jorginho as the Brazilian still looks tired after the weekend. Orife comes into attack and O’Brien is amongst the substitutes. I would give Fletcher a run out but he is carrying an injury and needs a few weeks to recover fully. We bid a swift return to José David Cabello as he is in the Espanyol starting lineup. We have by far the better of the game and our First Division opponents rarely trouble us but we do everything except score, thanks mainly to an excellent keeper. The game is scoreless at the end of 90 minutes and we have to play extra time. We finally get the breakthrough when substitute Carlos Rivera finds the net 10 minutes into the first extra period. We hold on to the lead to record a very good win although I would have preferred not to have played the extra 30 minutes as many of the players will be tired for our league match at the weekend. Our debutants all played fairly well but the key to our victory was a good all round team performance.

Friday 17th

We have negotiated a loan deal with Valladolid for Brazilian attacker Dinei. The 33-year-old is very experienced and I hope that he can do a job for us up front for the rest of the season.

Sunday 19th

Our last game before Christmas involves a trip to Valencia to play Levante who are struggling at the wrong end of the table. Nicola Legrottaglie gets his first start as José Luis Rico is rested and Dinei is straight in up front in place of Xavier Molist. Xavier has been playing well but with only 3 goals in 17 starts we need some better finishing. Weimar Franck Olivares comes into the right of midfield to give José Miguel Zurita a rest. The first half does not go well for us at all. The home side have the better of the play and are denied an early goal by an offside decision. Then we lose Jesús to injury and Ramón Conget is pressed into action. The final indignity comes when Levante score with a well struck free kick just before the interval. After some words are exchanged in the dressing room we put in a much more spirited performance in the second half but find a home keeper in fine form. But with 20 minutes remaining Carlos Rivera finds an equaliser. We are lucky to survive another close offside decision to stay level near the end and the match finishes 1-1.

Sunday 26th

The players were under strict instructions not to over-indulge on Christmas Day in preparation for the visit of Ourense to the Escribano Castilla. Rico and Zurita return to first team action and Pía replaces the injured Jesús. We have never faced Ourense since I have been in charge but they are in the lower half of the table so there is no reason why we shouldn’t get a decent result. The first half is what could be described as eventful – Carlos Rivera hit the bar and Dinei and Orife scored two goals each to which the visitors responded with one of their own. Jorginho scored our 5th in the second half after he also struck the woodwork earlier. Ourense managed a late consolation but I am delighted with the 5-2 win.

Wednesday 29th

Carlos Rivera has agreed a new 2-year contract but it looks increasingly like Jesús will be leaving in the summer as he has refused to discussion an extension for when his deal expires in June.

The fight for promotion is extremely competitive with only two points separating the top six in the table.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">*******************************************************************************************

Spanish Second Division - Saturday 1st January 2005

*******************************************************************************************

Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1st Racing Santander 18 6 2 1 15 10 4 3 2 18 16 35

2nd Valladolid 18 5 4 0 22 10 5 1 3 14 11 35

3rd Elche 18 7 2 0 16 5 3 2 4 7 9 34

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

4th Recreativo 18 4 2 3 12 10 6 2 1 21 12 34

5th MOTRIL 18 6 2 1 22 10 4 2 3 14 13 34

6th Badajoz 18 6 1 2 19 7 4 2 3 12 11 33

7th Xerez 18 5 1 3 20 12 4 2 3 13 11 30

8th Salamanca 18 4 5 0 13 7 3 1 5 10 16 27

9th Extremadura 18 3 3 3 16 16 4 3 2 13 10 27

10th Las Palmas 18 6 3 0 15 6 1 2 6 11 18 26

11th Zaragoza 18 5 1 3 12 11 2 4 3 13 15 26

12th Hércules 18 5 1 3 12 10 2 3 4 6 9 25

13th Burgos 18 3 4 2 10 9 3 2 4 12 15 24

14th Ourense 18 3 1 5 11 14 3 4 2 16 17 23

15th Lleida 18 4 0 5 12 14 2 5 2 15 18 23

16th Alavés 18 3 5 1 13 10 2 2 5 19 20 22

17th Levante 18 3 3 3 15 14 1 3 5 11 19 18

18th Córdoba 18 2 2 5 15 18 2 2 5 9 19 16

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

19th Díter Zafra 18 1 5 3 12 14 2 1 6 11 18 15

20th Ceuta 18 4 0 5 14 14 0 3 6 3 10 15

21st Pájara Playas 18 2 4 3 11 13 0 1 8 2 16 11

22nd Getafe 18 1 0 8 9 24 2 1 6 8 13 10</pre>

[BobBev]

January 2005

Sunday 2nd

The year start with a journey to Badajoz some 500 kilometres northwest on the Portuguese border. They are one point and one place below us so I anticipate a tough encounter. Xavier Molist is on loan from them and although he is cleared to play in this game he remains on the bench. This is not a game for the purists as neither side plays particularly well. With scoring opportunities few and far between it looks increasingly likely that a single goal would win it. And so it proved, unfortunately the goal was scored by Badajoz rather than ourselves and we travel home with a disappointing 1-0 defeat.

Monday 3rd

The news that I have been expecting to hear for some time now finally arrives as Jesús has agreed a contract with Valladolid and he will be leaving in the summer. This is a big disappointment to me as he has been a terrific player for us since his arrival from Tenerife some 2 ½ seasons ago. But frankly our relationship had deteriorated to such an extent that he will barely talk to me. This stems back to my refusal to even countenance several transfer bids that came in for him earlier in the season.

Wednesday 5th

It’s Spanish Cup time again as D2B side Novelda visit for our 2nd Round tie. A few changes are made for this game with Usta and Legrottaglie coming into defence, Cabrera and Olivares in midfield, Molist up front and Tony O’Brien playing behind the front two. We lose Juan to injury after 5 minutes which doesn’t help us settle into our rhythm. Young O’Brien has a good game though and scores what proves to be the winning goal with 15 minutes remaining. But 5 minutes from time we get another player injured as Orife hobbles off.

Friday 7th

The Spanish Cup 3rd Round draw is made and we land a plum tie – a two-legged match with the mighty Barcelona with the first leg to be played in Motril in 5 days time. I still have very fond memories of the previous visit of Barca to our humble stadium back in December 2001 for a cup tie. We lost that game 2-0 but it was a tremendous experience. Of the original squad that day it is likely that only Carlos Rivera and Pía will be in the team for this encounter.

Saturday 8th

Scanning the sports pages of the local paper I read the match report for the derby between Barcelona and neighbours Espanyol attracted a record crowd of almost 98,000 at the Nou Camp and I can’t help but wonder what the attendance will be when we visit in 10 days time. Barca had a comfortable 3-0 win and are neck and neck with Real Madrid in the title race.

Sunday 9th

For the visit of struggling Pájara Playas I go back to my normal lineup, minus our injured players of course. The loss of Orife is a problem as I now have only two fit strikers. We are in total control of the game but rather frustratingly have only a single goal from Dinei to show for our efforts. However I am grateful for the three points and relieved that we didn’t pick up any injuries.

Tuesday 11th

After a hastily arranged deal with Burgos we obtain a loan striker to give some cover up front for the rest of the season. 24-year-old Ion Garcia Hérnandez, or Ion as he is known, doesn’t have much experience but we can’t afford to be too picky in our current position.

Wednesday 12th

The last few days have been so hectic that, silly as it sounds, I have not given a lot of thought to the Barcelona game, although the players have been looking forward to it with great anticipation. Before we leave the changing room to venture out onto the pitch I say a few words to the players. It’s what you might expect to hear – don’t be overawed, go out and enjoy yourselves, stuff like that. But when Phillip Cocu puts Barca ahead with just 2 minutes on the clock it looks like my attempts to relax the team have failed miserably. But it appears that my players are made of sterner stuff and they gradually play their way back into the game, forcing Roberto Bonano in the Barca goal into some fine saves. But when Molist strikes a piledriver from distance he is well beaten – unfortunately the ball crashes against the bar instead of nestling in the back of the net. But encouraged by this we redouble or efforts and 10 minutes before half time Dinei scores a fine equaliser. The pattern of play continues in the second half and with Pía using all his years of experience in guarding the defence Kluivert and Saviola rarely threaten. But still we can’t find a way past Bonano until, in the 86th minute, Molist scores a deserved goal and we are 4 minutes away from recording the biggest result in our history. Alas it is not to be as Javier Saviola grabs an equaliser with one minute remaining. It is still a fine result but it would have been so much sweeter to hang on for the win. Still, we can travel to the Nou Camp knowing that we matched one of the best teams in Europe pass for pass and tackle for tackle.

Sunday 16th

Back into league action and we travel to Almendralejo, some 250 Kilometres northwest between Sevilla and Cordoba, to play Extremadura. New signing Darren Fletcher is fit enough to take a seat on the bench and loan-signing Ion gets a start up front. Jorginho gets us off to a great start with an early goal but the home side equalise within minutes and then take the lead on the stroke of half time. Kévin Jacmot puts us back on terms on the hour mark and the outstanding Jorginho gets the winner 5 minutes from time. Rafa has a fine game in goal but Nicola Legrottaglie suffers an ankle injury that will keep him sidelined for a month.

Wednesday 19th

We make the long journey along the east coast to Barcelona with an increasing feeling of excitement and anticipation. We have no great hopes of pulling off a win but football’s a funny game so you never know what might happen. Unfortunately there was no fairy tale ending for us. Patrick Kluivert gave Barca the lead after half an hour and then Robert Kovac put them 2-0 ahead with 30 minutes remaining. We kept plugging away and pulled a goal back through Molist in stoppage time. But Barcelona just went up to the other end and Dani scored to give them a 3-1 win on the night and a 5-3 aggregate score.

Saturday 22nd

Today we completed the signing of a new striker as Frédéric Piquionne (26, French, S C) joins on a free transfer. He was released by Rennes last season and I am surprised that he hasn’t been picked in the meantime.

Sunday 23rd

With our Cup adventure well and truly over it’s back to league action and a visit to Burgos. Our new French striker was into the starting lineup straightaway but alas it was no dream start for our new man. We fell behind to an early penalty of dubious nature and went two-down before half time. Our play improved in the second half but were unable to turn the game around and suffered a 2-0 defeat.

Sunday 30th

A busy month comes to an end with a home game against struggling Cordoba and an excellent opportunity to gain a well needed win. For the second game in succession we gave away an early penalty to go a goal down but fortunately Piquionne found an equaliser within minutes. Orife was back in the side after injury but was not performing well so I moved Jorginho out to the left and brought Fletcher in to support the front two. The young Scotsman gave us the lead after an hour but the visitors fought back to square the game. Then with 15 minutes remaining Fletcher set up Dinei who secured a 3-2 win. It was an impressive performance from Fletcher and the 20-year-old has made a strong claim for a regular starting place.

An eventful month comes to an end with us having sneaked up to third in the table and in the final promotion place.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">*******************************************************************************************

Spanish Second Division - Monday 31st January 2005

*******************************************************************************************

Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1st Recreativo 23 6 2 3 15 10 9 2 1 27 13 49

2nd Badajoz 23 8 2 2 23 8 5 2 4 14 13 43

3rd MOTRIL 23 8 2 1 26 12 5 2 5 17 18 43

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

4th Racing Santander 23 8 2 1 19 11 4 4 4 22 24 42

5th Elche 23 9 3 0 22 9 3 3 5 10 13 42

6th Valladolid 23 5 5 1 23 14 6 1 5 16 17 39

7th Burgos 23 6 4 2 18 10 4 3 4 15 15 37

8th Xerez 23 5 2 4 21 15 5 3 4 18 17 35

9th Zaragoza 23 7 1 3 18 12 3 4 5 17 19 35

10th Las Palmas 23 8 4 0 22 10 1 3 7 13 22 34

11th Extremadura 23 4 4 4 21 20 4 5 2 15 12 33

12th Hércules 23 7 1 3 16 11 2 5 5 10 15 33

13th Ourense 23 4 2 6 14 18 4 5 2 18 18 31

14th Lleida 23 5 1 6 18 19 3 6 2 18 19 31

15th Salamanca 23 4 6 1 14 9 3 3 6 13 20 30

16th Alavés 23 3 7 2 17 15 3 2 6 21 24 27

17th Ceuta 23 4 1 6 15 16 1 4 7 6 12 20

18th Levante 23 3 4 5 18 21 1 3 7 12 24 19

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

19th Córdoba 23 2 4 6 17 22 2 2 7 12 24 18

20th Díter Zafra 23 1 6 4 13 16 2 3 7 14 22 18

21st Getafe 23 3 0 8 15 27 2 2 8 12 20 17

22nd Pájara Playas 23 3 5 4 16 19 0 1 10 4 20 15</pre>

[BobBev]

February 2005

Saturday 5th

The month gets underway with a visit to Lleida in the northeast near the French border. I decide not to change the starting lineup and go with the same team that won our last game. We put in an excellent performance and by half time we are 3 goals ahead with Piquionne scoring twice and Jorginho providing the third. The second half is less eventful and the home side gain a consolation goal through a late penalty. However, we get an even later spot kick of our own and Dinei converts it comfortably to give us a good 4-1 win. Our new French striker has now scored three times in as many games and I am extremely encouraged by his form so far.

Monday 7th

Francis and José Masegosa have both been on the transfer list for some time and with no interest being shown I have decided to let them both go.

Sunday 13th

We are forced to make one change to our line-up for the visit of Hércules as Orife was injured in midweek training so young Tony O'Brien takes his place on the left of midfield and Kévin Jacmot gets a seat on the bench. The visitors start very positively and for the first 20 minutes or so they are all over us. But then Dinei scores a breakaway goal against the run of play to give us the lead. However, Hércules equalise virtually straight from the restart. Minutes later Dinei scorns a golden opportunity to put us back in front when his penalty is saved. Thankfully Jorginho does give us the lead just after the restart. We are much better in the second half and our Brazilian makes the game safe 10 minutes from time to give us a slightly fortunate 3-1 win.

Sunday 20th

Out trip north to Valladolid presents us with the prospect a tough game as they are just behind us in the table and our previous two encounters have been very tight indeed, although we have yet to lose to them since I’ve been with the club. Orife is fit again but I decide to keep O’Brien in the line-up and Orife replaces Jacmot on the bench. I also give Darren Fletcher his first start with Zurita named as a substitute. Nicola Legrottaglie is now back in full training but I decide to give him another week before including him in the squad. We have a nightmare first half and by the break we are 3 goals down and have lost O’Brien to injury with Orife replacing him. For the second half Carlos Rivera comes on for the disappointing Olivares and we improve our play significantly. Orife pulls one goal back and I watch in frustration as first Rivera and then Piquionne both strike the woodwork. But we can’t find another goal and the 3-1 defeat puts a dent in our promotion hopes although we just hold on to 3rd place in the table. O’Brien will be out for a couple of weeks with a thigh strain.

Sunday 27th

The visit of Xerez gives an opportunity to bounce back immediately as they reside in the lower half of the table. Orife returns to the starting line-up with Jacmot on the bench, Carlos Rivera replaces Olivares in midfield and Legrottaglie takes a seat on the bench instead of Suat Usta. The first half is even if uneventful but 10 minutes after the restart Darren Fletcher gives us the lead. But then the visitors score twice in three minutes to put us behind with less than 20 minutes remaining. As time ticks down I gamble by taking off Jesús and throwing on Jacmot as a 3rd attacker. I also replace Piquionne with Molist and Zurita comes on for a tiring Fletcher. It just about pays off as Zurita gets a very late goal to salvage a point and still we cling on to 3rd place.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">*******************************************************************************************

Spanish Second Division - Saturday 5th March 2005

*******************************************************************************************

Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1st Recreativo 27 8 2 3 21 11 10 2 2 33 18 58

2nd Badajoz 27 9 3 2 28 9 7 2 4 18 13 53

3rd MOTRIL 27 9 3 1 31 15 6 2 6 22 22 50

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

4th Elche 27 11 3 0 28 11 3 4 6 12 18 49

5th Valladolid 27 7 5 1 30 17 7 1 6 17 18 48

6th Racing Santander 27 8 3 2 22 16 4 5 5 25 28 44

7th Burgos 27 7 5 2 21 12 4 3 6 15 19 41

8th Salamanca 27 5 7 1 16 10 5 3 6 17 22 40

9th Extremadura 27 6 4 4 24 20 4 6 3 19 19 40

10th Zaragoza 27 8 1 4 21 15 3 5 6 21 25 39

11th Lleida 27 6 1 7 23 23 4 7 2 23 23 38

12th Ourense 27 5 2 7 16 21 5 5 3 20 20 37

13th Las Palmas 27 8 4 2 22 13 2 3 8 15 25 37

14th Hércules 27 8 1 4 21 14 2 6 6 14 21 37

15th Xerez 27 5 3 5 23 18 5 4 5 20 22 37

16th Alavés 27 3 7 4 18 19 5 2 6 25 24 33

17th Levante 27 5 4 5 24 22 2 3 8 15 27 28

18th Córdoba 27 3 4 7 20 24 3 2 8 14 27 24

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

19th Díter Zafra 27 2 7 4 15 17 2 3 9 14 27 22

20th Ceuta 27 4 2 7 19 21 1 5 8 7 17 22

21st Getafe 27 4 0 9 21 31 2 2 10 13 25 20

22nd Pájara Playas 27 3 6 5 21 26 0 2 11 6 25 17</pre>

[BobBev]

March 2005

Sunday 6th

We move into March with another home game as we welcome visitors Zaragoza to the Escribano Castilla. We lost to them earlier in the season so I am hopeful that we will gain revenge today. I keep the team unchanged despite last week’s disappointing result but by half time I wish I hadn’t as we find ourselves two goals behind. I replace a struggling Fletcher with Zurita for the second half and our play starts to show an improvement. On the 65 minute mark Jorginho pulls a goal back and three minutes later Carlos Rivera gets the equaliser. I really want to push on for the win so with the clock ticking down Jesús comes off and Molist is brought on as an extra attacker but to no avail. In stoppage time Zurita pulls up in distress and I have to substitute the substitute with Olivares. The prognosis on Zurita is strained knee ligaments and a 3-week rest is required. Such is the competitive nature of the league that this poor result drops us down to 5th in the table.

Sunday 13th

For the visit to Salamanca we are 2 central defenders short – Jubera picked up an injury in training and José Luis Rico is serving a suspension as his yellow cards have mounted up. This means that Legrottaglie and Usta start and Juan is on the bench. I make another change up front with Molist starting instead of Piquionne. A rather flat first half ends with us a goal down as we continue our pattern of going into the break behind. I begin to despair as the usually reliable Rafa gifts not one but two goals to the home side within 10 minutes and suddenly we are 3-0 down and the game is lost. Molist gets a late consolation but this is a really poor result for us.

Sunday 20th

Our home game against relegation contenders Ceuta offers the perfect opportunity to end our run of poor results. Jubera and Rico are back in the starting line-up after their absence last week and we look much more solid at the back. Goals in each half from Molist and Jorginho give us a very welcome 2-0 win. The tally could have been higher but for a fine performance by the visiting keeper and an offside decision that denied Dinei. The win lifts us back up to 4th just behind Valladolid on goal difference.

Saturday 26th

A trip to Getafe near Madrid gives us a second consecutive game against a struggling side and another excellent chance of gaining three points. I have to make one enforced change as Darren Fletcher is absent on international duty for the Scottish Uder-21 team so Olivares replaces him as Zurita is not yet fit. An excellent first half performance sees us reach the break 3-0 ahead with goals from Dinei, Jorginho and Molist. The home side pull a goal back after the break but Dinei scores his second of the game near the end to wrap up a fine 4-1 win.

So we end the month in better shape than we began it with some confidence restored after our last two wins. We have sneaked back into the final promotion place and we will hope to build on that in April.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">*******************************************************************************************

Spanish Second Division - Wednesday 30th March 2005

*******************************************************************************************

Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1st Badajoz 31 11 3 2 33 9 8 2 5 20 15 62

2nd Recreativo 30 8 2 4 22 13 11 2 3 37 22 61

3rd MOTRIL 31 10 4 1 35 17 7 2 7 27 26 57

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

4th Valladolid 31 9 5 1 36 20 7 2 7 19 26 55

5th Elche 30 11 4 0 30 13 4 4 7 16 23 53

6th Salamanca 31 7 7 1 20 11 6 4 6 19 23 50

7th Racing Santander 30 9 3 2 25 17 4 6 6 27 32 48

8th Burgos 31 8 6 2 25 15 4 4 7 18 23 46

9th Extremadura 31 7 4 5 29 23 5 6 4 22 22 46

10th Hércules 30 10 1 4 27 16 3 6 6 16 22 46

11th Lleida 30 7 1 8 27 26 5 7 2 24 23 44

12th Las Palmas 31 10 4 2 25 14 2 3 10 16 31 43

13th Ourense 31 5 3 8 18 25 6 5 4 22 24 41

14th Xerez 30 6 3 6 25 20 5 4 6 20 24 40

15th Zaragoza 31 8 1 6 22 19 3 6 7 23 28 40

16th Alavés 30 4 7 4 19 19 6 2 7 29 28 39

17th Levante 31 6 4 6 28 25 3 4 8 20 30 35

18th Córdoba 30 4 4 8 26 30 3 2 9 15 30 27

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

19th Díter Zafra 31 2 8 5 17 20 3 3 10 19 32 26

20th Ceuta 31 5 3 7 21 21 1 5 10 8 22 26

21st Getafe 31 5 0 10 28 35 2 2 12 14 29 23

22nd Pájara Playas 31 3 7 6 24 30 0 3 12 7 27 19</pre>

[BobBev]

April 2005

Sunday 3rd

The month starts with a visit by promotion favourites Recreativo, a team that we have never managed a victory over in 4 attempts since I have been in charge. I put out an unchanged team with the exception of restoring Fletcher on the right of midfield. He played for the Scottish U21 side on Tuesday and was voted man of the match for his performance in their excellent 3-2 defeat of Italy. The first 35 minutes or so are very evenly contested with both sides having good scoring opportunities. The turning point in the game comes when the visiting keeper is dismissed for a rash challenge on Dinei. The Brazilian calmly picked himself up, dusted himself down and converted the spot kick. With a man advantage we have the better of the game from then on and Jorginho scores in the second half to give us an excellent 2-0 win.

Sunday 10th

Next up we have a trip to the West, inland to the town of Zafra, near the Portuguese border, where we will be playing Diter Zafra. Our opponents are struggling in the league and, fingers crossed, this is a game that we should take maximum points from. I can go with an unchanged team again which is always a good thing as I like to keep a settled side if at all possible. A very even first half ends scoreless and we are clearly not playing quite at our best. However, Jorginho gives us the lead shortly after the restart and I start to relax a little. Unfortunately so do my players and the home side strike back to equalise with 30 minutes remaining. Then things go from bad to worse when they take the lead with some 10 minutes to go. Throwing caution to the wind I take off Jesús and throw on Frédéric Piquionne as an extra attacker. For once my desperate tactic pays dividends as first Piquionne and then Molist find the net to give us a very fortunate 3-2 win.

Wednesday 13th

A rare midweek game has us hosting Racing Santander and as they are both looking a little tired I decide to drop Fletcher and Dinei to the bench, replacing then with Zurita and Piquionne. We have the majority of the possession but with the visiting keeper in outstanding form we find it difficult to translate chances into goals. Molist puts us in front in the first half and we are kept at bay for the remainder of the game. The visitors had very few scoring opportunities but still managed to hit the woodwork three times during the 90 minutes so you could say that we were fortunate to get the win,

Saturday 16th

The games are coming thick and fast now and with little time for recovery we at least have a relatively short journey along the coast to Elche for our next game. They are breathing down our neck in 4th place although recent results have seen us open up a three-point gap over them. I decide against making wholesale changes to the lineup despite a number of players looking a bit weary so we go with the side that won in midweek. The game is as even as you might expect given the closeness of our league positions. Piquionne gives us an early lead but we are soon pegged back by the home side. The first half ends at 1-1 but with half an hour remaining Zurita gives us the lead. The disaster strikes as our influential defender José Luis Rico is red-carded for a reckless two-footed challenge. With a man advantage Elche are able to find an equaliser and we are fortunate to be able to see out the rest of the game for a 2-2 draw. Before the kick off I would have taken a draw if I was offered it but I am disappointed with the result in the circumstances.

Monday 18th

It’s good news, bad news today. The good news is that we have secured the services of 26-year-old Brazilian striker Jurandir from Portuguese team Pacos de Ferreira for a fee of €40K and he will join in the summer. The bad news is that the notoriously strict Spanish Football Association have slapped a 4-match ban on Rico – not surprising but still a major blow as he is one of our strongest defenders.

Saturday 23rd

We have to face the visit of Alavés with Rico unavailable so Nicola Legrottaglie takes his place and Suat Usta goes on the bench. This turns out to be one of the most exciting games of the season – at least for the neutral observer. For the poor manager it is a heart-stopping experience. The visitors take the lead midway through the first half and keep us at bay fairly comfortably until the break. Our play improves dramatically in the second period and we create a number of excellent chances, none of which are converted. But then 10 minutes after the restart Jorginho puts us back on level terms. We continue to scorn good scoring opportunities and with less than 20 minutes remaining Alavés re-take the lead. As time ticks away it looks very much like we will regret the missed opportunities but then on 86 minutes Molist finally puts a chance away and we are all-square. Three minutes later and it’s back to square one as the visitors go ahead again. But with 90 minutes showing on the stadium clock Piquionne scores out third and final equaliser for a 3-3 draw.

So we reach the end of April still clinging on to the final promotion place – a tremendous achievement considering our relegation struggle of last season.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">*******************************************************************************************

Spanish Second Division - Sunday 1st May 2005

*******************************************************************************************

Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1st Recreativo 36 12 2 4 33 17 11 2 5 38 26 73

2nd Badajoz 37 14 3 2 40 9 8 3 7 24 21 72

3rd MOTRIL 36 12 5 1 41 20 8 3 7 32 30 68

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

4th Elche 37 14 5 0 42 16 5 5 8 22 28 67

5th Valladolid 36 10 5 3 39 25 7 2 9 20 31 58

6th Salamanca 37 9 7 2 28 15 6 6 7 21 27 58

7th Hércules 37 10 3 5 29 20 4 8 7 21 27 53

8th Racing Santander 36 9 5 3 27 21 5 6 8 31 34 53

9th Las Palmas 36 11 5 2 29 17 3 5 10 21 35 52

10th Burgos 36 9 8 2 33 21 4 5 8 19 25 52

11th Alavés 37 5 9 5 25 24 8 3 7 38 33 51

12th Zaragoza 36 10 1 6 28 20 4 6 9 30 34 49

13th Lleida 36 8 1 10 29 31 5 9 3 28 28 49

14th Ourense 36 5 5 8 19 26 7 7 4 25 26 48

15th Extremadura 36 7 5 6 31 26 5 6 7 25 33 47

16th Levante 36 7 5 6 33 27 5 5 8 26 33 46

17th Xerez 36 6 5 7 30 26 5 5 8 21 29 43

18th Córdoba 36 5 6 8 30 32 4 2 11 20 37 35

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

19th Díter Zafra 36 3 8 6 21 24 4 4 11 24 37 33

20th Ceuta 37 6 3 9 24 31 2 5 12 11 29 32

21st Getafe 36 7 0 11 31 38 2 2 14 14 35 29

22nd Pájara Playas 36 5 7 6 29 33 0 4 14 8 33 26</pre>

[BobBev]

May 2005

Sunday 1st

This month we face a series of 5 games that will determine if we will be playing in the top flight next season. It has been quite some achievement to get this close and I must admit to myself that I have doubts about our ability to finish the job – not that I voice this to the players in any way. My public stance is that we can finish off the job and make history by getting our small provincial team promoted to La Liga. The run in begins with a trip to the Canary Islands to play Las Palmas. There are no enforced changes so we can go with the same lineup once more. Xavier Molist gets us off to the perfect start when he opens the scoring with just three minutes on the clock. But then the wheels start to come off as the normally reliable Rafa decides that this is the perfect time to completely forget how to catch the ball and he gifts opposing striker Ruben a hat trick. The deflated keeper is replaced at half time by Emilio Ãlvarez and we set about trying to repair the situation. In contrast to our own situation the Las Palmas keeper is as solid as a rock and although Piquionne manages to pull a goal back and Jorginho hits the woodwork, we cannot complete the recovery. A 3-2 defeat is not the best way to start such a crucial month and our lead over chasing Elche is now reduced to a single point.

Sunday 8th

We need to put all thoughts of last week’s setback out of our minds for the visit of Levante. I have spent some time with Rafa to reassure him that his poor display last week was a one off and I have no hesitation in keeping him in the starting lineup for this game. He repays my confidence with a very solid display and the visitor’s few goal attempts are well dealt with. In fact the whole team puts in a really fine performance and by half time we are two goals to the good courtesy of Piquionne and Jorginho. Our fine play continues in the second half with Piquionne netting his second of the game and Molist rounding off a fine afternoon with a late strike to give us a fine 4-1 win.

Saturday 14th

Recreativo confirmed their promotion this afternoon with a 1-0 win at Elche. This is a significant result for us for if we can win our game tomorrow then we will open up a 4-point gap once again over our nearest rivals.

Sunday 15th

We face our game at Ourense knowing that this is a key fixture given yesterday’s result. Our opponents are located in the province of Galicia in the northwest corner of the country just above the border with Portugal. The team is unchanged once more and if we can play anywhere near the level of last weekend then we should be able to secure the win. If anything we play even better than last week, which is just as well as we are facing determined opposition. A first half goal from Molist takes us into the break 1-0 ahead to give us the edge in a very even contest. As the second half progresses Orife starts to look very tired and I decide on a little experiment, replacing him with Darren Fletcher. This is the “wrong side†for the young Scotsman as he is not a natural left-sided player but he is too talented to sit on the bench. And with Zurita back to his best on the right side this may offer me an option to get Darren into the game. It works out better than I would have imagined as with less than 10 minutes remaining he scores a magnificent solo effort to kill the game off and we return home delighted with our 2-0 win. By the end of the evening three of the four relegation places have been decided with Ceuta, Getafe and Pájara Playas all condemned to a return to the B leagues.

Tuesday 17th

Dinei completes his loan period with us and returns to Valladolid.

Sunday 22nd

We face another massive challenge today as second place Badajoz visit the Escribano Castilla. We are boosted by the news that Elche dropped two points yesterday in a 0-0 draw at relegation strugglers Díter Zafra so even a defeat today would not be the end of the world. With Dinei having left loan-signing Ion gets a seat on the bench and after his fine display last week Fletcher starts on the left in place of Orife. There is little to choose between the teams in the first half and I am a little disappointed to reach the break a goal behind with the visitors scoring with their only significant effort in the first half. In the second period we work very hard for the equaliser and are finally rewarded when Molist pounces in the 89th minute for a very acceptable 1-1 draw. When the results are all in it is clear that Díter Zafra have lost their fight against relegation and they too will be playing in the B leagues next season.

Saturday 28th

Our penultimate game of the season is at already relegated Pájara Playas, a team that we have never lost to in 5 contests since I have been in charge. We go into the game knowing that a win will guarantee us promotion and confidence is running high. We are able to welcome back José Luis Rico from suspension so Nicola Legrottaglie steps down to the bench. Sadly Rico's return lasts less than five minutes before he limps off with a leg injury and Legrottaglie takes his place. Our hosts are clearly determined to take their leave of the Second Division with a bang as they set about us from the off. Molist gives us the lead on the half hour but the home side find an equaliser before the break. We really begin to stamp our authority on the game in the second half as we strive to find the crucial win. Our front two subject the home keeper to a barrage of shots and headers but he is in seemingly invincible form. Pájara Playas try to weather the storm and hit us on the break and on one rare venture up field they succeed in forcing the ball home. For a heart-stopping few seconds it looks like we may have blown it but the linesman saves our blushes with a raised flag for an offside decision. Then with 25 minutes remaining the excellent Molist grabs his second of the game. With time running out, substitute Tony O’Brien, on for the tiring Jorginho, makes it absolutely safe with our third goal of the afternoon. Then the referee raises his whistle to his lips, gives two or three long blasts and the game is over – next season we will be plying our trade in the Primera Liga!

Sunday 29th

After this evening’s games are completed Badajoz have also confirmed their promotion to the top flight. Our conquerors in the Spanish Cup, Barcelona, have gone on to win the competition, beating Athletic Bilbao 3-2 in a very entertaining game.

June 2005

Sunday 5th

There is a real carnival atmosphere at the Escribano Castilla for our final game of the season as we welcome the visit of Extremadura. The game itself is far from a classic but with a packed house cheering every touch that a Motril player makes, that doesn’t seem to matter to our supporters. What chances there are fall our way but the visiting keeper is not in carnival mood and denies us repeatedly. It seems that neither is the referee willing to join in the party as he denies us two pretty strong penalty appeals. But then in stoppage time we finally get the breakthrough and fittingly it is club captain Carlos Rivera that gets the goal. However, the visitors have clearly not read the script and they cut short our celebrations and catch us napping straight from the restart to square the game. A 1-1 draw doesn’t reflect our dominance but it really doesn’t matter – what matters is that we have achieved a virtually unthinkable promotion to the very top flight in Spanish football.

The final league table makes very happy reading indeed for anyone connected with Motril, or indeed for any romantics out there who love to see the underdogs come through.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">*******************************************************************************************

Spanish Second Division - Sunday 5th June 2005

*******************************************************************************************

Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1st C Recreativo 42 13 3 5 40 24 14 2 5 44 28 86

2nd P Badajoz 42 16 3 2 43 10 8 5 8 27 25 80

3rd P MOTRIL 42 13 7 1 47 22 10 3 8 39 34 79

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

4th Elche 42 15 5 1 43 17 6 6 9 24 31 74

5th Valladolid 42 10 7 4 43 32 9 2 10 26 36 66

6th Las Palmas 42 13 5 3 38 21 5 5 11 26 38 64

7th Burgos 42 11 8 2 39 24 5 6 10 23 31 62

8th Racing Santander 42 11 6 4 31 24 5 7 9 32 36 61

9th Zaragoza 42 12 2 7 36 25 5 6 10 32 35 59

10th Salamanca 42 9 8 4 31 20 6 6 9 22 30 59

11th Levante 42 9 6 6 39 29 7 5 9 32 41 59

12th Ourense 42 6 5 10 24 31 9 8 4 29 28 58

13th Hércules 42 11 4 6 33 25 4 9 8 24 31 58

14th Extremadura 42 8 6 7 37 30 6 8 7 30 36 56

15th Alavés 42 5 9 7 27 29 9 4 8 45 40 55

16th Córdoba 42 6 7 8 32 33 8 2 11 29 40 51

17th Lleida 42 8 1 12 30 35 5 11 5 30 33 51

18th Xerez 42 8 6 7 34 27 5 5 11 23 38 50

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

19th R Díter Zafra 42 4 9 8 23 29 6 4 11 28 38 43

20th R Ceuta 42 7 3 11 29 37 2 5 14 12 38 35

21st R Getafe 42 7 0 14 32 43 3 3 15 18 39 33

22nd R Pájara Playas 42 6 7 8 32 38 0 5 16 10 37 30</pre>

It’s been a hard season but it has ended in triumph and now it’s time for some serious celebrations. After a very serious bout of partying the players and backroom staff all head off for a well-deserved break. I, on the other hand have some serious work to do to prepare for life in the Primera Liga.

Thursday 16th

Barcelona have completed the domestic double, overhauling Real Madrid to win the Primera Liga title on the final day.

[BobBev]

July 2005

We face some very significant challenges here at Motril in the season ahead. On the playing front we need to do some serious rebuilding of the squad if we are to have any chance at all of surviving in the Primera Liga. One good thing is that we have received a fair amount of cash for TV rights and I try to put some of that to good use. A number of players will shortly be out of contract and we need to bring in new blood that may be capable of performing at a higher level. So after a very busy summer there have been some significant changes in personnel.

Rodri, Pía, Javier Guerra, Juan and José Luis are all released at the end of their contracts and Jesús goes to Valladolid on his pre-arranged move. Brazilian striker Jurandir arrives as arranged earlier in the season. He is joined by a number of other players. After his impressive loan spell for us I agree a €1.6M fee with Badajoz to keep Xavier Molist at Motril. In addition I take steps to shore up our defensive strength so Dario Biasi (25, D C) signs from Verona for €425K and Tony Warner (31, GK) arrives from Wolves for €925K.

As always I look to the loan market for additional players and we get Estecha (25, S C) from Badajoz and Frederico Arias (26, AM/F RL) from Southampton, both on season-long deals. Another potential source of talent at this time of year are players that have been released from other clubs and I am pretty pleased with the free signings that we have agreed. These include the vastly experienced Welsh international Gary Speed, experienced French defender Frédéric Danjou (30, D C) and two promising defenders, Dutch player Léon Hese (24, D C) and young Brazilian Antônio Carlos Fábio (18, SW/D C).

A couple of more players leave as the month progresses. Víctor goes to Villarreal in a €425K deal and Luis Miguel Carrión moves to Fuenlabrada for €240K.

[BobBev]

August 2005

Wednesday 10th

I make one further signing when Trinidad & Tobago international Stern John (28, S C) makes a €625K move from Murcia. The powerful striker may be a very useful weapon in our armoury in the coming season.

Sunday 14th

Barcelona were in impressive form in winning the World Club Championship in Argentina and even after selling top striker Javier Saviola to Dortmund for an incredible €45M they will certainly be amongst the favourites to win La Liga this season.

Wednesday 17th

Barcelona have spent some of their recent windfall by buying forward Marco Di Vaio from Juventus for €30M.

Sunday 21st

After a hectic summer of preparations we have now finally reached the point where we open our Primera Liga campaign with a trip to Barcelona. Thankfully we don’t have to face the defending champions – we actually play their lesser-known neighbours Espanyol. After some discussion with the coaching staff we have reached the decision to stick broadly with the formation and tactics that served us so well last season. After an even longer discussion we have agreed that our starting lineup will look like this.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> Molist Estecha

Jorginho

Fletcher Rivera Zurita

Speed

Legrottaglie Danjou Mora

Warner</pre>

Carlos Rivera will wear the captain’s armband which is appropriate as he is one of the few players left in the squad that was at Motril when I arrived.

After a nervous opening 10 minutes or so we gradually began to get hold of the ball and play some football. On the 20 minute mark the home keeper brought Darren Fletcher crashing to the ground in the penalty area. The referee had no hesitation in awarding the spot kick and the keeper was extremely fortunate to escape with a yellow card. Gary Speed claimed the ball and dispatched the penalty confidently to give us an early lead. Things got even better quarter of an hour later when Xavier Molist doubled our advantage. In the second half Espanyol struck back with a goal 10 minutes after the restart but we continued to play well and were able to hold out for a debut win. It was a marvellous start to the season and one that I really did not expect. Zurita looked at home at this level with Molist and Estecha playing well up front.

Sunday 28th

Our next game is at home against fellow-promotees Badajoz and I am hopeful of maintaining our excellent start. I decide not to change a winning team so we go with the same personnel that played last week. For the second game in succession we take the lead from the penalty spot. This time Molist is the player impeded. Speed shows all of his years of experience when, having despatched the kick, the referee orders a re-take. The Welshman calmly places the ball in the same spot and we are 1-0 ahead. Shortly after the restart Estecha makes it 2-0 but the visitors make a quick reply to pull a goal back. We get a reprieve when a potential equaliser for Badajoz is disallowed for offside. We take advantage of our good fortune as Jorginho gives us a two-goal lead and then less than 5 minutes later Estecha gets his second of the game. The excellent 4-1 win gives us a perfect start and, for a few days at least, the name of Motril is at the top of the league table.

[BobBev]

September 2005

Sunday 11th

We have had a short break because of International matches. It is rather a novelty having international players in the squad I must admit. Gary Speed played twice for Wales and Darren Fletcher was in action with the Scotland Under-21 side. League action resumes with a visit to neighbours Málaga with the only change since our last outing the replacement in defence of Legrottaglie with Dario Biasi. For most of this match the home side were the stronger team but generally we defended well and, given the opportunity, looked to hit them on the break. They took a deserved lead on the half hour but fortunately we were able to strike back before the break through Carlos Rivera. We caught them cold two minutes after the restart when Estecha put us in front. We then endured something of an onslaught as they fought to redress the balance and were reduced to some desperate defending at time. But luck was with us and we held on for a fine 2-1 win.

Sunday 18th

I follow the habit of not changing a winning team so the same 11 start for the visit of Recreativo. We get off to a great start through an early goal from the impressive Estecha and go on to play some sublime football in the first half. Rather frustratingly we fail to capitalise on our good play, hitting the woodwork twice and seeing an effort from Molist denied because of an offside decision. But right at the end of the half Zurita finds the net. However the visitors catch us napping after the restart and pull a goal back almost immediately. I am concerned that we might lose concentration and let things slip but we rouse ourselves and get back into a good attacking pattern. We are finally rewarded for our fine play with a second goal from Zurita 5 minutes from time too make the game safe. I am delighted at the 3-1 win, our 4th straight victory, and I have to pinch myself when I sneak a look at the league table – Motril in first place!

Sunday 25th

For the game against Celta we have to travel to the city of Vigo on the northwest coast just above the border with Portugal. I am forced to make a change to the side as Dario Biasi has suffered a nasty groin strain in training and is out for a month. I decide to give new arrival Léon Hese a try in central defence and José Luis Rico, now fully fit after his injury, comes into the squad as a substitute. We have never played Celta before but I know that they are a strong team. I am somewhat surprised with the rather casual attitude that Celta display in the first half and we make them pay the price when Jorginho gives us the lead on the half hour. Their manager must have had a few choice words to say to them at the break because in the second half they turn the game around completely with three goals in the first 20 minutes after the break. We have no reply and even the introduction of Federico Arias and Stern John makes no difference. So we suffer our first defeat of the season – no great surprise to be honest but disappointing nonetheless.

Despite ending the month with a defeat I can’t help but be pleased with our start in La Liga, although I do recall making a pretty good start in our first season in the Second Division only to be dragged into a relegation fight later in the season.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">*******************************************************************************************

Spanish First Division - Sunday 2nd October 2005

*******************************************************************************************

Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1st Valencia 4 3 0 0 6 1 1 0 0 3 0 12

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2nd MOTRIL 5 2 0 0 7 2 2 0 1 5 5 12

3rd Real Madrid 5 3 0 0 8 1 1 0 1 1 4 12

4th Atlético Madrid 5 2 0 0 3 1 2 0 1 4 2 12

5th Leganés 5 2 0 0 4 1 1 0 2 2 6 9

6th Barcelona 3 1 0 0 4 0 2 0 0 4 0 9

7th Deportivo 4 2 0 0 5 2 1 0 1 2 3 9

8th Celta 4 2 0 0 8 3 1 0 1 2 1 9

9th Sevilla 5 1 0 2 2 2 1 1 0 1 0 7

10th Real Sociedad 5 2 1 0 5 2 0 0 2 1 5 7

11th Málaga 5 2 0 1 5 4 0 1 1 0 2 7

12th Betis 5 0 1 1 2 3 1 2 0 5 4 6

13th Villarreal 5 0 1 1 0 2 1 0 2 2 4 4

14th Espanyol 5 1 0 2 3 5 0 1 1 4 5 4

15th Badajoz 5 1 1 1 3 2 0 0 2 1 5 4

16th Tenerife 5 1 0 2 3 6 0 0 2 2 6 3

17th Sporting Gijón 5 1 0 1 3 5 0 0 3 5 10 3

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

18th Osasuna 5 1 0 1 3 3 0 0 3 1 6 3

19th Recreativo 6 1 0 2 4 4 0 0 3 4 8 3

20th Athletic Bilbao 3 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 2 1 3 1</pre>

[BobBev]

October 2005

Sunday 2nd

The visit of league leaders Valencia does not appear to offer us much hope of gaining any points. Léon Hese made a reasonable debut last week so he keeps his place in defence. But to shake things up a bit up front and try some different attacking options I bring in Federico Arias and Stern John with Molist and Fletcher dropping to the bench. I have to say that this is one of the most exciting games that I have seen at the Escribano Castilla in many a season. The visitors take an early lead when they score after 5 minutes but less than 10 minutes later we are even when Estecha scores his 5th of the season. Valencia come straight back at us and we are fortunate that Tony Warner is at the top of his games as a series of fine stops keeps us in the match. But just before the half hour we hit the visitors with a double salvo as John and Zurita score within a minute of one another. Undaunted, Valencia keep coming forward and we are perhaps fortunate to reach the break with our 2-goal lead intact. It’s more of the same in the second half as the play flows from end to end with both teams creating openings. And then on the hour mark captain Carlos Rivera scores one of the best goals of his career with a marvellous sole effort and we are 4-1 up and in dreamland. Valencia reduce the deficit with just over 5 minutes remaining but we are able to see out time and the 4-2 win is quite possibly the best result that we have had at the club.

Saturday 8th

We have another weekend off due to World Cup qualifying games. Gary Speed is in action for Wales and he scores in his their 4-0 defeat of Austria to help his team secure a playoff place. Darren Fletcher plays for the U21s and returns very happy as the seniors have also made it to the playoffs. A 5-0 win for Spain in Armenia ensures that we will also be cheering on our team in Germany next summer.

Sunday 16th

We travel to the Canary Islands for our next game against a struggling Tenerife side but we are without Zurita as our influential winger has injured his shoulder in training. But this opens the door for Fletcher to play on the right and Orife takes his place amongst the substitutes. Our play in the first half is not the best and the home side take a deserved lead some 10 minutes before the break. After some suitable words of encouragement in the dressing room and a few minor adjustments to our tactics, we play much better in the second period. Stern John gets us level with a powerful headed goal 10 minutes after the restart and he adds a second 10 minutes later with a well struck shot. Another 10 minutes pass and Estecha gives us a two-goal cushion. But the home side come back strongly and once again we rely on Tony Warner to defend our lead. They do pull a goal back with some 15 minutes remaining but we are able to hold on and get an excellent 3-2 win. The win takes us back to the top of the table on goal difference over Real Madrid (I rally can’t believe that I just wrote that – Real Madrid!!!)

Sunday 23rd

We are still on a high as we journey to Sevilla for our next league game. This is another team that we have never played but as they are currently 5th in the table I have no illusions about just how hard this game will be. We are able to play an unchanged team but as I expected we find it tough going. For nearly 80 minutes we manage to keep Sevilla at bay thanks to some great goalkeeping from Warner and determined defending by Hese. But finally we crack and the home side take the lead. Our front two have been very well contained by the home defence so I replace Stern and Estecha with Molist and Piquionne to see if they can do any better. With the 90 minutes almost up Piquionne nearly does the trick but his shot just clips the outside of the post. And then two minutes into stoppage time Xavier Molist pops up to get the equaliser. The neutral observer would say that our 1-1 draw was undeserved but I am absolutely delighted that we showed such great spirit and were able to steal a point.

Saturday 29th

For the visit of Real Sociedad I have to make a couple of changes. Stern John is absent on international duty with Trinidad & Tobago and José Luis Rico has picked up another training injury. So Molist starts up front, Biasi is fit enough to go to the bench and Brazilian Jurandir is also named amongst the substitutes. The visitors are another unknown quantity in terms of previous matches against them but their league position and reputation tells me that they will be tough opponents. Bit even so I did not expect to be a goal down after 35 seconds. The visitors hit us from the kick off and continued to hit us for the remainder of the half. They added a second after 15 minutes and we were looking distinctly wobbly and in danger of total collapse. But Gary Speed used all his years of experience to shore up the defence and his aggressive ball winning and calm distribution made a big difference. We even recovered our poise sufficiently for Molist to pull a goal back before the break. But Sociedad continued to cause us problems in the second period, hitting the woodwork and having an effort disallowed for an offside decision. But we rode our luck and in the last 10 minutes I threw on Piquionne as an extra attacker in an attempt to salvage a point. It certainly paid off as three minutes from time Estecha scored the equaliser to give us a lucky 2-2 draw.

And so before we knew where we were it was the end of another month and we still fly high in La Liga with only 1 defeat in our 9 games so far. We all knew that it couldn’t last but by crikey we are certainly enjoying it whilst we can.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">*******************************************************************************************

Spanish First Division - Monday 31st October 2005

*******************************************************************************************

Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1st Real Madrid 9 5 0 0 14 3 2 0 2 4 7 21

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2nd MOTRIL 9 3 1 0 13 6 3 1 1 9 8 20

3rd Atlético Madrid 8 3 0 0 5 1 3 1 1 5 2 19

4th Barcelona 7 3 0 1 15 3 2 1 0 5 1 16

5th Valencia 8 4 1 0 10 4 1 0 2 7 7 16

6th Betis 9 2 1 1 6 4 2 2 1 10 8 15

7th Badajoz 10 3 1 1 8 5 1 2 2 2 5 15

8th Málaga 10 3 1 1 7 5 1 2 2 5 6 15

9th Sevilla 10 1 1 3 4 5 3 2 0 5 1 15

10th Celta 8 3 1 0 11 3 1 1 2 4 4 14

11th Real Sociedad 9 4 1 0 10 4 0 1 3 3 11 14

12th Deportivo 9 2 3 0 9 6 1 1 2 6 9 13

13th Leganés 9 3 0 1 8 5 1 1 3 3 9 13

14th Osasuna 10 2 0 3 6 8 1 0 4 5 11 9

15th Villarreal 10 1 2 2 4 4 1 0 4 3 8 8

16th Espanyol 10 2 1 2 4 5 0 1 4 6 12 8

17th Sporting Gijón 9 1 1 2 4 8 1 0 4 8 17 7

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

18th Recreativo 9 2 0 3 11 10 0 0 4 7 12 6

19th Athletic Bilbao 7 1 2 0 4 3 0 0 4 2 8 5

20th Tenerife 10 1 0 4 5 10 0 1 4 3 12 4</pre>

[BobBev]

November 2005

Friday 4th

We are about to lose central defender Mora who has been in fine form since he joined us at the start of last season. Celta have come in with a €500K bid that meets his release clause and he has refused all offers of an improved contract at Motril.

Saturday 5th

We have a big televised game today at our old friends Barcelona. We have played them 3 times previously in the Spanish Cup, the most memorable of which was the 2-2 home draw we achieved at the start of this year. Anything approaching that kind of result this time round would be very welcome indeed. The team is unchanged but Zurita is now back in full training so he travels with the squad and is named amongst the substitutes. Despite falling behind after 10 minutes we hold our own for most of the game, even forcing the home keeper into some fine saves on occasions. As time ticks away I try my usual ploy in these situations of removing a defender and throwing on an attacker – Speed coming off and Piquionne coming on. This time it doesn’t pay off and, short-handed at the back, Barca catch us on the break in stoppage time to score again. The 2-0 defeat is not entirely undeserved but the scoreline does flatter our opponents somewhat.

Tuesday 8th

I get confirmation that Mora has agreed terms with Celta and that he will be on his way when the mid-December transfer window opens.

Saturday 12th

We have a weekend off because of the World Cup playoff games taking place this week. I am really disappointed for Gary Speed when I hear that Wales have lost the first leg of their game 4-0 in Finland. There is better news for Darren Fletcher though as Scotland hold Ireland 1-1 in Dublin.

Wednesday 16th

Despite a brave fightback from Wales a 3-1 win in Cardiff is not enough for them and they lose to Finland 5-3 on aggregate. However, Scotland are able to complete the job against Ireland with a narrow 1-0 win in Glasgow.

Sunday 20th

Today’s visitors, Leganés, reside in the lower half of the table so I am hopeful that we can get back to winning ways. I make a few changes for this game with Zurita back in to replace Fletcher, and Rico and Biasi in defence instead of Hese and Danjou. José Miguel Zurita certainly made a big impression on his return and I am very impressed at how well he has adjusted to the top flight. After just 5 minutes he set up our first goal, scored by Estecha. The visitors came back well though and squared the game on 20 minutes. But 5 minutes before the break came a major turning point. Zurita was hacked down in the area and the offender was dismissed, giving us a man advantage. Dario Biasi converted the resulting penalty to ensure that we also had a goal advantage at the break. We played well in the second half and Zurita rounded off a superb display by scoring our third 10 minutes from time for an excellent 3-1 win.

Sunday 27th

Our visit to Sporting Gijón gives me hope that we can end the month on a high as they are currently sitting just above the relegation places. With Stern John now back from international duty I break my own rule and change a winning team, moving Molist to the bench to make room for the powerful striker. The home side really give us a torrid time and we are forced to defend for much of the game whilst looking to hit them on the break when possible. We take the lead against the run of play when a Gary Speed free kick is deflected past the Sporting keeper. But this lasts less than two minutes before the home side even things up. Warner is forced into action with increasing frequency as Gijón press for further goals but we hold firm. The excellent Zurita often offers our beleaguered defence an outlet to relieve the pressure and one such break leads to our second goal on 55 minutes when the winger finds Stern John who finishes powerfully. The remainder of the game seems to go by in slow motion as the home team push us back deeper and deeper as they search for the draw. But once again the defence holds firm and I am delighted to travel back to Motril with a 2-1 win.

Monday 28th

Zurita agreed an improved contract with us today and I am delighted that he has pledged his future to us.

The end of another month and time seems to be flying by these days. The whole team is on an incredible high, boosted by our extraordinary impact on La Liga.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">*******************************************************************************************

Spanish First Division - Wednesday 30th November 2005

*******************************************************************************************

Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1st Barcelona 11 6 0 1 24 3 3 1 0 8 1 28

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2nd MOTRIL 12 4 1 0 16 7 4 1 2 11 11 26

3rd Atlético Madrid 12 4 1 0 6 1 3 1 3 5 6 23

4th Valencia 12 5 2 0 12 5 2 0 3 10 12 23

5th Real Madrid 12 5 2 0 14 3 2 0 3 4 9 23

6th Sevilla 13 2 1 4 6 7 4 2 0 6 1 21

7th Málaga 13 4 1 1 9 6 1 4 2 8 9 20

8th Celta 11 5 1 0 17 3 1 1 3 5 6 20

9th Betis 12 2 1 2 6 5 3 3 1 12 8 19

10th Real Sociedad 12 5 1 1 12 6 0 1 4 3 12 17

11th Badajoz 13 3 1 2 9 8 1 3 3 2 7 16

12th Leganés 12 4 0 2 11 9 1 1 4 4 12 16

13th Villarreal 13 2 3 2 10 5 2 0 4 6 8 15

14th Athletic Bilbao 11 2 2 0 6 3 2 1 4 7 10 15

15th Deportivo 12 2 3 1 9 9 1 1 4 7 14 13

16th Osasuna 13 3 0 3 7 8 1 1 5 7 16 13

17th Sporting Gijón 12 2 1 3 9 11 1 0 5 8 22 10

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

18th Espanyol 13 2 1 3 4 7 0 2 5 6 13 9

19th Tenerife 13 1 1 5 6 13 1 1 4 5 12 8

20th Recreativo 12 2 1 3 13 12 0 0 6 7 17 7</pre>

[BobBev]

December 2005

Sunday 4th

The run in to the end of the year begins with a visit by Villarreal. Our opponents are in the lower half of the table so we have a chance of picking up some points in this game. The team is unchanged except for the inclusion of Frédéric Piquionne on the bench as the Frenchman has been very impressive in training recently. My confidence looks unfounded early on as the visitors really catch us cold and score twice in 2 minutes. But then they decide to sit back and defend and this gives us the initiative. However, having decided to hold on to what they’ve got they proceed to do it very well indeed. They defend determinedly, aided by an inspired keeper who repels everything that we can throw at him. Zurita gets a goal back with 15 minutes remaining but despite using all of may attacking options from the bench we just can’t find an equaliser. The 2-1 defeat is just our 3rd in 13 games but it is very frustrating nonetheless.

Saturday 10th

A second consecutive home game against lower-table opposition, Osasuna in this case, offers a potential opportunity to regain our momentum. I resist the temptation to change the team as, apart from a lack of concentration in the early stage, we played very well last weekend. The game is played at a fair pace with much commitment shown by both teams. Stern John gives us the lead after 15 minutes and with both keepers in excellent form there is no further scoring. I would have preferred a more convincing win but I am very happy to accept the three points.

Wednesday 14th

We begin our Spanish Cup campaign with a trip to Division 2B side Dos Hermanas, near Sevilla. I would like a decent cup run but that pales into insignificance compared to the league so I decide to change the team around completely. This serves two purposes – it gives our backup players some welcome action and it preserves our top performers for the rigours of the league campaign. There were some excellent performances in a comfortable 4-0 win with Darren Fletcher staking a claim for a starting place by scoring a hat trick and Ramón Cabrera playing well on the right wing. The only negative was an injury to Nicola Legrottaglie that will keep him out of action for a fortnight.

Thursday 15th

We bid farewell to Mora today as he begins his new career at Celta. Although he was only with us for a season and a half he was an important part of our defence and his presence will be missed.

Friday 16th

It looks like our Spanish Cup run will soon be over as, for the third time in 5 seasons we are drawn against Barcelona.

Sunday 18th

We face a testing game against Deportivo at the Raizor Stadium so I go back to my favoured lineup after last week’s cup game. The game is very evenly contested and we are perhaps unfortunate to go into the break a goal behind as Stern John came close to scoring at the end of the half but was denied by the woodwork. We fall further behind in the second half after a penalty decision goes against us but the ever-willing Zurita gives us hope with a goal 15 minutes from time. However we cannot find an equaliser and have to return to Motril on the wrong end of a 2-1 scoreline.

Wednesday 21st

We have a rare midweek game and a tough one it will be to as Atlético Madrid come to town. Gary Speed and Carlos Rivera are looking tired after the game at the weekend so they are replaced by Ramón Conget and Darren Fletcher respectively. Stern John scores an early goal to get us off to a wonderful start and a penalty calmly converted by Léon Hese takes us into the break 2-0 ahead. Unfortunately we seem to lose our edge in the second half and allow the visitors to recover and strike back twice for a 2-2 draw.

And so we reach the end of the year having slipped to 5th in the table but still far from the relegation struggle that most would have predicted for our tiny little club.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">*******************************************************************************************

Spanish First Division - Sunday 1st January 2006

*******************************************************************************************

Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1st Barcelona 16 8 0 1 26 3 4 2 1 11 5 38

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2nd Real Madrid 16 7 2 0 17 4 4 0 3 9 10 35

3rd Sevilla 17 4 1 4 11 8 6 2 0 8 1 33

4th Atlético Madrid 17 5 2 1 8 3 4 2 3 9 8 31

5th MOTRIL 16 5 2 1 20 11 4 1 3 12 13 30

6th Betis 16 4 1 2 10 5 4 3 2 15 11 28

7th Valencia 17 5 2 1 13 7 3 1 5 16 18 27

8th Deportivo 17 5 3 1 18 13 2 1 5 10 18 25

9th Celta 16 5 2 1 19 6 2 1 5 7 10 24

10th Real Sociedad 17 5 2 2 14 9 2 1 5 10 17 24

11th Villarreal 17 3 3 3 15 9 4 0 4 9 9 24

12th Málaga 17 4 1 3 9 8 2 4 3 10 11 23

13th Athletic Bilbao 16 3 2 2 9 7 3 1 5 10 12 21

14th Leganés 16 4 1 3 12 12 2 1 5 5 13 20

15th Badajoz 17 4 1 3 12 11 1 3 5 2 11 19

16th Osasuna 17 5 0 3 11 9 1 1 7 8 20 19

17th Tenerife 17 2 1 6 8 16 2 2 4 7 13 15

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

18th Espanyol 17 2 2 4 5 9 0 4 5 9 16 12

19th Sporting Gijón 17 2 1 6 11 19 1 0 7 10 28 10

20th Recreativo 16 3 1 4 17 16 0 0 8 8 21 10</pre>

[BobBev]

January 2006

Wednesday 4th

We travel to Barcelona fresh from our Christmas break and ready to give the league leaders and cup holders as good a game as we can in the 2nd round of the Spanish Cup. Unfortunately our best efforts were well short of what was required and we took a real battering, conceding two goals in each half to suffer a 4-0 defeat.

Sunday 8th

We need to put our heavy midweek defeat behind us and concentrate on the league match against visiting Athletic Bilbao. Stern John gets us off to a good start when he rounds off a lovely flowing move to give us the lead. Unfortunately this lasts for less that 10 minutes before the visitors equalise. We have the better of the play for the remainder of the half and Federico Arias scores his first goal of the season to take us into the break in the lead. Less than 10 minutes after the restart Estecha scores our third to give us a two-goal cushion. We create enough opportunities to stretch our lead further but fail to make them count and are lucky not to get caught on the break on occasions. At the end of the game I am well enough pleased with the 3-1 win even though the margin could have been greater.

Tuesday 10th

Abraham has agreed a move to Division Two side Calahorra in the summer when his contract expires. I have made no attempt to keep him at the club as he doesn’t feature in my plans and has not made an appearance for the team for some time.

Sunday 15th

We have visitors from Barcelona for our next league fixture but on this occasion we are playing their less glamorous neighbours Espanyol. They are struggling in the league this season and are currently second from bottom. I decide to give young Antônio Carlos Fábio a start in defence in place of Léon Hese. The 19-year-old played well in his only previous start in the cup and he is looking very good in training. The match is very evenly balanced and we are a little fortunate to reach half time with a one-goal lead thanks to Stern John. With chances aplenty for both sides it is surprising that there is no further scoring until the 88th minute. But when the goal comes it is an absolute peach. Darren Fletcher had earlier replaced a very subdued Jorginho and the young Scotsman made a dazzling run that culminated in a perfect pass that Zurita dispatched with glee. Deep in stoppage time Estecha put the icing on the cake with a final goal to give us a 3-0 win. Fábio had a terrific game and will probably remain in the starting lineup as will young Fletcher.

Wednesday 18th

I have had to re-think some of my selection intentions for the trip to Sevilla to play Betis as one or two payers are looking tired. So Fábio doesn’t start after all and Danjou comes in instead. Also Speed is replaced by Conget, Carlos Rivera makes way for Olivares and Arias is replaced by O’Brien. From the first whistle to the last Betis are all over us and we never really get into our stride. Tony Warner keeps us in the game with a series of fine saves but just when it looks like we will reach the break on even terms the home side make the breakthrough in stoppage time. It is more of the same in the second half but on one of our rare forays upfield Olivares scores an equaliser very much against the run of play. As the clock winds down it looks like we will escape with a lucky point but it is not to be as Betis score the winner with just two minutes remaining. It is a frustrating end to the game but in truth we didn’t deserve to take anything from this game and the result certainly reflected the balance of play.

Sunday 22nd

The visit to struggling Badajoz gives us an immediate opportunity to regain our momentum. Ramón Conget has impressed and he keeps his place in the team with Fábio coming into defence. Carlos Rivera and Arias are also restored to the lineup but Zurita moves to the bench for a rest and Ramón Cabrera takes his place. Despite having much the better of the first half we go into the break all square. The home side scored with their only effort of note in the half before Darren Fletcher responded with an equaliser 10 minutes before the break. We seem to lose our way in the second period and a very poor half ends with no further scoring. The 1-1 draw is rather disappointing as I fully expect to take all three points in these types of fixtures now.

Wednesday 25th

There hasn’t been too much time to think about the visit of Real Madrid to the Escribano Castilla. We have never played the Madrid giants before and the prospect is exciting to say the least. However I would certainly have liked a little more time to prepare after our last match as a number of players have to be rested and I cannot field what I feel is my best team. Irrespective of the lineup, the players really rise to the occasion and refuse to be overawed by the reputation and stature of the visitors. The opening exchanges are fairly even but we take the lead after half an hour when Xavier Molist is scythed down in the area. He is unable to continue and is replaced by Jurandir before young Kévin Jacmot nestles the spot kick into the corner of the net. To my delight Jurandir, in only his second start of the season, puts us 2-0 up just before half time. Real come at us strongly after the break but Tony Warner and the woodwork keep them at bay initially. We do succumb to the pressure however when Raul and Morientes score within a minute of one another to tie the game. We have the odd breakaway chance ourselves but there is no further scoring and the games ends 2-2. Before the kickoff I would have been delighted to take a point from Real but having led 2-0 it is slightly disappointing that we didn’t hold on for the win.

Sunday 29th

The month ends with a visit by neighbours Málaga who sit some 9 places below us in the table at present. We are undefeated in our three previous competitive outings against them and I hope to extend that run today. The first half is a nervous affair with neither side playing particularly well. Málaga come close to scoring when they hit the post with a long-range effort and then 10 minutes before half time they go one better to take the lead. Just before the break Darren Fletcher hobbles off to be replaced by a fit-again Jorginho. Five minutes after the restart Zurita heads home for what looks to be an equaliser, only to be denied by an offside decision. But the visitors continue to press and some good goalkeeping together with some desperate defending is required to keep them at bay. We make the odd break forward but really don’t look too threatening. Both sides hit the woodwork as the game progresses but with less than 10 minutes remaining it looks like we are heading for defeat. I throw Ramón Cabrera on as an extra attacker to try to force an equaliser. It pays off, at least indirectly, as Jorginho forces the ball home with 4 minutes remaining to grab a scarcely deserved draw. The news on Fletcher isn’t great – a pulled hamstring will sideline him for at least a month.

Overall it’s been another excellent month as we continue to confound all expectations by riding high in the Primera Liga, despite all of the forecasts that the Motril bubble will soon burst. The pundits may well be right but we’re certainly going to enjoy our time in the spotlight while we can.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">*******************************************************************************************

Spanish First Division - Tuesday 31st January 2006

*******************************************************************************************

Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1st Barcelona 21 11 0 1 34 3 4 3 2 12 7 48

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2nd Real Madrid 21 8 2 1 18 5 5 2 3 13 13 43

3rd Sevilla 22 4 3 4 12 9 7 4 0 12 4 40

4th MOTRIL 22 7 4 1 29 15 4 2 4 14 16 39

5th Atlético Madrid 22 7 2 2 11 5 4 4 3 11 10 39

6th Betis 22 6 2 3 17 11 4 3 4 16 14 35

7th Deportivo 22 7 3 2 25 19 3 1 6 11 19 34

8th Villarreal 21 5 4 3 18 10 5 0 4 10 9 34

9th Valencia 21 5 3 1 13 7 4 2 6 21 22 32

10th Leganés 21 7 1 4 19 18 3 1 5 8 14 32

11th Real Sociedad 21 7 3 2 18 11 2 1 6 12 20 31

12th Celta 22 5 3 2 22 11 3 1 8 9 15 28

13th Málaga 21 4 1 4 9 9 3 5 4 14 15 27

14th Athletic Bilbao 21 4 3 2 11 8 3 2 7 15 20 26

15th Badajoz 21 4 2 3 13 12 2 4 6 6 16 24

16th Osasuna 22 5 3 4 14 13 1 1 8 9 22 22

17th Tenerife 22 3 1 6 11 18 2 4 6 7 16 20

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

18th Sporting Gijón 22 4 1 7 15 21 2 0 8 13 32 19

19th Espanyol 22 4 2 4 9 10 0 4 8 10 22 18

20th Recreativo 21 3 1 5 18 18 0 0 12 10 30 10</pre>

[BobBev]

February 2006

Sunday 5th

We start off with a visit to struggling Recreativo with the definite intention of getting a win under our belts. Despite a significant amount of pressure in the first half our front two pose more of a danger to the spectators behind the Recreativo goal than to the home keeper as we squander a number of excellent chances. After a stern lecture at half time I hope that things will change for the better in the second period. My expectations are unfortunately not met and it is the home side that threaten more than we do. But with about 25 minutes remaining we are awarded a penalty when Federico Arias is tripped in the area. Suat Usta shows great composure to tuck away the spot kick to give us a somewhat fortuitous lead. We continue to ride our luck as Warner makes some fine saves to keep our lead intact and we are able to see out the game for a 1-0 win.

Sunday 12th

Celta are the next up at the Escribano Castilla and as they are now in the bottom half of the table I hope that we will avenge our 3-1 defeat at their hands earlier in the season. The game is very even in terms of possession but the visitors look to have more of a cutting edge up front than we do. However we take the lead after 25 minutes through Jorginho but Celta gain a deserved equaliser before half time. We play well in the second half but our strikers just aren’t doing the business at present and it is mainly thanks to Warner that there is no further score. The 1-1 draw is disappointing and the coaches and I need to do some work to try to pep things up a little. Stern John seems to have gone off the boil recently after a good start to the season so it may well be time to mix things up a little in the forwards.

Sunday 19th

The trip to Valencia sees the return of Estecha and Molist in attack as they have both fully recovered from injury and I feel that it is time for a change up front. Young Ramón Conget has been playing well just in front of the defence but I decide that the experience of Gary Speed is required for this game. We start like an express train and force the home keeper into several fine saves early on before Jorginho opens the scoring after 18 minutes. But things start to go pear shaped when Antônio Carlos Fábio is dismissed for a professional foul when he hauls a player back in the area. The resulting penalty is converted to square the game. Estecha is sacrificed up front to allow Dario Biasi to come on in defence. We hold out until half time and then on the hour mark we are forced into another change when Suat Usta retires injured. With no other natural central defender on the bench Ramón Conget is brought on to play at the back. We defend well, even with a man short, and even threaten to score ourselves on the break. However, there is no further scoring and in the circumstances the 1-1 draw is not a bad result.

Sunday 26th

I felt that the dismissal of Fábio in our previous match was rather harsh and so I lodged an appeal with the Spanish FA. Much to my surprise they upheld my complaint and overturned the player’s proposed ban – that doesn’t happen very often in Spain I can tell you. That meant that he was available for the visit of Tenerife so I could field an unchanged side. The game itself was quite a thriller, especially for the travelling fans. We took the lead early through Jorginho but they scored twice within 5 minutes to turn the game around. Then Jorginho found the net once more as his excellent scoring run continued and the score was tied at 2-2 after 20 minutes. There was no further scoring in an end-to-end first half but the visitors scored once more just 5 minutes into the second period. This time we were unable to find a response and suffered a very disappointing 3-2 defeat.

Not a great month as far as results are concerned and we slip down a place in the league. Speculation is increasing that the wheels are coming off and that we are about to start a slide down the table. This makes me all the more determined to keep things going well if at all possible.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">*******************************************************************************************

Spanish First Division - Wednesday 1st March 2006

*******************************************************************************************

Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1st Barcelona 26 12 0 1 36 3 7 4 2 20 7 61

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2nd Real Madrid 26 9 3 1 20 5 6 4 3 18 16 52

3rd Sevilla 26 6 3 4 18 9 8 4 1 14 7 49

4th Atlético Madrid 26 9 2 2 14 5 4 6 3 12 11 47

5th MOTRIL 26 7 5 2 32 19 5 3 4 16 17 44

6th Deportivo 26 9 3 2 28 20 4 1 7 12 21 43

7th Betis 26 8 2 3 21 11 4 3 6 16 16 41

8th Villarreal 26 6 5 3 24 13 5 0 7 13 16 38

9th Real Sociedad 26 7 3 3 18 15 4 1 8 18 26 37

10th Valencia 26 6 5 1 17 9 4 2 8 21 26 37

11th Athletic Bilbao 26 7 4 2 21 13 3 3 7 16 21 37

12th Celta 26 7 3 2 25 11 3 2 9 10 17 35

13th Leganés 26 7 1 6 21 24 3 1 8 9 21 32

14th Málaga 26 5 1 6 10 12 3 6 5 16 19 31

15th Badajoz 26 5 4 3 16 14 2 4 8 6 20 29

16th Tenerife 26 5 1 6 16 21 3 4 7 10 19 29

17th Espanyol 26 7 2 4 16 11 0 4 9 11 25 27

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

18th Osasuna 26 6 3 5 16 16 1 1 10 11 27 25

19th Sporting Gijón 26 5 1 8 17 23 2 0 10 14 37 22

20th Recreativo 26 3 2 7 18 20 0 0 14 11 35 11</pre>

[BobBev]

March 2006

Thursday 2nd

One significant change has taken place on the coaching staff as Gary Speed has been appointed as my new Assistant Manager. His contract was coming to an end and I was keen to keep him on board. As one of our most senior professionals Gary has years of top class experience behind him and I have been very impressed by the way that he has been helping the other players along. Ignacio Martín Esperanza has been my assistant since my first season in charge but I felt that Gary could do a better job of nurturing the younger players. Ignacio wasn’t prepared to stay on in a coaching position as he, rightly, saw this as a demotion so he decided to move on and look for other opportunities.

Saturday 4th

Today we are in Madrid to face the might Real once more. Our opponents are starting to lose touch with Barcelona and will be desperate for three points to maintain their title challenge so we will be in for a very hard game. With over 66,000 fans in the Bernabeu Stadium the atmosphere was electric but on 37 minutes the home crowd were silenced when Molist gave us the lead. Alas, within 60 seconds they were as noisy as ever as former Middlesbrough player Juninho equalised. Real captain Raul gave them the lead within two minutes of the restart and Tote added their third 10 minutes later. We continued to work hard but lacked the class to find a way back into the game. The 3-1 defeat was a fair reflection of the balance of play and shows that we still have a fair way to go before we can compete with the very best in the division.

Sunday 12th

The last thing we need after our game in Madrid is the visit of 3rd place Sevilla but that is exactly what we are getting. I restore Stern John to the team hoping that his recent rest had re-invigorated him. We are under the cosh from the start as the visitors press hard looking for goals and we concede early, going behind after just 12 minutes. Things get worse when Rico is red-carded for a fairly innocuous push on the stroke of half time. I decide to try to play with two at the back rather than sacrifice an attacker but on 62 minutes we fall two behind and things look grim. Stern John pulls one back with 10 minutes remaining and although we come close a couple of times we can’t find an equaliser. The 2-1 defeat was our third in succession and it is now 6 games since our last win. The pundits are now saying that Motril have been found out and that this is just the start of our slide down the table.

Sunday 19th

We travel to San Sebastian to play Real Sociedad without Rico who is serving a one-match suspension so Biasi will start and Usta goes to the bench. In the build up to the game I have been trying to use the negative press reports as a way to motivate the players, encouraging them to go out and prove everybody wrong. When Estecha gives us the lead after just 5 minutes my mind games appear to be working. But the home side equalise within 5 minutes and then take the lead just before the half hour. I am pleased with the way that we respond though and Stern John gives us a deserved equaliser on the stroke of half time. Unfortunately the home side catch us cold and go back in front virtually straight from the restart. Once again we showed great determination and Jorginho levelled the score within two minutes. We survived a couple of close shaves on Tony Warner’s goal and then with less than 10 minutes remaining Arias scored our 4th goal. We were able to hang on for an excellent 4-3 win

Saturday 25th

Gary Speed continues to captain his country and today he scored in the 4-0 win in the friendly between Wales and Latvia. The previous evening Darren Fletcher captained the Scottish U21 team as they won 2-1 in Poland.

Wednesday 29th

Still on a high after our fine win 10 days ago we now face one of the toughest games of the season as league leaders and champions elect Barcelona come to the Escribano Castilla. Rico is back from suspension so we can field what I consider to be our strongest team. The game turns out to be one that I will remember for a very long time. Barca have the better of the first half and we survive two penalty appeals but thanks to some heroic defending and some great saves by Warner we reach the break all square. When Estecha gave us the lead with 20 minutes remaining I nearly knocked myself out as I leapt up and smacked my head against the roof of the dugout. The visitors scored a deserved equalise 10 minutes later but we were able to play out time and the 1-1 draw is as good a result as we could have hoped for. Gary Speed was immense for us and even at 36 he is still capable of playing at the highest level. In fact the entire defence really rose to the occasion and Danjou was unfortunate to pick up a knee injury that will put him out for a few weeks.

So we reach the end of March and the league table still makes happy reading as we continue to confound expectations and hang on to a top-five place.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">*******************************************************************************************

Spanish First Division - Saturday 1st April 2006

*******************************************************************************************

Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1st Barcelona 30 14 0 1 44 3 8 5 2 22 8 71

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2nd Real Madrid 30 11 3 1 27 7 8 4 3 24 17 64

3rd Sevilla 30 8 3 4 23 10 9 4 2 16 10 58

4th Atlético Madrid 30 10 3 2 16 5 4 6 5 15 18 51

5th MOTRIL 30 7 6 3 34 22 6 3 5 21 23 48

6th Betis 30 8 3 4 23 16 5 4 6 20 18 46

7th Athletic Bilbao 30 9 4 2 26 14 4 3 8 18 25 46

8th Valencia 30 8 5 1 24 11 4 4 8 23 28 45

9th Deportivo 30 9 4 3 29 23 4 1 9 14 26 44

10th Villarreal 30 8 5 3 31 13 5 0 9 13 20 44

11th Real Sociedad 30 8 3 4 22 19 4 2 9 18 28 41

12th Málaga 30 6 3 6 13 13 4 6 5 17 19 39

13th Celta 30 7 5 2 27 13 3 3 10 11 20 38

14th Leganés 30 8 1 6 26 28 3 1 11 9 36 35

15th Badajoz 30 6 5 4 18 15 2 5 8 6 20 34

16th Tenerife 30 6 1 7 19 25 3 5 8 10 21 33

17th Espanyol 30 8 3 4 17 11 0 5 10 12 28 32

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

18th Osasuna 30 8 3 5 22 17 1 2 11 12 30 32

19th Sporting Gijón 30 5 1 9 17 24 2 0 13 19 45 22

20th Recreativo 30 3 3 8 18 22 0 1 15 11 36 13</pre>

[BobBev]

April 2006

Sunday 2nd

The trip to Leganés presents us with an opportunity to keep our momentum going and if we can play as well as we did against Barcelona then we will be returning with three points. Fábio is still very tired after his midweek heroics and Danjou is injured so Usta and Biasi will start with Fábio on the bench. As it happens, some of last week’s luck deserts us for this game. We start off well and take the lead through Estecha after 20 minutes. But then just as half time approaches we are denied a stonewall penalty by the match officials and, as if in celebration of their escape, the home side go straight upfield and score an equaliser. With 20 minutes remaining they then take the lead and we are staring a poor defeat in the face. I throw on Molist as an extra attacker and with 7 minutes remaining Stern John heads home to tie the scores. I am disappointed with the 2-2 draw as I had really expected us to win this game.

Wednesday 5th

In an unfortunate quirk of fate Barcelona and Real Madrid are drawn against one another in the Champions League Quarter Finals and tonight Barca won their home leg 1-0 to take a narrow lead to the Bernabeu.

Thursday 6th

Not content with pitting Spanish teams against one another in the Champions League, UEFA have managed to do the same in the UEFA Cup Semi Finals as Sporting Gijón face Celta. Gijón gain an excellent 3-1 win and Celta will have to take full advantage of their away goal if they are to progress

Sunday 9th

Today’s visitors Sporting Gijón may be flying high in Europe but domestically they are in the bottom three and in real danger of being relegated. Fábio is back in the starting lineup and I have made one other change to the team, deciding to start Darren Fletcher in midfield instead of Carlos Rivera. It is a big step dropping the club captain but I feel that Darren offers us more attacking options and he really is too good to be warming the bench. Gary Speed is given the armband and Carlos Rivera takes a seat amongst the subs. The visitors show no signs of tiredness after their midweek European adventure and start very brightly, taking the lead after 10 minutes. We play very poorly and look laboured and short of ideas. Even after they have a man sent off on the half hour we fail to create any openings. They defend in depth and we are unable to break them down. I introduce Molist as a third attacker with 30 minutes remaining but it makes no difference and the 1-0 defeat is one of the poorest results of the season.

Sunday 16th

We travel to Villarreal looking to find a way to get back into winning ways. I opt to go with an unchanged team but once again our performance is very poor. Everything is so flat and I am at a loss as to how to counteract it. We concede a very early goal and are fortunate to gain an equaliser through Stern John just before half time. In the second half it is a question of hanging on for the point, which is very frustrating as I want to see us pushing forward looking for the win. But the confidence of the players seems very fragile at present and I need to find a way to reinvigorate them somehow. As I peruse the rest of the results later that evening I realise that it could be a lot worse – Recreativo suffer their 25th defeat of the season and become the first team to be relegated from the Primera Liga.

Wednesday 19th

Barcelona progress to the Champions League Semi Finals courtesy of an exciting 2-2 draw at Real Madrid.

Thursday 20th

The away goal scored by Celta in the first leg does indeed prove crucial as they beat Sporting Gijón 2-0 to go through to the UEFA Cup Final on away goals.

Sunday 23rd

With only 2 wins in our last 11 games we have slipped down to 7th place in the table and our trip to relegation-threatened Osasuna offers us our best chance of a victory in any of our remaining 5 matches. An open and entertaining game sees both sides have plenty of scoring opportunities but the game is finally settled in our favour with 20 minutes remaining by a goal from Estecha. The 1-0 win makes a welcome relief from our run of draws and defeats

Sunday 30th

In browsing through this morning’s sports news I see that the local derby at the Nou Camp between Barcelona and Espanyol set a new attendance record with an incredible 97,999 fans witnessing Barca’s comfortable 4-0 win. I have to make a change for the visit of Deportivo as Dario Biasi picked up a knock in midweek training so Suat Usta comes into defence. Stern John gives us the lead less than 10 minutes into the game but 5 minutes later the visitors equalise. We face some sustained pressure and are grateful for the excellence of Tony Warner in goal as he makes a series of fine saves. Then in a devastating three-minute spell we score twice. Stern John gets his second on 28 minutes and on 31 Jorginho scores one of his trademark solo efforts. We are still on a high after the break and within three minutes of the restart Zurita puts us 4-1 ahead. Deportivo manage to pull one goal back but I am delighted with our excellent 4-2 win.

So with three games remaining in our debut season in La Liga we are maintaining our position in the top half of the table. But with games against Atlético Madrid, Athletic Bilbao and Betis, all of whom are pressing for a top-five finish, we will do very well indeed to hold on to 6th place.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">*******************************************************************************************

Spanish First Division - Sunday 30th April 2006

*******************************************************************************************

Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1st Barcelona 35 16 0 2 52 7 9 6 2 24 9 81

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2nd Real Madrid 35 14 3 1 38 8 10 4 3 29 17 79

3rd Sevilla 35 9 5 4 28 12 9 5 3 19 14 64

4th Valencia 35 11 5 1 30 11 5 5 8 25 29 58

5th Betis 35 10 3 4 27 16 6 6 6 26 23 57

6th MOTRIL 35 8 6 4 38 25 7 5 5 25 26 56

7th Atlético Madrid 35 11 4 2 17 5 4 7 7 15 20 56

8th Athletic Bilbao 35 10 4 3 29 17 5 3 10 23 33 52

9th Villarreal 35 8 7 3 32 14 7 0 10 17 23 52

10th Real Sociedad 35 11 3 4 29 22 4 2 11 19 32 50

11th Celta 35 8 7 2 32 17 5 3 10 18 23 49

12th Deportivo 35 10 4 4 33 25 4 1 12 17 33 47

13th Tenerife 35 7 2 8 23 30 4 6 8 14 23 41

14th Málaga 35 6 3 8 13 16 4 7 7 18 24 40

15th Leganés 35 9 2 7 30 32 3 1 13 9 41 39

16th Espanyol 35 9 3 5 19 15 0 6 12 12 33 36

17th Osasuna 35 9 3 6 24 19 1 3 13 15 38 36

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

18th Badajoz 35 6 6 5 20 19 2 5 11 7 28 35

19th Sporting Gijón 35 6 2 10 19 26 3 0 14 20 46 29

20th R Recreativo 35 4 4 9 24 27 0 1 17 11 42 17</pre>

[BobBev]

May 2006

Sunday 7th

The final run in begins with a trip to the capital to face Atlético Madrid. The home side go in front after quarter of an hour but apart from that there is little to separate the two sides. We press hard for an equaliser but the Madrid keeper is in fine form and he denies us on several occasions. The 1-0 defeat is disappointing as the least we deserved was a point.

Thursday 11th

In my own mind I am already beginning to prepare for next season and when striker Emiliano Bonazzoli is transfer listed by Badajoz I make an immediate offer of €2.3M. This is accepted and the 27-year-old Italian will join us next month.

Sunday 14th

Our final home game of the season is against Betis and I am not too optimistic of taking anything from this match. The first half is very evenly contested however and we reach the break scoreless. But I am very disappointed that a lack of concentration after the restart allows the visitors to score twice with 10 minutes of the restart. There is no way back for us from that position and the 2-0 defeat is a very poor way to thank our loyal fans for their terrific support this season.

Wednesday 17th

Ajax win the UEFA Cup, defeating Celta 2-1 at the Olimpico in Rome.

Sunday 21st

Rico misses the final game of the season at Athletic Bilbao because of a training injury so Danjou takes his place in defence. Stern John gives us an early lead with his 15th goal of the season and we are able to hold off the home side fairly comfortably to end the season with a 1-0 win and three points. Real Madrid snatch the title from Barcelona after they win 3-0 in Tenerife and Barca are held 1-1 at relegated Recreativo. A 3-0 defeat at Atlético Madrid relegates Osasuna and Sporting Gijón also go down after a scoreless draw at Badajoz with the home side escaping by a single point.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">*******************************************************************************************

Spanish First Division - Sunday 21st May 2006

*******************************************************************************************

Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1st C Real Madrid 38 15 3 1 41 9 12 4 3 33 17 88

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2nd Barcelona 38 17 0 2 55 8 9 8 2 26 11 86

3rd Sevilla 38 10 5 4 30 13 9 6 4 19 16 68

4th Betis 38 11 4 4 30 18 7 6 6 28 23 64

5th Atlético Madrid 38 13 4 2 21 5 4 8 7 15 20 63

6th Valencia 38 12 5 2 32 12 5 5 9 26 32 61

7th MOTRIL 38 8 6 5 38 27 8 5 6 26 27 59

8th Real Sociedad 38 12 3 4 30 22 5 2 12 21 35 56

9th Athletic Bilbao 38 10 4 5 29 20 6 3 10 26 34 55

10th Villarreal 38 8 7 4 33 17 7 0 12 17 25 52

11th Deportivo 38 10 5 4 33 25 5 2 12 22 36 52

12th Celta 38 8 7 4 32 19 5 3 11 19 25 49

13th Tenerife 38 8 2 9 27 35 5 6 8 15 23 47

14th Málaga 38 8 3 8 18 17 4 7 8 19 27 46

15th Espanyol 38 11 3 5 21 15 0 6 13 13 37 42

16th Leganés 38 10 2 7 32 33 3 1 15 9 44 42

17th Badajoz 38 6 8 5 21 20 2 5 12 8 30 37

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

18th R Sporting Gijón 38 7 2 10 23 27 4 1 14 22 46 36

19th R Osasuna 38 9 3 7 25 22 1 3 15 17 45 36

20th R Recreativo 38 4 6 9 25 28 0 1 18 11 43 19</pre>

Our 7th place finish nets us a cool €5.5M in prize money and in my opinion it is a quite magnificent achievement in our first ever season at the highest level. Perhaps more significantly, it just sneaks us into the UEFA Cup so, for the first time in the club’s history, Motril will be playing in Europe.

Wednesday 24th

Manchester United are crowned kings of Europe after they lift the Champions League with a 2-0 victory over Roma in Copenhagen.

Saturday 27th

Real Madrid miss out on the domestic double after neighbours Atlético win the Spanish Cup on penalties after a 1-1 draw.

Tuesday 30th

Zurita is deservedly voted the Supporters Player of the season after his fine form – with 8 goals and 16 assists his contribution has been significant indeed.

[BobBev]

June/July 2006

Whilst the playing staff took a well-deserved rest the coaches and I were hard at work preparing for the season ahead. One of the most important tasks that I had to take care of was to put in place the final arrangements for the planned upgrade to the Escribano Castilla. Our on-field success had improved our financial situation to such an extent that we were able to invest some €10M to bring the stadium up to a reasonable level. Much of the preparatory work had been carried out as the season progressed and in the off-season we were able to complete the work. We now had a capacity of some 12,500 with just over 7.000 seats, a major improvement.

I still have some time to take in the odd World Cup game on TV despite all of the frantic activity. I certainly make time to watch the final as Argentina lift the trophy with a narrow 1-0 win over Nigeria.

There are also a number of developments as far as the playing squad is concerned. After giving the matter some considerable thought, Gary Speed has decided to retire from the playing side to concentrate fully on his role as Assistant Manager. I felt that, even at the age of 36, he could have combined the roles for another season but I respect Gary’s decision.

Weimar Franck Olivares reached the end of his contract and as I saw no place for him on the playing staff in the future he was released on a free transfer. A similar decision was taken with regard to Suat Usta a few days later. Abraham left to join Calahorra on a Bosman as arranged earlier in the year.

But no less that 8 players have come into the club to bolster our resources. The vastly experienced Russian international Viktor Onopko was released by Deportivo and I had no hesitation in securing his services. He may be 36 but I think that his experience will be invaluable, especially with Gary no longer being out on the pitch. We also picked up two more free signings. Diego Rivas is a 26-year-old midfielder released by Rayo and Ely Thadeu is an exciting Brazilian forward released by Vasco. Jorginho has been a big success since he joined 3 years ago and I hope that Ely will be just as influential.

Emiliano Bonazzoli joined from Badajoz as planned earlier in the year. We also made a few more signings, the most expensive of which is Irish international Clinton Morrison who cost €5M from Birmingham. Exciting young keeper Luke Steele joined from Sheffield Wednesday in a €3.8M deal. Having been very impressed with the form of Estecha during his loan with us last season we negotiated his transfer from Badajoz for a bargain €1.3M. Finally we paid Atalanta €1.8M for midfielder Massimo Mutarelli.

I have made former backup keeper Emilio Alvarez available, along with Rodolfo Orife and Jurandir as they are all surplus to requirements.

All of our investments over the summer have pretty much cleaned up out financially and I hope that the people of Motril and the surrounding areas will respond by keeping our expanded stadium as full as possible for our home games.

[BobBev]

August/September 2006

Sunday 27th

The new season begins with a visit to Sevilla. I decide to introduce the new players gradually and not flood the team with new faces. Perhaps the biggest change is an experiment with Jorginho playing wide on the left rather than behind the front two. Onopko will be directly replacing Speed in front of the back three and Fletcher will play behind the strikers.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> Morrison John

Fletcher

Jorginho Diego Rivas Zurita (Captain)

Onopko

Rico Biasi Legrottaglie

Warner</pre>

In the first half we play rather poorly and reach the break a goal down. The home side double their advantage shortly after the restart but our play improves after the break. Morrison pulls a goal back with 30 minutes remaining and we create more that enough chances to square the game. However, our finishing is poor, with Morrison in particular failing to hit the target on numerous occasions.

Friday 1st

We agree a deal with D2B side Lorca for striker Jurandir. I accept an offer of €150K and the transfer will go through in December.

Sunday 10th

For the visit of Espanyol, Fábio comes into defence to replace Rico and Morrison drops to the bench with Estecha replacing him. This is our first game in the expanded Escribano Castilla and it is wonderful to see that the people of Mortil have responded and the stadium is nearly full. We have by far the better of the game but once again find goals hard to come by and reach half time scoreless. However Estecha scores what proves to be the winning goal in the second period. I would have preferred a greater margin than the 1-0 win but I am very happy to accept the three points.

Thursday 14th

This is an enormous occasion in the history of the club as we play our first ever European game, a UEFA Cup First Round tie against Dnipro of the Ukraine. The first leg is at the Meteor Stadium in Dnipropetrovsk and it has been quite an exercise in logistics just getting the team here. The weather is rather colder than we are used to at this time of year but at least there is no snow on the ground. I am forced to make a number of changes as many of the players are not yet match fit this early in the season. Diego Rivas drops back to cover the defence whilst Massimo Mutarelli gets his first start in midfield. Lucas Domínguez plays on the left of midfield, Ramón Cabrera is on the right and Ely Thadeu plays behind the front two. I am trying the pairing of Morrison and Estecha to see how they perform together. In the first half we have two strong penalty appeals waved away but then just before the break we get a rather soft penalty decision given our way. Dario Biasi makes no mistake from the spot to give us a valuable away goal. In the second half things really go our way. Ely Thadeu scores twice and Estecha adds another at the death. The 4-0 win should see us comfortably through to the next round.

Sunday 17th

After the excitement of our European experience we are quickly back into league action with what is likely to be a very tough game at Deportivo. Carlos Rivera gets his first start of the season in midfield and Zurita and Jorginho come back into their wide positions with Fletcher playing behind the strikers. Swedish sensation Zlatan Ibrahimovic gives Deportivo the lead on the half hour but Estecha finds an equaliser within 5 minutes. The home side go back in front before half time with a well-worked passing move. We get a glimmer of hope when they have a man dismissed with 30 minutes remaining. When we are still behind with 10 minutes remaining I remove Onopko and put on Piquionne as a third attacker. Minutes later Morrison puts us back on terms and the game ends tied at 2-2.

Sunday 24th

For the visit of Leganes, Ely Thadeu will start in the attacking midfield position instead of Fletcher. The 24-year-old Brazilian scores after 17 minutes and this proves to be the only goal of the game. We create enough chances to secure a more convincing victory but we seem to lack a cutting edge in front of goal that concerns me.

Thursday 28th

The visit of Dnipro turns out to be a real anti-climax as we have such a comfortable lead from the first leg. The game is as dull as we will see all season at the Escribano Castilla and ends scoreless but we progress comfortably courtesy of our excellent first leg performance. The bad news is an injury to midfielder Diego Rivas that will keep him out for a month.

We have made a pretty steady start to the season with just one defeat in our first half dozen games.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">*******************************************************************************************

Spanish First Division - Thursday 28th September 2006

*******************************************************************************************

Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1st Barcelona 4 1 1 0 3 1 2 0 0 4 0 10

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2nd Real Madrid 3 1 0 0 1 0 2 0 0 5 2 9

3rd Celta 4 2 0 0 5 2 0 2 0 2 2 8

4th Betis 4 1 1 0 4 2 1 0 1 4 3 7

5th Villarreal 4 2 0 0 5 1 0 1 1 0 2 7

6th MOTRIL 4 2 0 0 2 0 0 1 1 3 4 7

7th Leganés 4 2 0 0 8 4 0 0 2 1 3 6

8th Deportivo 4 0 2 0 3 3 1 1 0 3 1 6

9th Sevilla 4 2 0 0 4 1 0 0 2 0 3 6

10th Elche 4 2 0 0 5 1 0 0 2 2 6 6

11th Valencia 3 1 1 0 3 1 0 1 0 1 1 5

12th Atlético Madrid 3 1 1 0 2 1 0 1 0 1 1 5

13th Espanyol 4 1 1 0 5 3 0 0 2 0 2 4

14th Mallorca 4 1 0 1 4 3 0 1 1 0 2 4

15th Málaga 4 1 0 1 1 2 0 0 2 4 7 3

16th Oviedo 4 1 0 1 3 3 0 0 2 1 5 3

17th Real Sociedad 4 1 0 1 3 3 0 0 2 1 6 3

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

18th Badajoz 4 1 0 1 1 2 0 0 2 1 6 3

19th Tenerife 4 0 2 0 1 1 0 0 2 0 3 2

20th Athletic Bilbao 3 0 0 1 0 2 0 1 1 3 4 1</pre>

[BobBev]

October 2006

Sunday 1st

For the trip to Tenerife, Massimo Mutarelli comes into midfield for the injured Diego Rivas. The Italian scores his first goal for the club to give us the lead after 20 minutes but the home side equalise from the penalty spot some 15 minutes later. Then Ely Thadeu scores shortly before half time to take us into the break in the lead. The impressive young Brazilian scores his second of the game on the hour mark to give us a fine 3-1 win.

Sunday 15th

After a weekend off because of Euro 2008 qualifying games we get back into league action with a visit by Badajoz. Estecha and Emiliano Bonazzoli both score to put us 2-0 ahead after half an hour. The visitors pull one back before half time and also hit the post so we are lucky to get to the break still in the lead. Badajoz have the better of the second half and come close on a number of occasions, hitting the woodwork again and forcing Tony Warner into some impressive stops. We make the odd break forward but can’t find a decisive third goal but we manage to hang on for a narrow 2-1 win.

Thursday 19th

Our next taste of European action comes in the shape of the home tie against Turkish team Genclerbirligi. Onopko and Cabrera need to be rested and are replaced by Conget and Zurita respectively. Ely Thadeu gets us off to a great start with a goal after just two minutes. Unfortunately we let the visitors back into the game with an equaliser on 10 minutes. But just over 5 minutes later Estecha puts us back in front as we start to dominate the game. The same player adds a second after half time but we fail to fully capitalise on our possession and chances. Both Ely Thadeu and Mutarelli miss good chances to kill off the tie. We will go to Turkey with a decent lead but their away goal could turn out to be critical.

Sunday 22nd

We travel to Oviedo for our next league game and Onopko and Cabrera are back in. The veteran Russian is proving as influential as I had hoped but having just turned 37 he doesn’t have the legs to play twice in a week. We come home with a fine 2-0 win with a goal in each half. Estecha scores the first, pouncing when the keeper spills a powerful header from Bonazzoli. Ely Thadeu gets the second after some brilliant work by Ramón Cabrera. The young winger is in tremendous form and has featured in the Spanish U21 squad on several occasions. He is playing so well that he is keeping Zurita out of the team and that’s no mean feat.

Sunday 29th

For our final league game of the month we welcome the visit of Athletic Bilbao. The Basque side are struggling so far this season and are just above the relegation places. Ramón Cabrera starts off like a man possessed and gives us the lead inside 10 minutes with a brilliant solo effort, his first ever goal for the club. He comes close twice more before Bilbao equalise on the half hour. But then Jorginho puts us back in front and we reach the break 2-1 ahead. We are unable to hold on to our lead though and the visitors get another equaliser within 5 minutes of the restart. With around 15 minutes remaining Jorginho gets his second of the game and we are in the lead once more. However once more we fail to keep the lead and Bilbao tie the scores minutes later. Cabrera is desperately unlucky not to score a late winner but his fine effort is struck off because of an offside decision. So a thrilling game for the fans ends as a 3-3 draw but I am very disappointed that we let a lead slip three times when we should have taken full points from this game. We also have an injury problem with midfielder Massimo Mutarelli out for 3 weeks with an ankle problem.

So October ends with us holding third place in the table and still progressing in the UEFA Cup – not bad at all in my opinion.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">*******************************************************************************************

Spanish First Division - Thursday 2nd November 2006

*******************************************************************************************

Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1st Barcelona 8 3 1 0 10 2 4 0 0 8 1 22

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2nd Real Madrid 7 2 0 1 3 2 4 0 0 10 2 18

3rd MOTRIL 8 3 1 0 7 4 2 1 1 8 5 17

4th Atlético Madrid 8 3 1 0 5 1 1 3 0 7 5 16

5th Celta 8 4 0 0 8 3 0 3 1 2 4 15

6th Sevilla 8 4 0 0 11 1 0 2 2 4 7 14

7th Valencia 7 1 2 1 5 4 2 1 0 7 4 12

8th Real Sociedad 8 3 0 1 11 3 1 0 3 5 11 12

9th Elche 8 2 1 1 7 5 1 1 2 6 8 11

10th Betis 8 1 2 1 7 6 2 0 2 7 6 11

11th Tenerife 8 1 2 1 5 5 2 0 2 3 4 11

12th Mallorca 8 2 1 1 7 5 0 2 2 1 5 9

13th Deportivo 8 0 3 1 7 8 1 2 1 4 3 8

14th Villarreal 8 2 1 1 6 3 0 1 3 0 7 8

15th Málaga 8 2 0 2 3 5 0 1 3 7 11 7

16th Athletic Bilbao 8 1 1 2 4 7 0 2 2 6 8 6

17th Leganés 8 2 0 2 8 8 0 0 4 1 13 6

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

18th Espanyol 8 1 2 1 5 6 0 0 4 0 4 5

19th Oviedo 8 1 1 2 3 5 0 1 3 3 8 5

20th Badajoz 8 1 1 2 6 8 0 0 4 2 12 4</pre>

[BobBev]

November 2006

Thursday 2nd

We travel to Turkey for our UEFA Cup 2nd leg against Genclerbirligi with Fletcher replacing the injured Mutarelli and Onopko dropping to the bench and Conget taking his place. It is a risk not playing the veteran Russian but it is hard for him to play twice a week and I prefer to keep him as fit as possible for our league campaign. I am expecting the Turks to subject us to some pressure as they try to recover from the 3-1 deficit from the first leg. However the game is not as frantic as I expected and we look comfortable in defence and reach the break unscathed. When Estecha scores with just 20 minutes remaining then it’s game over. I am delighted with the 4-1 aggregate but this is tempered slightly by an injury to Ramón Conget who substituted superbly for Onopko and the 22-year-old will be out for 3 weeks.

Sunday 5th

We are in Madrid today to face Atlético who sit just below us in the table so I expect a tough game. Onopko is back in with Diego Rivas now fit enough to go to the bench. Carlos Rivera is recalled into midfield in place of Fletcher as I feel that we may be grateful for his defensive qualities. Young Brazilian defender Fábio is rested and Danjou takes his place – it will be a long season and I don’t want to burn out the younger players or risk long-term injuries. We give a good account of ourselves in the first half even though the home side create some good chances. Tony Warner continues his fine form in goal and makes some excellent saves and on 36 minutes Ely Thadeu puts us in front. Warner continues to be our saviour in the second half and pulls off a string of fine saves to keep our lead intact. We hold on for a narrow win and Tony is rightfully named Man of the Match.

Sunday 12th

For the visit of Betis I give Léon Hese his first start of the season at the back in place of Danjou and Diego Rivas is recalled to the starting lineup at the expense of Carlos Rivera. The visitors catch us cold and take the lead inside the first minute. Midway through the half Ely Thadeu equalises with a curling free kick to take us into the break on even terms. We never really get into our stride in this game and Betis are by far the better team, creating a number of good chances that keeps Warner busy. Had they shown greater composure in front of goal then they could really have capitalised. As it is we ride our luck and see out the draw, although with 5 minutes remaining they had what looked to me like a good goal disallowed for offside.

Saturday 18th

Today we are in the beautiful city of Barcelona to face our sternest test of the season so far. Since 1997 Barca have finished either first or second in La Liga and this season they head the table once again. We face them without the presence of Viktor Onopko as the veteran gained his 117th cap for Russia when he captained them in a midweek friendly against Norway and needs to be rested. Carlos Rivera takes his place and the captain’s armband but otherwise the team is unchanged. As expected, Barca give us quite a roasting in the first half but once again Tony Warner earns every Euro of his salary as he keeps them at bay. And then, totally against the run of play Ely Thadeu gives us the lead on the half hour, latching on to a knockdown from Bonazzoli to tap the ball home. It takes the home side less than two minutes to square the game through Mendieta but the drama is not yet finished. Deep into first half stoppage time Estecha snatches a goal to take us into the break 2-1 ahead. For the first 15 minutes of the second half we look quite comfortable but then Diego Tristan squares the game with a quite brilliant solo effort. 15 minutes later the same player gives Barca the lead with an unstoppable shot from distance before Kluivert kills us off with a late goal. I can have no complaints about the result as we are comprehensively outplayed. The gulf in quality between the teams serves to underline just how much we are over-achieving just in staying near the top of the table and we can have no realistic hopes of usurping teams such as Barcelona.

Thursday 23rd

Our UEFA Cup adventure continues with a trip to Bulgaria for our 3rd round tie against Litex. Onopko comes back in as his experience will be invaluable in a daunting away leg. It is a wet and miserable evening in the city of Lovech but we brush the conditions aside and, in as good an attacking display as I have seen in my time at the club, we go into half time 3-0 ahead. Ramón Cabrera is playing the game of his life and he causes chaos in the Litex defence. Aided and abetted by Ely Thadeu and Emiliano Bonazzoli, he gives the Bulgarians a real roasting. Diego Rivas, Thadeu and Bonazzoli all find the net in the first 35 minutes to put us in a dominant position. We seem to slacken off in the early part of the second half though and allow the home side to pull a goal back. But we soon get back into our stride and the game is wrapped up with a penalty converted by Dario Biasi. The 4-1 win is a fantastic result but considering that we had two great chances cleared off the line it could have been even better. By my reckoning we had 18 shots on target and, if I had been awarding points then Cabrera would have been given a perfect 10 to go with his Man of the Match award. The only downside is a nasty injury to Diego Rivas that could keep hime sidelined for a month.

Sunday 26th

Back to league action and for the visit of Villarreal I rest many of the players involved in Thursday’s game. Ely Thadeu isn’t one of them however and he gives us a great start with a goal after just three minutes. But then we lose influential defender Dario Biasi shortly afterwards and this seems to affect us somewhat. The visitors square the game after 20 minutes as we go off the boil a little. Ely Thadeu is doing his best to win the game single-handedly though and he is unlucky to have a strike chalked off for offside. We fall behind shortly after the restart as we continue to struggle to find some momentum. But then Zurita, back in the starting lineup as Cabrera is rested, finds inspiration and, having already set up Ely Thadeu for the first goal, goes on to provide two more. The first is tucked away by Luis Barrero, a 17-year-old product of the youth academy. The winner comes from José Luis Rico 7 minutes from time as we show great character to recover and gain the three points.

We reach the end of November still holding on to 3rd place in the league and with a great chance to extend our UEFA Cup run. We are losing ground on the top two but this is no great surprise and my objective is to hold on to 3rd place for as long as possible.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">*******************************************************************************************

Spanish First Division - Friday 1st December 2006

*******************************************************************************************

Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1st Barcelona 12 5 1 0 16 5 6 0 0 13 2 34

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2nd Real Madrid 11 4 0 1 9 4 6 0 0 16 3 30

3rd MOTRIL 12 4 2 0 11 7 3 1 2 11 9 24

4th Celta 12 5 1 0 9 3 1 3 2 6 7 22

5th Sevilla 12 5 0 1 14 3 1 3 2 8 9 21

6th Atlético Madrid 12 4 1 1 7 3 1 3 2 9 10 19

7th Real Sociedad 12 4 0 2 14 5 2 0 4 8 14 18

8th Valencia 11 2 2 2 6 5 2 2 1 7 6 16

9th Betis 12 2 3 1 10 8 2 1 3 8 9 16

10th Mallorca 12 3 1 2 11 8 1 2 3 3 6 15

11th Athletic Bilbao 12 2 1 3 6 9 2 2 2 10 10 15

12th Tenerife 12 2 2 2 8 9 2 1 3 6 10 15

13th Deportivo 12 1 3 2 8 9 2 2 2 8 6 14

14th Villarreal 12 3 2 1 9 5 0 2 4 2 10 13

15th Espanyol 12 2 3 1 8 7 1 0 5 5 6 12

16th Málaga 12 3 0 3 7 10 0 2 4 11 16 11

17th Elche 12 2 1 3 8 10 1 1 4 7 12 11

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

18th Badajoz 12 2 1 3 8 12 1 0 5 3 14 10

19th Leganés 12 3 0 3 14 15 0 0 6 1 17 9

20th Oviedo 12 1 2 3 5 8 0 1 5 3 12 6</pre>

[BobBev]

December 2006

Sunday 3rd

The trip to struggling Elche should not cause us too many problems. The injured Biasi is replaced by Legrottaglie, Onopko comes back into the side to replace Carlos Rivera and Jorginho, Cabrera and Estecha are all restored to the staring lineup. But the home side cause us quite a few problems in the first half and we reach the break 2-0 down. My half time team talk is short and sweet and I must say it seems to do the trick. Two goals from Bonazzoli and one from Estecha sees us turn the game around completely and gain a 3-2 win.

Thursday 7th

With a 4-1 aggregate lead I feel confident enough to make some changes for the visit of Litex. Luke Steele gets a first outing in goal to give him a taste of European competition and I bring in Zurita, Jacmot, Dominguez, Stern John, Morrison and Conget. Early goals from Morrison and Dominguez quickly kill the game off and they are matched by late strikes from Stern John and Morrison once more. The 4-0 win gives us a brilliant 8-1 aggregate and keeps our UEFA Cup run very much alive. We have a break from European competition for several months as the 4th round doesn’t take place until the start of March.

Sunday 10th

The visit of Celta is sure to be a challenge so I go back to my first choice starters although Morrison keeps his place up front. An eventful first half sees Massimo Mutarelli give us the lead, Nicola Legrottaglie sent off for violent conduct, both sides have goals disallowed for offside and the visitors hit the woodwork. When Legrottaglie was dismissed I decided to take a chance and rather than withdraw a striker I would play with two at the back in the hope of securing a decisive second goal. But when José Luis Rico is also red-carded 10 minutes from time I have to change things. Morrison and Estecha both come off and Hese and Conget come on in defence. We hold out until virtually the last kick of the game when Celta equalise deep in stoppage time.

Tuesday 12th

I knew that the Spanish FA would be harsh with Legrottaglie because of the nature of his offence (he kicked an opponent) but I did not expect a 9-match ban! Rico has been handed a 3-match suspension and I have appealed against both but with little hope of success.

Wednesday 13th

For our Spanish Cup 1st round game at Murcia of D2B I take the opportunity to make my usual switches in the starting 11 to make sure that the fringe players continue to see action. We are rarely threatened in a comfortable 4-1 win with Morrison scoring twice and John and Dominguez getting one each before the home side got a very late consolation.

Friday 15th

As expected, the FA have dismissed my appeal so no surprise there. Surplus striker Jurandir completes his €150K move to Lorca today as the transfer window re-opens.

Sunday 17th

We make the short trip to struggling Málaga with two central defenders suspended and one still injured. I draft in Fábio and Hese and keep Onpoko on the bench as my only other defensive option. We give ourselves a mountain to climb by conceding two sloppy goals inside the first 20 minutes but Dominguez gives us encouragement by scoring before half time. When John gets the equaliser on 60 minutes I believe that we can go and get the win. It is not to be however, and we concede a third in stoppage time for a poor 3-2 defeat.

Tuesday 26th

After a very short Christmas break we welcome the visit of Mallorca to the Escribano Castilla. We are caught cold by the visitors who score virtually straight from the kick off. We fight back strongly but it was is of those days when we face a keeper at the top of his game and our finishing is just not good enough. With time running out I try my usual ploy of throwing on an extra attacker but it backfires this time. Over-committed going forward, we are caught on the break and Mallorca score their second to take a 2-0 win.

Wednesday 27th

Carlos Rivera informed me today that he would be leaving the club when his contract expires in the summer. Club captain up until the start of this season, he is clearly upset that he has played little part in this year’s campaign and is seeking a playing career elsewhere.

Sunday 31st

The year ends with a visit by Valencia and I am hoping that we can reverse our recent defeats and end the year on a high. Biasi is fit enough to take a seat on the bench but I don’t want to risk rushing him back into action. Unfortunately our slump continues as we give away another early goal in a poor first half display. We improve somewhat in the second period but carelessness in front of goal costs us dear. We are caught with a sucker punch right at the end of the game and the 2-0 defeat is our third in a row.

Our recent poor run has dropped us down to 5th place and I need to find a way to rejuvenate the team as we seem to have lost our creative spark.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">*******************************************************************************************

Spanish First Division - Sunday 31st December 2006

*******************************************************************************************

Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1st Barcelona 17 8 1 0 22 5 6 2 0 13 2 45

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2nd Real Madrid 17 5 2 1 12 6 8 0 1 21 6 41

3rd Sevilla 17 7 0 1 20 6 3 3 3 12 12 33

4th Celta 17 6 2 1 11 7 2 4 2 9 8 30

5th MOTRIL 17 4 3 2 12 12 4 1 3 16 14 28

6th Atlético Madrid 17 6 1 2 9 5 1 4 3 9 12 26

7th Tenerife 17 4 2 2 11 9 3 2 4 10 13 25

8th Mallorca 17 4 3 2 14 9 2 3 3 7 8 24

9th Deportivo 17 3 3 2 14 13 3 2 4 12 8 23

10th Valencia 17 3 2 3 10 6 3 3 3 11 10 23

11th Betis 17 4 4 1 15 10 2 1 5 12 15 23

12th Athletic Bilbao 17 4 2 3 11 11 2 2 4 12 14 22

13th Málaga 17 5 1 3 13 14 1 3 4 12 16 22

14th Real Sociedad 17 4 0 4 15 9 3 0 6 11 20 21

15th Villarreal 17 4 3 2 11 7 1 2 5 5 14 20

16th Espanyol 17 3 4 1 10 7 1 3 5 7 8 19

17th Badajoz 17 3 1 4 11 15 1 1 7 4 18 14

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

18th Leganés 17 4 1 3 17 15 0 0 9 3 23 13

19th Elche 17 2 1 6 13 18 1 1 6 8 18 11

20th Oviedo 17 1 2 5 6 15 1 1 7 5 18 9</pre>

[BobBev]

January 2007

Tuesday 2nd

We have been following a young English midfielder, Nathan Patterson of Charlton, and with his contract expiring in the summer he has accepted our offer to join us then. The 21-year-old looks like an exciting talent and could prove to be a good signing.

Wednesday 3rd

We face a trip to another D2B side, Lemona, for our second round Cup tie and I shuffle the team once more. Amongst the changes I give a first start of the season to striker Frédéric Piquionne to see if that will spice us up in front of goal. We are rarely troubled and a clinical hat trick from Estecha gives us a comfortable 3-0 win.

Sunday 7th

We visit Real Sociedad hopeful of getting back on the winning track in the league with Rico restored to the defence after his suspension. Diego Rivas makes a welcome return to midfield after his injury layoff but we still struggle to play to our potential. We fall behind just before half time and as the game wears on we create chances but can’t seem to convert them. Then in the final minute Ely Thadeu finally squares the game for a 1-1 draw. This is a game that we should have won but at least we have managed to avoid a 4th consecutive league defeat.

Tuesday 9th

We made a new signing today as 24-year-old Nico Leysten came on board. He has recently been released by Dutch side PSV and is a versatile player, capable of playing at the back or in midfield.

Wednesday 10th

It is Spanish Cup time again and as we enter the 3rd round the games become played over two legs. We visit Second Division Valladolid for the first leg and I decide to throw Nico into the deep end by naming him in the starting lineup. Still tinkering with the attack I give Xavier Molist his first start of the season alongside Clinton Morrison. We put in another very flat performance and come home on the wrong end of a 3-1 scoreline with Morrison giving us our only glimmer of hope with a well-taken goal.

Sunday14th

A visit by Real Madrid does not seem to offer much opportunity to reverse our recent run of poor results and we have to face them minus Biasi who has picked up an injury in training and he is replaced by Rico. We give a good account of ourselves in the first half and take a surprise lead through Morrison. Unfortunately we concede an equaliser on the stroke of half time to go into the break all square. A solid defensive performance keeps Madrid at bay for the remainder of the game and the 1-1 draw is a pretty good result for us.

Monday 15th

Bad news as defender José Luis Rico has accepted a contract offer from neighbours Málaga and the €775K compensation is small recompense as he had been in fine form for us.

Wednesday 17th

For our Spanish Cup second leg tie against Valladolid I play mostly fringe players as I have pretty much given up hope of progressing in the competition. However Bonazzoli scores twice in the first half to level the aggregate score. But once again our defence lets us down allowing the visitors to score twice and even though Bonazzoli completes a fine hat trick we go out 5-4 on aggregate.

Sunday 21st

The visit of Sevilla represents a key moment in the season as they hold third place, 6 points ahead of us. A victory would give us a huge boost that we badly need. Midway through the first half we lose defender Fábio to injury but we manage to reach the break unscathed. But we face increasing pressure in the second period and finally succumb to a rather unlucky penalty and go down to a 1-0 defeat. Without a league win in our last 7 games now, our season is in danger of collapsing. The players who did so well for us earlier in the season have really gone off the boil and I can’t seem to find a way to pick them up.

Sunday 28th

We travel to Barcelona to face struggling Espanyol desperate for a morale-boosting win with Hese coming into defence to replace the injured Fábio. Ely Thadeu ends his long goal drought to open the scoring and Bonazzoli gets a second before the break. When the home side have a man dismissed it looks as though our luck may be turning at last. Despite allowing Espanyol to pull a goal back we hold on for a 2-1 win much to my relief.

Our poor league form has seen us drop to 7th place and we somehow need to put together a run of wins if we are to come close to matching our performance last season.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">*******************************************************************************************

Spanish First Division - Thursday 1st February 2007

*******************************************************************************************

Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1st Barcelona 21 10 1 0 29 7 8 2 0 21 3 57

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2nd Real Madrid 21 7 2 1 14 6 8 2 1 22 7 49

3rd Sevilla 21 9 0 1 23 6 4 3 4 13 15 42

4th Celta 21 7 2 2 12 10 3 4 3 12 11 36

5th Deportivo 21 5 3 2 16 13 5 2 4 18 8 35

6th Atlético Madrid 21 7 2 2 14 6 2 5 3 12 14 34

7th MOTRIL 21 4 4 3 13 14 5 2 3 19 16 33

8th Betis 21 5 5 1 17 10 3 1 6 18 20 30

9th Athletic Bilbao 21 5 3 3 16 15 2 4 4 14 16 28

10th Málaga 21 7 1 3 18 14 1 3 6 12 18 28

11th Real Sociedad 21 5 1 4 20 12 4 0 7 12 21 28

12th Villarreal 21 6 3 2 15 7 1 2 7 5 16 26

13th Mallorca 21 4 3 3 14 10 2 5 4 11 14 26

14th Tenerife 21 4 3 3 14 14 3 2 6 12 18 26

15th Valencia 21 3 4 4 11 8 3 3 4 11 11 25

16th Espanyol 21 4 4 2 14 10 1 3 7 7 11 22

17th Badajoz 21 4 2 4 14 17 1 2 8 4 21 19

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

18th Leganés 21 4 1 5 18 22 1 0 10 5 27 16

19th Elche 21 2 1 8 14 23 1 2 7 11 23 12

20th Oviedo 21 1 3 6 8 20 1 1 9 5 24 10</pre>

[BobBev]

February 2007

Sunday 4th

The visit of Deportivo offers a stern test indeed and I will be grateful just to avoid defeat. The visitors have a man sent off after 20 minutes but, as is often the way, we struggle to create chances against a determined 10 men. Time and again we get caught on the break and end the game with a 3-0 defeat that I can barely comprehend. I need to work with the coaches to make some drastic changes to the way we are playing as our performances are just appalling.

Sunday 11th

Our next game is at relegation-threatened Leganés and I figure that gives us as good an opportunity to experiment as any. During the week we have been looking at a formation that will give us a chance to exert more attacking pressure on the opposition as we have some fine strikers in the squad. I decide to try a fairly narrow approach, sacrificing wide midfielders for attackers. I certainly makes for an interesting game as we create a number of chances but leave ourselves exposed at the back. We concede twice but goals from Dominguez, Zurita and Morrison give us a 3-2 win.

Sunday 18th

I decide to risk the same formation for the visit of Tenerife but we are without Cabrera and Bonazzoli who both picked up knocks in training. It takes a Man of the Match performance from Tony Warner to keep us in the game as out attacking play just doesn’t click and we end up with a scoreless draw.

Sunday 25th

The trip to struggling Badajoz gives us another chance to get a win under our belts. Ely Thadeu gives us the lead from the penalty spot and despite the dismissal of Onopko we hold on for a narrow 1-0 win. We are unlucky to lose defender Danjou with a knee injury that will sideline him for up to 3 weeks.

A slight improvement in our league results this month has seen us move to 6th and we still have a chance of a top-five finish if we can keep our form together.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">*******************************************************************************************

Spanish First Division - Thursday 1st March 2007

*******************************************************************************************

Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1st Barcelona 25 11 2 0 33 10 9 2 1 24 5 64

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2nd Real Madrid 25 9 2 1 19 7 9 3 1 25 8 59

3rd Celta 25 9 2 2 17 11 4 5 3 17 14 46

4th Sevilla 25 9 0 3 25 11 4 4 5 15 19 43

5th Atlético Madrid 25 9 2 2 17 7 2 6 4 13 17 41

6th MOTRIL 25 4 5 4 13 17 7 2 3 23 18 40

7th Deportivo 25 5 4 3 18 16 6 2 5 21 11 39

8th Real Sociedad 25 7 1 4 26 13 5 0 8 16 24 37

9th Valencia 25 5 4 4 14 8 5 3 4 17 13 37

10th Betis 25 6 6 1 21 12 3 3 6 21 23 36

11th Málaga 25 9 1 3 23 16 1 3 8 14 24 34

12th Villarreal 25 6 5 2 15 7 1 4 7 6 17 30

13th Tenerife 25 5 3 4 18 18 3 3 7 13 22 30

14th Mallorca 25 4 4 4 16 14 3 5 5 14 19 30

15th Athletic Bilbao 25 5 5 3 18 17 2 4 6 15 20 30

16th Espanyol 25 5 5 2 17 12 1 3 9 7 13 26

17th Badajoz 25 4 2 6 15 21 1 2 10 5 25 19

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

18th Elche 25 4 1 8 17 23 1 2 9 13 28 18

19th Oviedo 25 3 3 6 13 22 1 2 10 5 25 17

20th Leganés 25 4 1 7 21 28 1 0 12 6 31 16</pre>

[BobBev]

March 2007

Thursday 1st

After a long layoff it is back into UEFA Cup action as we travel to Denmark to face FC Copenhagen. I decide to stick with the new formation and it pays dividends. An excellent first half sees us reach the break 2-0 ahead with goals from Lucas Domínguez and Clinton Morrison. Domínguez adds a third in the second half and we take an excellent 3-0 lead back to Motril. The only bad news is an injury to Nico Leysten that will keep him out for a month leaving us a little light on central defenders.

Sunday 4th

We entertain relegation-threatened Oviedo with spirits high even though Onopko is suspended and Emiliano Bonazzoli scores twice in the opening 5 minutes to give us a fantastic start. Diego Rivas makes it 3-0 before the break before the visitors pull a goal back in the second half. The 3-1 win is welcome indeed and gives us another boost in morale.

Thursday 8th

Our fine 3-0 win in Denmark makes us favourites to see off the challenge of FC Copenhagen in our UEFA Cup second leg tie. The visitors work hard but first half goals from Diego Rivas and Bonazzoli make the tie safe before the break. A late goal from Darren Fletcher, his first of the season, gives us a wonderful 3-0 win on the night for a 6-0 aggregate victory.

Sunday 11th

Our trip to Athletic Bilbao offers a decent chance of another league win as the home side are struggling in La Liga this season. An end-to-end contest finally ends 4-3 in our favour. Three times the home side takes the lead and three times we strike back to equalise before finding a late winner. Ramón Cabrera gets our first two goals and Ely Thadeu gets the second two. The three points are most welcome but I would have preferred to gain them in a more comfortable manner.

Thursday 15th

With barely time to draw breath we are into the first leg of our UEFA Cup Quarter Final at home to Turkish side Besiktas. I can barely believe that we have reached this stage of the competition in our first ever season in Europe and I feel that the bubble must burst anytime now. But at half time it appears that it won’t be bursting quite yet as Ely Thadeu scores twice with free kicks to give us a 2-0 lead at the break. There is no further scoring and a packed Escribano Castilla celebrates a famous victory and another thrilling night in Europe.

Sunday 18th

A key league game quickly follows as we entertain Atlético Madrid who are now just below us in the table. We survive some early scares as the visitors strike the woodwork twice but the sending off of a Madrid defender helps to even things up and we hit the woodwork ourselves through Morrison. But the visitors defend in depth and we fail to create enough good chances to break them down. The 0-0 draw is still a decent result though and I am very much happier with how we are playing with our new formation.

Thursday 22nd

We travel to Turkey in confident mood to defend our 2-0 lead over Besiktas from the first leg. I decide that we will not go and try to sit back and hold on to what we have but that we will try to play our normal attacking game. For most of the first half the two sides cancel one another out and we reach the break scoreless which suits me just fine. But in the second half the wheels come off in dramatic fashion. First the Turks pull a goal back with 20 minutes remaining. At this point I am not too concerned as we still look fairly comfortable in defence. But then with 8 minutes remaining they score an equaliser and just as it looks like we will face extra time they get a last-gasp winner in stoppage time. The players are distraught at letting such a good lead slip but I am full of praise for what they have achieved in getting this far. Our experience will make us stronger if we are fortunate enough to qualify for Europe this season and they should be really proud of their accomplishments. In the 10 European ties that we have played this season this is the only one that we have lost, scoring 25 goals and conceding only 5, a magnificent achievement for such an inexperienced team.

Our form has picked up very well this month and we have re-taken 5th place in the league. The title race has developed into a two-horse race between Barcelona and Real Madrid but if we can keep going strong for the next couple of months then we can claim a top-5 finish and another chance at European football.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">*******************************************************************************************

Spanish First Division - Saturday 31st March 2007

*******************************************************************************************

Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1st Barcelona 28 12 2 0 35 11 10 3 1 26 5 71

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2nd Real Madrid 28 11 2 1 25 8 10 3 1 26 8 68

3rd Sevilla 28 11 0 3 27 11 5 4 5 17 20 52

4th Celta 28 10 2 3 20 13 5 5 3 18 14 52

5th MOTRIL 28 5 6 4 16 18 8 2 3 27 21 47

6th Atlético Madrid 28 9 3 2 17 7 2 7 5 13 20 43

7th Real Sociedad 28 9 1 4 30 13 5 0 9 17 26 43

8th Deportivo 28 6 4 4 21 18 6 2 6 21 12 42

9th Valencia 28 6 5 4 17 9 5 3 5 19 16 41

10th Betis 28 6 6 2 21 13 4 4 6 25 25 40

11th Málaga 28 10 2 3 28 18 1 4 8 14 24 39

12th Espanyol 28 7 5 2 23 13 2 3 9 8 13 35

13th Villarreal 28 6 6 2 15 7 2 5 7 9 18 35

14th Mallorca 28 4 5 4 17 15 3 5 7 15 23 31

15th Tenerife 28 5 3 5 18 19 3 3 9 13 24 30

16th Athletic Bilbao 28 5 5 4 21 21 2 4 8 16 26 30

17th Badajoz 28 5 2 6 17 22 1 3 11 6 27 23

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

18th Oviedo 28 4 3 6 16 24 1 2 12 6 31 20

19th Elche 28 4 1 10 17 27 1 2 10 14 30 18

20th Leganés 28 4 1 8 22 30 1 0 14 7 40 16</pre>

[BobBev]

April 2007

Sunday 1st

After a week off because of International matches we travel to Betis hoping to extend our improving league form. Midfielder Massimo Mutarelli is absent through injury which is a pity because the experienced Italian had been enjoying our new playing formation and been putting in some excellent performances. Carlos Rivera gives us an early lead and when Betis have a defender red-carded it looks like we should be able to gain full points. But as often seems to happen the 10 men give a fine account of themselves and we struggle to find a way past an inspired goalkeeper. When Betis equalise with 20 minutes remaining I fear the worst but substitute Morrison heads home the winner late in the game. The three points are very welcome but Stern John picks up a groin strain that will keep him out for about a month.

Sunday 8th

As we prepare for the visit of leaders Barcelona we face more injury problems with striker Frédéric Piquionne and Ely Thadeu both sidelined. Despite being pinned back in our own half for much of the first period we manage to reach the break unscathed. But the unstoppable Diego Tristan scores twice in the second half and even though we pull one back through Bonazzoli we have to accept a 2-1 defeat.

Sunday 15th

We travel to Villarreal hoping to bounce back with a win but we have to weather an early attacking storm as the home side go looking for goals. We gradually start to get into the game and create a few chances of our own before half time. The second half follows the same pattern but this time we don’t hold out and the home side take the lead within 5 minutes of the restart. However defender Léon Hese gives us a lifeline with his first goal of the season and we recover to gain a 1-1 draw.

Saturday 21st

We secured our first signing of next season today as Brazilian striker Tiago agreed terms. The 24-year-old forward will move from Brazil for a €130K fee in the summer.

Sunday 22nd

The visit of bottom club Elche should be a home banker but I am realistic enough to realise that there are no guarantees in football and we can take nothing for granted. Onopko is missing through suspension so Conget comes back into the team. We really struggle to assert ourselves in the first half and go into the break scoreless. Just after half time keeper Tony Warner mistimes a challenge as he comes to claim the ball at feet, he is sent off and a penalty is awarded. Estecha is withdrawn to allow Luke Steele to come on but the young keeper can do nothing about the spot kick. A man down and a goal down things do not look good. But fortunately our fighting spirit comes to the fore and goals from Fletcher and Morrison give us a narrow 2-1 win.

Wednesday 25th

Warner is given an inevitable 3-match ban despite my pleas for leniency. In Russia’s midweek friendly against Poland Viktor Onopko gained his 120th cap to become his country’s most capped player. Fittingly he scored the only goal of the game to give his country a 1-0 win.

Sunday 29th

We visit Celta for a crunch game with Warner serving the first of his three-match suspension but with Onopko restored to the starting eleven. An even first half ends scoreless but Bonazzoli puts us ahead early in the second period with a bullet header. His aerial prowess has been a potent weapon on occasions this season. We look very solid at the back with Léon Hese beginning to show signs of being a fine player for us. We create further chances but can’t add to our score. At the final whistle I am more than pleased with the 1-0 win as it has lifted us above Celta and into 4th place.

Barcelona have developed a healthy lead over rivals Real Madrid and look set to make up for their disappointment of last season by regaining the title. A 4th place finish is definitely on the cards for us if we can keep up our good form.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">*******************************************************************************************

Spanish First Division - Tuesday 1st May 2007

*******************************************************************************************

Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1st Barcelona 33 15 2 0 45 13 12 3 1 30 6 86

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2nd Real Madrid 33 13 2 1 29 9 11 3 3 28 10 77

3rd Sevilla 33 12 0 4 31 12 6 5 6 20 23 59

4th MOTRIL 33 6 6 5 19 21 10 3 3 31 23 57

5th Celta 33 11 2 4 21 14 5 5 6 18 19 55

6th Atlético Madrid 33 10 5 2 19 8 3 7 6 14 21 51

7th Málaga 33 12 2 3 31 18 3 4 9 20 29 51

8th Real Sociedad 33 10 1 5 31 15 6 0 11 20 33 49

9th Deportivo 33 8 4 4 27 19 6 3 8 24 17 49

10th Espanyol 33 9 5 2 27 13 3 4 10 10 17 45

11th Betis 33 7 6 4 25 17 4 5 7 28 30 44

12th Valencia 33 6 7 4 19 11 5 4 7 21 25 44

13th Villarreal 33 8 7 2 21 9 2 6 8 9 19 43

14th Tenerife 33 6 4 6 23 24 4 3 10 17 27 37

15th Athletic Bilbao 33 7 5 5 26 24 2 4 10 16 29 36

16th Mallorca 33 5 6 5 18 16 3 6 8 18 31 36

17th Oviedo 33 6 3 7 23 29 1 2 14 6 39 26

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

18th Badajoz 33 5 4 7 19 26 1 4 12 8 31 26

19th Leganés 33 6 2 8 32 34 1 0 16 11 46 23

20th Elche 33 5 1 11 22 32 1 3 12 15 33 22</pre>

[BobBev]

May 2007

Sunday 6th

The month begins with a visit from neighbours Málaga and I anticipate a tough game as they have been in fine form recently, climbing the table with a good run of results. I have to make one change to the team with Legrottaglie replacing Danjou in defence as he is serving a one-match suspension for gaining 5 yellow cards. We put in another fine performance and two goals from a lively looking Ely Thadeu gives us a good 2-0 win. With Sevilla losing at home to Barcelona the result takes us up to 3rd place in the table.

Sunday 13th

Morale is high for the visit to Mallorca and given our current form I am optimistic of gaining another win. We totally dominate the first half and with Ely Thadeu scoring either side of a strike from Bonazzoli we reach the break 3-0 ahead. The pattern continues in the second period and Estecha gives us a 4th before Bonazzoli gets his second of the game. The home side score a late consolation goal but I am delighted with the 5-1 victory. Elche suffer their 25th defeat of the season and are relegated whilst Barcelona’s 29th win sets a new points total in La Liga.

Tuesday 15th

Former club captain Carlos Rivera has accepted an offer from Ourense, currently facing relegation from the Second Division, and will join them when his contract expires in the summer. It is a pity that he will not reconsider his decision to leave as he has been a regular starter since we switch to our new formation and he has been playing well in midfield.

Wednesday 16th

An all-Italian UEFA Cup Final sees Inter triumph over Atalanta 2-0 in Amsterdam.

Sunday 20th

We travel to Valencia on the back of four successive league wins with Tony Warner back in the side after his recent suspension. Luke Steele has performed very well in Tony’s absence but for this game I prefer to go with my more experienced keeper. Unfortunately we struggle to find a way past veteran German keeper Oliver Kahn, a recent signing by Valencia. We twice get caught on the break and to reach half time 2-0 down. Bonazzoli reduces the deficit near the end but a 2-1 defeat is a big disappointment considering our recent form. Yet another win for Barcelona secures their 4th title in the last 6 seasons and Leganés become the second team to be relegated.

Wednesday 23rd

PSV lift the Champions Cup with a penalty shootout win over Dortmund in Vienna after the game finished 1-1 after extra time.

Saturday 26th

Barcelona are denied the domestic double when they suffer a surprise 1-0 defeat in the Spanish Cup Final to underdogs Celta.

Sunday 27th

A point from our final home game of the season against Real Sociedad will guarantee us at least a 4th place finish. I restore Fábio to central defence to replace Legrottaglie and decide to give young Tony O'Brien a run out in attack as Gary Speed has been very impressed with his form in training. The U21 international has a fine game and is unfortunate to have a goal disallowed because of an offside decision. But goals from Bonazzoli and Carlos Rivera give us a good 2-0 win to finish our home campaign in style.

[Gino]

It's the first time I've been able to have a read of this Bob and it's great! Good luck with the rest of the season and story!

[BobBev]

Thanks Gino - good to see you back with us again

June 2007

Our final game of the season could hardly be tougher as we travel to Madrid to face the might Real. We sit in 3rd place in the table and if we avoid defeat that’s where we will finish. Otherwise, if Sevilla win they will overtake us on goal difference. At the suggestion of Gary Speed, I restore Jorginho to the starting lineup as he has been working incredibly hard in training to try to get back into the first team and his experience could be very useful. It is an emotional moment in the Bernabeu when former captain Carlos Rivera, playing his last game for the club, scores the opening goal after 22 minutes. Rivaldo gets an equaliser 10 minutes after the restart but despite being subjected to the full force of Real’s attacking might we hold on bravely. Then just seconds away from a deserved draw, Ronaldo scores a heart-breaking winner to condemn us to a 2-1 defeat. As the other results start to filter through we hear that Sevilla have indeed won and so we finish in 4th place and Oviedo take the final relegation place.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">*******************************************************************************************

Spanish First Division - Sunday 3rd June 2007

*******************************************************************************************

Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1st C Barcelona 38 17 2 0 51 13 14 4 1 35 8 99

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2nd Real Madrid 38 16 2 1 38 12 12 4 3 34 11 90

3rd Sevilla 38 14 0 5 37 13 6 6 7 22 28 66

4th MOTRIL 38 8 6 5 23 21 11 3 5 38 28 66

5th Atlético Madrid 38 12 5 2 23 9 4 8 7 16 23 61

6th Celta 38 12 2 5 24 16 5 6 8 19 25 59

7th Betis 38 9 6 4 30 19 7 5 7 35 34 59

8th Real Sociedad 38 12 1 6 39 18 7 0 12 22 35 58

9th Málaga 38 12 4 3 35 22 4 4 11 22 35 56

10th Valencia 38 8 7 4 23 13 5 6 8 26 33 52

11th Deportivo 38 9 4 6 29 23 6 3 10 26 21 52

12th Villarreal 38 9 8 2 25 12 3 6 10 14 25 50

13th Espanyol 38 9 6 4 29 17 4 4 11 13 20 49

14th Athletic Bilbao 38 8 6 5 29 25 3 5 11 21 33 44

15th Tenerife 38 7 6 6 26 26 4 4 11 19 31 43

16th Mallorca 38 6 7 6 21 22 3 6 10 19 37 40

17th Badajoz 38 6 4 9 26 33 2 4 13 10 34 32

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

18th R Oviedo 38 7 4 8 28 33 1 3 15 7 42 31

19th R Leganés 38 7 3 9 36 38 1 0 18 12 53 27

20th R Elche 38 5 1 13 24 40 1 3 15 15 40 22</pre>

As the dust begins to settle it dawns on me that 4th place represents our best ever finish in La Liga and the €6.5M in prize money has pretty much cleared the debts that we had accumulated this season.

Wednesday 6th

In the European Championship qualifiers played today Viktor Onopko gained his 121st cap for Russia and Tony Warner his first ever for England, a fine reward for the 33-year-old keeper after an excellent season. Even better, he kept a clean sheet as England beat Greece 2-0. Clinton Morrison was also in action, gaining his 44th cap and Man of the Match honours in Ireland’s 3-0 win over Slovakia. Spain were held 0-0 in the Ukraine and are level on points with Turkey with 2 games left in the group.

Wednesday 11th

As the players start to wind down after a hard season I take a moment to review the final standings in the lower divisions.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">*******************************************************************************************

Spanish Second Division - Monday 11th June 2007

*******************************************************************************************

Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1st C Alavés 42 12 6 3 48 28 16 0 5 41 26 90

2nd P Sporting Gijón 42 12 7 2 49 29 11 4 6 29 22 80

3rd P Zaragoza 42 15 4 2 44 21 8 5 8 39 37 78

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

4th Valladolid 42 14 2 5 36 28 8 5 8 32 31 73

5th Hércules 42 15 2 4 39 16 7 5 9 28 41 73

6th Osasuna 42 9 6 6 32 26 10 3 8 34 36 66

7th Rayo 42 13 5 3 37 20 5 6 10 28 34 65

8th Extremadura 42 14 3 4 48 26 4 7 10 34 43 64

9th Burgos 42 11 7 3 33 17 6 6 9 22 28 64

10th Levante 42 13 3 5 51 31 6 3 12 28 40 63

11th Salamanca 42 10 6 5 30 20 6 6 9 21 21 60

12th Getafe 42 9 7 5 32 23 8 2 11 26 31 60

13th Las Palmas 42 13 2 6 32 22 3 6 12 25 41 56

14th Racing Santander 42 10 4 7 33 29 6 4 11 27 35 56

15th Recreativo 42 10 3 8 34 36 6 5 10 26 37 56

16th Compostela 42 10 3 8 40 39 6 2 13 27 39 53

17th Cartagonova 42 8 4 9 27 33 5 3 13 17 37 46

18th Xerez 42 7 6 8 24 22 3 7 11 25 34 43

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

19th R Lleida 42 6 7 8 37 36 3 5 13 31 49 39

20th R Ourense 42 5 7 9 30 32 3 6 12 23 41 37

21st R Dos Hermanas 42 8 0 13 25 36 2 4 15 16 37 34

22nd R Benidorm 42 7 5 9 28 32 0 5 16 23 49 31

*******************************************************************************************

Spanish Second Division B - Monday 11th June 2007

*******************************************************************************************

Group 1

Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1st Cultural 38 15 1 3 44 19 14 2 3 41 23 90

2nd Avilés 38 15 3 1 44 17 10 3 6 22 18 81

3rd Real Madrid B 38 12 4 3 29 12 9 6 4 30 18 73

4th At. Aviación 38 12 5 2 45 27 9 3 7 31 30 71

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

5th Ponferradina 38 13 2 4 26 9 6 7 6 28 28 66

6th Zamora 38 10 4 5 33 19 7 6 6 22 23 61

7th Pontevedra 38 8 8 3 33 19 8 1 10 25 32 57

8th At. Madrid B 38 10 5 4 31 20 5 6 8 30 33 56

9th Lealtad 38 9 4 6 28 22 6 7 6 22 24 56

10th Jaén 38 11 4 4 37 21 5 3 11 25 32 55

11th Caudal 38 13 3 3 41 22 2 4 13 20 45 52

12th Marino 38 9 6 4 26 19 5 3 11 21 31 51

13th Talavera 38 11 3 5 36 30 3 5 11 20 34 50

14th Langreo 38 10 6 3 40 23 3 2 14 22 38 47

15th Gimnástica 38 7 5 7 32 33 5 5 9 28 36 46

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

16th Córdoba 38 8 6 5 31 28 4 3 12 26 40 45

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

17th R Jerez 38 8 3 8 33 32 4 5 10 20 34 44

18th R Lalín 38 7 2 10 27 34 1 5 13 15 40 31

19th R Sevilla B 38 2 3 14 16 38 1 4 14 18 43 16

20th R Endesa As Pontes 38 1 5 13 12 28 0 2 17 6 42 10

Group 2

Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1st P Albacete 38 14 3 2 45 17 15 2 2 53 16 92

2nd P Real Unión 38 12 4 3 29 11 12 4 3 31 18 80

3rd P Conquense 38 12 4 3 35 20 10 3 6 32 23 73

4th P Logroñés 38 11 6 2 26 11 9 6 4 26 17 72

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

5th Calahorra 38 12 5 2 31 17 8 3 8 39 38 68

6th Numancia 38 8 7 4 34 28 10 6 3 37 18 67

7th Gernika 38 9 4 6 37 33 10 4 5 36 27 65

8th Alcalá 38 11 2 6 27 20 6 7 6 19 19 60

9th Éibar 38 8 5 6 32 26 7 7 5 27 23 57

10th Amurrio 38 10 6 3 36 23 5 4 10 24 31 55

11th Noja 38 8 3 8 22 21 7 5 7 26 23 53

12th Elgoibar 38 8 3 8 32 31 7 3 9 25 28 51

13th Lemona 38 8 5 6 24 18 5 6 8 26 33 50

14th Alavés B 38 8 4 7 26 29 4 8 7 21 28 48

15th Linares 38 7 4 8 26 28 5 6 8 22 23 46

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

16th R Athletic B 38 6 5 8 23 31 0 5 14 18 46 28

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

17th R Hellín 38 4 5 10 17 33 1 6 12 12 28 26

18th R Bermeo 38 3 8 8 17 32 1 2 16 9 37 22

19th R Lorca 38 3 3 13 16 41 2 1 16 11 37 19

20th R Hernani 38 3 4 12 23 34 1 2 16 10 45 18

Group 3

Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1st Murcia 38 11 5 3 43 30 13 5 1 44 21 82

2nd Castellón 38 15 2 2 44 19 7 7 5 24 19 75

3rd Alzira 38 11 6 2 37 21 10 3 6 41 27 72

4th Hospitalet 38 15 1 3 43 18 6 7 6 22 17 71

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

5th Terrassa 38 10 7 2 35 19 10 4 5 29 18 71

6th Novelda 38 11 5 3 42 21 4 6 9 26 38 56

7th Mataró 38 7 3 9 31 32 9 3 7 32 30 54

8th Palamós 38 10 6 3 29 18 4 6 9 23 25 54

9th Barcelona B 38 8 8 3 32 21 5 6 8 23 29 53

10th At. Baleares 38 9 4 6 30 21 5 6 8 32 40 52

11th Alcoyano 38 10 3 6 24 19 4 6 9 16 27 51

12th Huesca 38 8 4 7 25 23 6 4 9 20 30 50

13th Gramanet 38 11 2 6 31 23 3 5 11 19 34 49

14th Chantrea 38 9 5 5 26 19 4 5 10 21 35 49

15th Barakaldo 38 9 7 3 36 28 3 2 14 21 43 45

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

16th Binéfar 38 9 2 8 25 25 3 3 13 16 33 41

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

17th R Gavá 38 6 5 8 25 32 4 6 9 33 41 41

18th R Figueruelas 38 7 4 8 22 24 1 3 15 14 38 31

19th R Barcelona C 38 5 5 9 24 36 2 1 16 16 46 27

20th R Elche B 38 2 8 9 23 39 2 4 13 16 36 24

Group 4

Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1st Díter Zafra 38 12 3 4 46 28 11 3 5 44 28 75

2nd Ceuta 38 10 6 3 34 20 9 7 3 36 30 70

3rd Betis B 38 11 5 3 36 22 9 4 6 26 23 69

4th Cádiz 38 11 4 4 36 23 10 2 7 31 26 69

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

5th Alcorcón 38 10 7 2 27 13 9 3 7 32 26 67

6th Coria 38 10 6 3 36 19 9 3 7 32 26 66

7th Ejido 38 12 3 4 40 20 6 6 7 23 28 63

8th Melilla 38 14 2 3 41 22 4 4 11 25 39 60

9th At. Sanluqueño 38 11 4 4 35 25 5 6 8 22 27 58

10th Lanzarote 38 10 5 4 38 22 5 7 7 22 29 57

11th Béjar Ind. 38 9 3 7 24 20 6 7 6 26 27 55

12th Granada 38 9 3 7 22 22 6 7 6 20 22 55

13th Pájara Playas 38 8 8 3 40 32 5 4 10 27 38 51

14th Algeciras 38 7 9 3 29 24 4 8 7 28 34 50

15th Linense 38 10 3 6 23 12 1 7 11 11 22 43

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

16th Castillo 38 5 5 9 35 40 5 4 10 30 36 39

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

17th R Guadalajara 38 6 4 9 19 27 1 8 10 22 36 33

18th R Deportivo B 38 6 7 6 33 30 2 1 16 21 44 32

19th R Almería 38 3 3 13 15 42 1 2 16 7 36 17

20th R Horadada 38 2 5 12 17 35 1 2 16 13 49 16

Promotion Group A

Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1st P Real Unión 6 2 1 0 3 1 3 0 0 7 2 16

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2nd Murcia 6 2 0 1 8 6 1 2 0 5 3 11

3rd Cádiz 6 1 1 1 3 3 0 1 2 2 5 5

4th Real Madrid B 6 0 1 2 2 6 0 0 3 2 6 1

Promotion Group B

Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1st P Albacete 6 0 3 0 3 3 2 1 0 6 3 10

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2nd At. Aviación 6 1 2 0 6 4 1 2 0 2 1 10

3rd Castellón 6 1 1 1 2 1 0 3 0 3 3 7

4th Betis B 6 0 1 2 1 4 0 1 2 1 5 2

Promotion Group C

Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1st P Logroñés 6 2 1 0 4 0 1 0 2 3 5 10

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2nd Avilés 6 0 2 1 3 4 2 1 0 4 1 9

3rd Alzira 6 2 0 1 6 6 0 2 1 3 4 8

4th Díter Zafra 6 1 1 1 5 4 0 1 2 4 8 5

Promotion Group D

Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1st P Conquense 6 3 0 0 9 6 3 0 0 6 1 18

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2nd Hospitalet 6 2 0 1 4 4 0 1 2 1 4 7

3rd Ceuta 6 2 0 1 5 3 0 0 3 4 10 6

4th Cultural 6 1 1 1 6 3 0 0 3 5 9 4</pre>

I also spend some time with the coaches and the scouts reviewing the playing staff and making plans to strengthen the squad for nest season. I am pretty happy with our attacking options but I still want to improve central defence and midfield so we will be looking to make a couple of signings during the summer break. Ely Thadeu has finished as our top scorer, thanks mainly to a brilliant first half of the season. Estecha also started brilliantly leading to calls in the media for his inclusion in the Spanish squad, but he tailed off badly in the second half of the season. Viktor Onopko proved to be an inspired signing as he was as unflappable in the midfield anchor role as Gary Speed had been last season. But at 37 I am not sure if he has another season in the top-flight left in him. I am a little concerned about young keeper Luke Steele as he seems to be finding it difficult to adjust to the Spanish lifestyle although he has performed with distinction when called upon.

Thursday 14th

The move of Brazilian Tiago has been put on hold as he failed a medical examination. He is carrying a shoulder injury and we need to wait and see how serious it is.

Wednesday 20th

Emiliano Bonazzoli was voted the Fans Player of the year after a fine season during which he scored 17 goals. Toady we bid farewell to Carlos Rivera, one of the few players still at the club since I took over. Our former captain made 168 appearances for Motril, scoring 12 goals, making 21 assists and gaining 9 Man of the Match awards.

Thursday 21st

Now that we have received the TV money for next season our bank balance is in a much healthier start than it has been for some time and with money to spend it is time to get into the transfer market. We also heard today that we will not be competing in the UEFA Cup as expected but that we have been given entry into the Champions League.

Tuesday 26th

Third choice keeper Emilio Ãlvarez is now out of contract and has left the club by mutual agreement.

Thursday 28th

Another long-serving player left the club today as Rodolfo Andrés Orife joined teammate Carlos Rivera at recently relegated Ourense. Orife didn’t get a game for the last two seasons but prior to that he made 131 starts, scoring 39 goals with 13 assists and 10 Man of the Match awards.

Friday 28th

Mixed news on the transfer front today as the planned signing of young midfielder Nathan Patterson has also been cancelled because of a medical problem. The 22-year-old has torn ankle ligaments and will be staying at Charlton for the time being at least. But one deal that did go through is the signing of versatile midfielder Bjorn Lutz on a free transfer from Bayern Munich. The 23-year-old can play right, left or centre and should offer a good backup in midfield.

[BobBev]

July 2007

Wednesday 4th

We gained a new graduate from the youth academy as 19-year-old Enrique Blanco is promoted to the squad. Primarily a defensive midfielder the youngster looks like a decent prospect for the future.

Thursday 5th

I am very excited by our latest acquisition as we manage to persuade young Swiss defender Philippe Senderos to join from Arsenal when his contract expired. We have been following his progress for some time and I am delighted that he has agreed a deal.

Sunday 15th

Having said that I was happy with our attacking options when I heard that striker Jimmy Davis had been released by Manchester United I decided to try to sign the 25-year-old anyway. He agreed terms he arrived at Motril today.

Friday 20th

We unveiled today one of the most significant singings that the club has made as Dutch legend Edgar Davids finally agreed terms. The 34-year-old was released by Dortmund in the summer but it has proved a long process to get him on board. We could not come close to his initial wage demands but he has finally settled for a deal worth less than half the figure he initially demanded but with a nice singing on fee as an incentive. We had also been chasing Roy Keane who left Manchester United in the summer but the Irishman refused to even discuss a move to Motril, finally settling on a move to Porto.

[BobBev]

August 2007

Sunday 5th

Now well on the road to recovery Nathan Patterson completed his delayed move from Charlton today. Having signed Jimmy Davis I decide that I will not be pursuing my interest in striker Tiago.

Wednesday 8th

We start our Champions League campaign in the 3rd Qualifying round with a game against Finnish side HJK. I am concerned with the general level of fitness in our squad as we begin the season much earlier than normal. Sanderos, Davids and Davis all make their Motril debuts but it is young Ramón Cabrera that calms our nerves with an early goal. Estecha adds a second to take us into half time 2-0 ahead. In the second half Estecha has another goal disallowed, Morrison hits the post and the visiting keeper makes a string of fine saves as we try to put the game out of reach. Unfortunately we fail to do so and HJK profit by scoring an away goal to keep the tie very much alive.

Thursday 16th

Another youth academy graduate is promoted to the first team in the shape of 16-year-old forward Ibón Bravo.

Saturday 18th

The league season gets underway with a game at home to neighbours Málaga and I am still concerned about the general level of fitness of the players. We have the ball in the net twice in the first 10 minutes only for the referee to disallow both. But on 20 minutes Morrison makes one count and then follows up with a second two minutes later. Then Lucas Domínguez scores on the stroke of half time to give us a comfortable 3-0 lead. The visitors score a consolation in the second half but it is great to get the league season off with a good 3-1 win.

Wednesday 22nd

We arrive in Helsinki with the playing squad starting to approach full fitness as we try to capitalise on our first leg lead. I am looking for the experience of Edgar Davids to help us through this game. We start very positively and get the boost of an away goal when Stern John scores after 18 minutes. The powerful forward finds the net once more 10 minutes later but is denied by an offside decision. We come close again as Estecha hits the post with the HJK keeper beaten. In stoppage time we have a close escape ourselves as the visitors strike the woodwork before John scores his second with a powerful shot. With Davids an influential figure in front of the defence, we hold firm for the remainder of the game. Substitute Frédéric Piquionne even manages a stoppage time goal to give us a 3-0 win on the night and a 5-1 aggregate victory.

Saturday 25th

The draw is made for the Champions League Phase 1 groups and we find ourselves in Group B with Celtic, Dortmund and Hajduk.

Sunday 26th

Our first league match away from home this season involves a trip to Mallorca. An even first half looks like ending all square until Stern John tucks away a good header in stoppage time to give us a 1-0 lead at the break. But our hosts equalise within minutes of the restart and go on to outplay us quite comprehensively. They get what proves to be the winning goal 15 minutes from time as we seem to run out of attacking ideas. Barcelona win their first trophy of the season with a 2-1 aggregate defeat of Celta in the Super Cup.

[BobBev]

September 2007

Saturday 8th

Visitors Zaragoza prove to be quite a handful in the first half and take an early lead. Fortunately we get back on terms through Stern John within 5 minutes and reach the break at 1-1, losing Diego Rivas to injury in the process. The visitors prove to be hard to break down and are always a threat as they break forward. They score a late winner with 5 minutes remaining to give us a disappointing 2-1 defeat.

Tuesday 11th

Time for our first Champions League group match as we journey into the unknown to face Hajduk in Croatia. Senderos comes into defence to replace Biasi and Davids is rested and replaced by Conget. Fletcher keeps his place in the centre of midfield as he has been one of our best performers so far this season and he is flanked by Jorginho and Cabrera with Davis, Bonazzoli and Estecha making up the front three supported by Ely Thadeu. A rather poor first half is enlivened by an excellent solo goal from Ramón Cabrera to give us a narrow lead at half time. The home side equalise virtually straight from the kick off but two minutes later Jimmy Davis scores his first goal for us to regain the lead. That proves to complete the scoring and I am pleased with the 2-1 result if not thrilled by our overall performance.

Thursday 13th

We agreed a deal with a young Italian goalkeeper, Stefano Franco, that one of the scouts spotted playing youth football. The 18-year-old could be one for the future and he will join in the winter transfer window.

Sunday 16th

We travel to second place Valencia hoping for a quick improvement in our league form but expecting a tough time against a team in good form. There is little to choose between the teams but some sloppy goalkeeping from Tony Warner allows the home side to score twice in the first 20 minutes. To our credit we battle back well and Ely Thadeu pulls a goal back before the break and Ramón Cabrera equalises on the hour. It is a real disappointment when Warner’s poor positioning allows Valencia to sneak a winner in stoppage time. With only one win in our first 4 league games we now sit just above the relegation places.

Wednesday 19th

Celtic visit the Escribano Castilla for our second Champions League group game and I hope that we will not carry our league form into this game. The game is fairly even for the first 30 minutes and then we suffer a double blow. Firstly Edgar Davids is sent off for an innocuous push and then seconds later central defender Nico Leysten suffers an injury and we have to bring on Philippe Senderos. However these setbacks seem to fire the team up and Emiliano Bonazzoli gives us the lead 10 minutes after the restart. Despite being a man short we look the better side and Massimo Mutarelli is having a great game in the centre of midfield. With 20 minutes remaining Léon Hese doubles our lead and we look like recording a fine victory. But then another poor refereeing decision sees midfielder Björn Lutz sent off for dissent leaving us with 9 men for the last 10 minutes. Celtic pour forward as we pack our own half but we manage to hang on without conceding a goal. In stoppage time the match official completes a hat trick of dismissals when Celtic’s John Terry is shown red for a two-footed challenge on Bonazzoli. In the circumstances I am very pleased with the win but I am thoroughly disappointed by the performance of the referee.

Sunday 23rd

We entertain Villarreal who sit just below us in the table and I am really keen that we get a win under our belts. But it is another very poor league performance and we concede early in the second half to lose 1-0. Although we are only 5 games into the season I am very concerned with our situation as we have now fallen into the bottom three. I hold a crisis meeting with the coaches after the game as it is clear that our tactical approach just is not working domestically. We have been playing with a very attacking formation using three forwards but we are still struggling to score and leaving ourselves exposed at the back. This needs to change before our next league match.

Wednesday 26th

As it happens I don’t wait for our next league match to make some tactical changes as I go with a less aggressive formation for the visit of Dortmund in the Champions League. It is a competitive and evenly matched encounter and we are unfortunate to end the game with a narrow 1-0 defeat. But we are still second in the group with three games played and have a decent chance of progressing.

Sunday 30th

When your team is in desperate need of a morale-boosting win the last thing you need is a trip to Barcelona to take on the reigning La Liga titleholders. But today that is exactly what we are faced with. Determined not to be overawed, I encourage the players to go out and give it a go and they respond superbly. With just 6 minutes on the clock Clinton Morrison gives us the lead. The home side fight back with a goal from Xavi midway through the first half to equalise. The remainder of the game sees play flow from end to end with both sides looking for more goals. Both keepers play outstandingly well and the game ends all square at 1-1. All in all a very encouraging performance to end an otherwise poor month in the league.

Valencia, Atlético Madrid and Real Madrid set the early pace and we sit just outside the bottom three on goal difference.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">*******************************************************************************************

Spanish First Division - Sunday 30th September 2007

*******************************************************************************************

Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1st Valencia 6 3 0 0 10 3 2 0 1 5 5 15

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2nd Atlético Madrid 6 2 0 1 5 4 3 0 0 5 0 15

3rd Real Madrid 6 3 0 0 6 0 1 2 0 2 0 14

4th Zaragoza 6 3 0 0 6 3 1 1 1 3 3 13

5th Tenerife 6 2 0 1 4 3 1 1 1 3 2 10

6th Espanyol 6 3 0 0 5 1 0 1 2 1 3 10

7th Sevilla 4 1 0 1 3 1 2 0 0 4 0 9

8th Real Sociedad 5 2 0 1 4 4 1 0 1 3 2 9

9th Villarreal 6 2 0 1 3 1 1 0 2 2 3 9

10th Mallorca 6 2 1 0 4 2 0 1 2 3 5 8

11th Barcelona 4 1 1 0 3 1 1 0 1 3 3 7

12th Deportivo 6 2 1 0 6 3 0 0 3 2 8 7

13th Celta 5 0 0 2 0 5 2 0 1 4 3 6

14th Betis 6 1 1 1 2 2 0 2 1 6 8 6

15th Málaga 6 1 1 1 7 6 0 1 2 3 6 5

16th Athletic Bilbao 6 0 2 1 4 5 1 0 2 1 5 5

17th MOTRIL 6 1 0 2 4 4 0 1 2 4 6 4

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

18th Sporting Gijón 6 1 1 1 3 3 0 0 3 0 5 4

19th Alavés 6 1 1 1 2 2 0 0 3 2 10 4

20th Badajoz 6 0 1 2 3 5 0 0 3 2 7 1</pre>

[BobBev]

October 2007

Saturday 13th

After a weekend off because of international commitments we are back into action with a home game against Sevilla. Once again there is very little to choose between the teams and the first half looks like finishing honours even until the visitors take the lead on the stroke of halftime. We come close to equalising several times in the second period with no success and as the clock ticks down I gamble on a triple substitution – Zurita replacing a tired looking Fletcher, Ely Thadeu on for Lucas Domínguez and Jimmy Davis instead of Massimo Mutarelli. This makes a difference as Clinton Morrison equalises but shortly afterwards he pulls up injured and is unable to continue. Having used all my subs we have to play out time a man short but we hang on for a 1-1 draw – not ideal but better than a defeat.

Tuesday 16th

There is a very flat feeling amongst the team at present and I am not optimistic that our trip to Dortmund will be very productive. A poor team performance confirms my suspicions and we slump to a 3-0 defeat. But thanks to our good start in the group we can still qualify if we win our next game against Hajduk and Dortmund beat Celtic.

Sunday 21st

The visit of high-flying Atlético Madrid sees things go from bad to worse as we put in a very poor display and lose 3-0 with striking sensation Fernando Torres scoring a hat trick. The team has gone through bad spells in the past but I must confess that I have never before felt at such a loss as to what to do to turn things around. I am beginning to give serious consideration regarding my ability to manage a team at this level. My own self-confidence is badly shaken and I fear that this is transmitting itself to the players and they have lost faith in me.

Wednesday 24th

I try to regain a more positive frame of mind as we prepare for the visit of Hajduk for our penultimate phase 1 group match. I have to make significant changes as many of the players are both physically and emotionally weary after our mauling at the weekend. I have also tinkered with the formation again in an attempt to turn things around. Jimmy Davis is playing as a lone striker supported by Dominguez and Cabrerra coming in wide from the flanks. I am also playing with three centre backs to try to shore up our defence. It may be a fluke but it all works our very well. Davis calms the nerves with an early goal and Tony O’Brien makes it two before half time. Hajduk pull a goal back 10 minutes from time but two late goals from Davis completes his hat trick and a fine 4-1 win. With Celtic losing their game at Dortmund we have qualified for the second phase.

Sunday 28th

We travel to Alavés knowing that a win will take us above our opponents and out of the bottom three. We start poorly and are just starting to get into the game when the home side take the lead on the half hour. Our performance picks up in the second half and Jimmy Davis finds an equaliser shortly after the restart. Unfortunately that’s how the score remains and the 1-1 draw does nothing to improve our position.

Atlético Madrid continue their impressive start to the season and we continue our awful form – one win in 9 games is certainly of relegation standard and we somehow need to turn things around. Too many of our so-called “big players†are just not performing and I am at a loss as to what to do about it.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">*******************************************************************************************

Spanish First Division - Wednesday 31st October 2007

*******************************************************************************************

Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1st Atlético Madrid 9 3 0 1 8 6 5 0 0 9 0 24

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2nd Valencia 10 4 1 0 13 5 3 1 1 9 8 23

3rd Real Madrid 9 4 0 1 9 3 1 3 0 3 1 18

4th Barcelona 8 3 1 0 11 1 2 1 1 6 5 17

5th Espanyol 10 5 0 0 7 1 0 1 4 1 8 16

6th Villarreal 10 3 1 1 5 2 2 0 3 4 4 16

7th Zaragoza 9 3 1 0 7 4 1 1 3 4 6 14

8th Tenerife 10 2 1 2 7 7 2 1 2 4 3 14

9th Sevilla 8 1 0 2 3 2 3 2 0 7 2 14

10th Málaga 9 2 1 1 11 8 1 2 2 5 7 12

11th Deportivo 9 3 2 0 10 5 0 0 4 4 11 11

12th Celta 9 0 2 2 1 6 3 0 2 9 9 11

13th Mallorca 10 3 1 1 7 5 0 1 4 3 7 11

14th Betis 9 2 1 2 4 4 0 3 1 7 9 10

15th Athletic Bilbao 10 1 3 1 6 6 1 1 3 4 9 10

16th Real Sociedad 9 2 1 1 6 6 1 0 4 4 11 10

17th Alavés 9 1 2 2 3 4 1 0 3 3 10 8

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

18th MOTRIL 9 1 1 3 5 8 0 2 2 5 7 6

19th Badajoz 9 1 1 3 5 6 0 1 3 2 7 5

20th Sporting Gijón 9 1 1 3 3 6 0 1 3 2 7 5</pre>

[BobBev]

November 2007

Saturday 3rd

Today we have what I would describe as a “must-win†game as we entertain fellow strugglers Badajoz and anything less than three points will be a real blow. From the first whistle we are very positive and create a number of good chances, none of which are put away. Then just before half time Jorginho scores with a miss-hit cross that deceives the keeper and ends up in the net. Perhaps this is a sign that our luck may be turning. Ten minutes after the restart Jimmy Davis puts us two ahead but Badajoz reduce the deficit shortly afterwards. Davis scores his second with 15 minutes remaining to make me breathe more easily and then competes a fine hat trick three minutes from time. There is still enough fight in the visitors for them to claim a late consolation in stoppage time but the 4-2 win is just the result that we require.

Tuesday 6th

We have travelled to Glasgow knowing that we are already through to the second group phase and I take advantage by resting a number of players and giving others some European experience. So it is not entirely unexpected when we lose 3-1 to Celtic but I am still a little disappointed by the level of our performance.

Wednesday 7th

The draw for the second phase of group games has put us in Group B with Feyenoord, Galatasary and Roma.

Sunday 18th

We travel to Celta without Edgar Davids who is out for a month having suffered a groin strain in training. I decide to bring 38-year-old Viktor Onopko back in to the team in the hope that his experience will see us through. Our opponents are only just above us in the table and a win would be a real boost. We fall behind in the 22nd minute but Jorginho gets us back on terms 10 minutes later. There is little to choose between the teams for the remainder of the game and just as I am resigned to the draw, Zurita pops up with the winning goal in stoppage time to give us three invaluable points.

Tuesday 20th

The squad that makes the trip to Turkey for our opening phase two game against Galatasaray is a patchwork one indeed. With a mix of injuries, ineligible players and players who need to be rested it is an odd looking lineup that takes to the pitch. When the final whistle sounds we are on the wrong end of a 4-1 scoreline although the result does flatter our hosts somewhat. Having used all our subs with the score at just 2-1 we were unlucky to lose Dario Biasi to injury and had to play a man short and with a much weakened defence.

Sunday 25th

The trip to Deportivo is another important fixture as a win would continue our upward progress by overtaking our opponents. I am still tinkering with our formation and tactics and for this game I decide that attack is the best form of defence so I go with an aggressive formation with 2 strikers and 3 attacking midfielders. We create a number of good early chances but fail to convert and then fall a goal behind after half an hour. Fortunately Zurita is in good form and gets the equaliser 6 or 7 minutes later. Then it is good news, bad news. Good news in that Jimmy Davis puts us into the lead just before half time but bad news when Jorginho is unable to continue after the break and is replaced by Ramón Cabrera. Play swings from end to end in the second half but a second goal from Zurita minutes from time makes the game safe and gives us a 3-1 win. But there is still time for Philippe Senderos to be sent off when he picks up his second yellow card of the game in stoppage time.

The league table makes for rather happier reading at the end of this month as a decent run of form has taken us up to 13th place and we have a little breathing space from the relegation places. At the top of the table Atlético Madrid have had a terrible month, losing all their games and Valencia are now setting the pace.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">*******************************************************************************************

Spanish First Division - Saturday 1st December 2007

*******************************************************************************************

Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1st Valencia 13 5 1 0 15 5 4 1 2 13 11 29

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2nd Espanyol 13 7 0 0 10 1 1 1 4 2 8 25

3rd Atlético Madrid 12 3 0 2 8 8 5 0 2 10 4 24

4th Barcelona 12 5 1 0 15 1 2 2 2 9 9 24

5th Real Madrid 12 5 1 1 12 4 1 4 0 3 1 23

6th Tenerife 13 4 1 2 11 7 3 1 2 6 3 23

7th Betis 13 4 1 2 9 6 1 4 1 11 10 20

8th Málaga 12 4 1 1 16 8 1 2 3 5 9 18

9th Sevilla 12 2 1 2 7 3 3 2 2 8 5 18

10th Zaragoza 13 4 2 1 9 8 1 1 4 4 9 18

11th Villarreal 13 3 2 1 5 2 2 0 5 4 8 17

12th Athletic Bilbao 13 3 3 1 10 7 1 1 4 4 11 16

13th MOTRIL 12 2 1 3 9 10 2 2 2 10 9 15

14th Deportivo 13 4 2 1 13 8 0 0 6 4 15 14

15th Mallorca 13 4 1 2 10 10 0 1 5 3 8 14

16th Celta 12 0 2 3 2 8 3 1 3 11 12 12

17th Sporting Gijón 13 3 1 3 6 7 0 2 4 5 12 12

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

18th Real Sociedad 12 2 1 2 6 7 1 0 6 4 16 10

19th Alavés 12 1 3 2 6 7 1 0 5 3 13 9

20th Badajoz 12 2 1 3 6 6 0 1 5 4 12 8</pre>

[BobBev]

December 2007

Sunday 2nd

The visit of Sporting Gijón gives us yet another game against lower-table opposition – just the type of game that we need to keep win to keep our upward momentum going. We go into the game keeping the same formation that got us the win at Deportivo but with three changes in personnel. Fábio is in for the suspended Senderos, Ely Thadeu replaces the injured Jorginho and with Patterson having picked up a training injury, Diego Rivas takes his place. After a scoreless first half our growing injury list is added to when Darren Fletcher suffers a knee strain and I have to bring on Lucas Domínguez. Our problems increase when we fall a goal behind shortly afterwards. With 25 minutes remaining I am considering taking Bonazzoli off when he comes up with the equaliser. He scores again 10 minutes after that for good measure and when he does come off near the end his replacement Clinton Morrison scores to tie up a good 3-1 win.

Wednesday 5th

Game two in the Champions League group sees us entertain Feyenoord and I have to make a series of changes to rest players so it is a far from full strength team that takes to the field. But we give a decent account of ourselves and reach the break all square. But a lack of concentration allows the visitors to take the lead just after the restart. Ramón Cabrera evens the score with just over 15 minutes remaining and as the clock ticks down it looks like we will take a point from the game. But another lapse in concentration allows Feyenoord to score not once, but twice in stoppage time and we fall to a 3-1 defeat. With two losses in two games it looks like our Champions League adventure is as good as over. I must shoulder much of the blame for this in the early season decisions that I took in who I should register for the European games. I made some poor decisions and key injuries have meant that I have not had the right backup available for the Champions League games. In fact the more successful the team becomes, the more aware I am about my own shortcomings as a manager at this level. Some serious decisions must be taken at the end of this season about how we can ensure that Motril achieves long-term success.

Sunday 9th

We are off to the Canary Islands for a league game against Tenerife, a team a few places above us in the table at present. Ely Thadeu gets us off to a terrific start with a goal after just 5 minutes but the home side are back on terms 15 minutes later. The game is played in an open and entertaining style as both teams go forward looking for goals. Ramón Cabrera puts us back in the lead with a finely taken goal before half time. Once again our hosts respond and tie the scores with 30 minutes remaining. Zurita gives us the advantage once again but for a third time we can’t hold on to the lead and are pegged back at 3-3 with around 15 minutes to play. But fortunately our attacking skills prevail and two goals in two minutes from Ely Thadeu and Jimmy Davis gives us a 5-3 win in a thrilling game. As exciting as it was for the spectators I would have been happier if we had looked stronger defensively. It doesn’t help that we lose Fábio to injury – strained ankle ligaments will keep him in the treatment room for some weeks.

Wednesday 12th

We have a First Round Spanish Cup match away to Rayo of Division Two in Madrid this evening. We lose an early goal but 17-year-old Ibón Bravo, given a game for the experience, equalises within minutes. There is no further scoring in the first half but when Clinton Morrison puts us in front just after half time I fully expect us to see the game out for the win. How wrong can you be – our defensive frailties allow the home side to score three times in the last 15 minutes for an embarrassing defeat. I am very disappointed with this poor result and I need to find a way to strengthen our defensive backbone.

Saturday 15th

19-year-old Italian goalkeeper Stefano Franco arrives today on a free transfer. The scouts tell me that he has a lot of potential and I decided to bring him in as I am concerned that Luke Steele will decide to move on as he is still having trouble in settling in Spain.

Sunday 16th

For the visit of 3rd place Espanyol I have switched formations yet again, playing with three central defenders to see if that will keep us tighter at the back. Our cause is helped enormously when the visitors have a man dismissed midway through the first half. We take immediate advantage when Massimo Mutarelli scores his first goal of the season. Early in the second half Ramón Conget also breaks his duck and we take a very good 2-0 win.

Wednesday 19th

Today we visit San Sebastian to take on Real Sociedad and our cause is helped enormously when the home side have a man sent off with less than 10 minutes played. We lose Diego Rivas to injury some five minutes later but we are able to put that aside as Jimmy Davis scores twice before the half hour. Ramón Cabrera adds a third before the interval to put us well in charge. Our other Ramón, Conget gets a fourth goal in the second half and I am very pleased with the fine 4-0 win. The bad news is that Diego Rivas has sustained a torn groin muscle and will be out for at least 3 months.

Sunday 23rd

Our run of away games continues with a trip to Sevilla to face Betis. We have just moved above them on goal difference so it would be great if we could keep our decent run of form going. Edgar Davids gets us off to a great start when he scores his first goal for the club after 12 minutes. But then our defence goes missing and the home side score two in two minutes with Tony Warner taking the blame with some poor positioning. We give away a third just before half time and are in deep trouble. When we give away a stupid penalty 5 minutes after the restart I know that it is not our day and my misery is complete when Betis score their fifth 10 minutes from time. I am at a loss to explain our collapse and it just goes to show how fragile our form and confidence is at present. It doesn’t help that we have lost another player to injury as defender Philippe Senderos suffers an ankle injury and will be out for a month. Better news is the rturn to full fitness of Darren Fletcher and he should be ready to be in the starting lineup in the New Year.

So as we enter the short winter break our good spell of form in December has seen us move up to 8th place and well away from the relegation places.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">*******************************************************************************************

Spanish First Division - Wednesday 26th December 2007

*******************************************************************************************

Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1st Barcelona 17 7 1 0 24 4 4 3 2 14 9 37

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2nd Real Madrid 17 7 1 1 15 5 2 6 0 6 3 34

3rd Valencia 17 6 1 2 17 8 4 2 2 14 12 33

4th Espanyol 17 9 0 0 13 2 1 1 6 4 13 31

5th Betis 17 6 1 2 16 8 2 5 1 15 12 30

6th Atlético Madrid 17 4 2 2 12 10 5 0 4 10 7 29

7th Zaragoza 17 6 2 1 14 9 2 1 5 6 15 27

8th MOTRIL 17 4 1 3 14 11 4 2 3 20 17 27

9th Tenerife 17 5 1 3 17 12 3 2 3 6 5 27

10th Sevilla 17 3 2 3 12 7 4 2 3 10 8 25

11th Athletic Bilbao 17 5 3 1 14 8 1 1 6 4 15 22

12th Villarreal 17 4 4 1 8 3 2 0 6 5 11 22

13th Málaga 17 5 1 3 18 11 1 2 5 7 14 21

14th Deportivo 17 5 2 1 15 8 1 1 7 9 20 21

15th Mallorca 17 5 2 2 13 10 0 2 6 3 12 19

16th Real Sociedad 17 4 1 3 11 11 1 0 8 4 20 16

17th Celta 17 1 3 4 6 11 3 1 5 11 16 16

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

18th Alavés 17 3 3 2 10 9 1 0 8 5 19 15

19th Sporting Gijón 17 3 2 3 9 10 0 3 6 7 19 14

20th Badajoz 17 2 2 4 8 10 0 1 8 7 19 9</pre>

[BobBev]

January 2008

Sunday 6th

Our first game after the Christmas break involves a trip to Real Madrid. Fletcher is restored to the starting eleven and we are given the boost of another early goal from Edgar Davids. Unfortunately we can’t hang on to the lead and Real equalise 5 minutes before half time. We acquit ourselves well in the second period and are somewhat unfortunate to concede a late goal to give Madrid a 2-1 win. We also suffer another injury when Ramón Cabrera twists an ankle and the prognosis is a two-month layoff.

Sunday 13th

Our 4th consecutive away game takes us to neighbours Malaga hopeful of a good result. However the home side are clearly fired up and set about us with a vengeance. A poor performance from our team sees us ship 4 unanswered goals in a disastrous result. This is such a flat performance that once again I wonder about my ability to inspire and motivate the players.

Wednesday 16th

After a long discussion with the coaching staff I have decided to step down from the position of manager and my assistant Gary Speed will take charge for the rest of the season. I feel that I have taken the club as far as I can from a managerial perspective and it is time to allow a more experienced coach to take over.

Saturday 19th

Gary made his first signing today as he brought on board 17-year-old defender José Antonio Baños from Atlético Madrid for €350K.

Sunday 20th

My first game as a spectator for some 7 years saw Mallorca visit the Escribano Castilla. Gary decided to deploy a 4-4-2 formation with new signing Baños making his debut. Clinton Morrison gave us an early lead but the visitors equalised before the break. I was sad to see us concede a second goal with 10 minutes remaining to suffer a 2-1 defeat.

Wednesday 23rd

Another youngster arrived today as 16-year-old David Salcedo is purchased from Xerez for €475K. He arrived in time to watch the midweek league game at home to Athletic Bilbao during which we created more than enough opportunities to win handsomely. Unfortunately we failed to put any of them away and allowed the visitors a goal in each half for a 2-0 defeat.

Saturday 26th

Before agreeing to take over, Gary Speed insisted that he must have full control of the transfer budget and he made his biggest signing so far today with the capture of defender Alberto Marcos from Valladolid for €2M.

Sunday 27th

We travelled to Zaragoza today and returned with a terrible 4-1 mauling. Poor Tony Warner had one of those days and was badly at fault for three of the goals, one of which was a penalty conceded by the keeper.

Wednesday 30th

Another new signing arrived at Motril with central defender Boumsong (28, D C) joining from Arsenal for €3.8M.

Having made the decision to step aside it is obviously a huge disappointment to see Gary getting off to such a poor start with three straight defeats. We have now dropped to 14th place and are in real danger of falling into the relegation battle.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">*******************************************************************************************

Spanish First Division - Sunday 27th January 2008

*******************************************************************************************

Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1st Barcelona 22 10 1 0 33 5 4 4 3 16 12 47

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2nd Real Madrid 22 9 2 1 20 7 3 7 0 8 3 45

3rd Valencia 22 8 1 3 21 10 5 3 2 18 12 43

4th Zaragoza 22 8 3 1 19 10 4 1 5 12 17 40

5th Betis 22 8 1 2 20 8 3 5 3 17 15 39

6th Espanyol 22 10 0 1 14 3 1 3 7 7 17 36

7th Málaga 22 7 2 3 28 15 3 2 5 12 14 34

8th Atlético Madrid 22 5 3 2 15 12 5 1 6 10 12 34

9th Sevilla 22 5 3 3 18 8 4 3 4 12 12 33

10th Tenerife 22 6 1 3 19 12 3 3 6 8 11 31

11th Athletic Bilbao 22 7 3 2 18 12 2 1 7 6 17 31

12th Deportivo 22 6 2 2 17 11 2 2 8 14 24 28

13th Villarreal 22 5 5 2 10 5 2 1 7 6 15 27

14th MOTRIL 22 4 1 5 15 15 4 2 6 22 27 27

15th Mallorca 22 6 3 3 18 14 1 2 7 6 15 26

16th Celta 22 3 5 4 11 14 3 1 6 12 18 24

17th Real Sociedad 22 4 2 4 14 15 2 0 10 6 26 20

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

18th Sporting Gijón 22 3 3 4 11 14 1 3 8 11 26 18

19th Alavés 22 3 3 4 10 16 1 1 10 6 22 16

20th Badajoz 22 2 3 5 8 13 1 2 9 10 24 14</pre>

[BobBev]

February 2008

Saturday 2nd

Boumsong makes his debut in the home game against Valencia and gets off to great start by scoring the opening goal after 15 minutes. With the team looking much more confident than of late there is no further scoring until late in the game when the visitors equalise with less than 20 minutes remaining. Five minutes later we are awarded a penalty for a handball decision and Clinton Morrison converts the spot kick to give us the lead. Another 5 minutes later and another penalty award as Nicola Legrottaglie is sent off for a two-footed challenge. The 2-2 result is poor reward for an enterprising performance but it is a much more encouraging display.

Sunday 10th

Unfortunately they same cannot be said of the next game at Villarreal as we fail to get a single shot on target in a poor 1-0 defeat.

Wednesday 13th

We are back into Champions League action as Roma come to Motril for our 3rd Phase 2 group game. Roma dominate the first half and take a two-goal lead before Massimo Mutarelli pulls a goal back in stoppage time. Estecha completes our comeback with an equalising goal 10 minutes after the restart and the 2-2 draw is a good result in the circumstances and gives us our first points in the group.

Saturday 16th

We face another tough game as Barcelona visit but a Clinton Morrison penalty gives us the lead after half an hour. The visitors equalise before half time but Morrison is on target again in stoppage time. We defend very well in the second half and are just minutes from a historic victory before conceding a late equaliser.

Tuesday 19th

It is Champions League time again as we travel to Italy to face Roma. We are on the defensive for the bulk of the game but we reach half time still on terms. But within minutes of the restart we concede what turns out to be the only goal of the game. With only two games remaining there is now no way that we can qualify for the Quarter Finals but to have reached the Second Phase in our first ever attempt represents a successful campaign.

Sunday 24th

The final action of the month involves a visit to Sevilla. After a scoreless first half Ramón Cabrera gives us the lead 10 minutes into the second period. But we are unable to keep the lead and concede twice to slump to a 2-1 defeat.

Another awful month has seen us drop to 15th place just two points above the relegation places. Things look bad and I hope that Gary can somehow turn the tide.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">*******************************************************************************************

Spanish First Division - Wednesday 27th February 2008

*******************************************************************************************

Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1st Barcelona 26 12 1 0 39 7 5 5 3 20 14 57

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2nd Real Madrid 26 9 3 1 21 8 4 7 2 10 7 49

3rd Zaragoza 26 9 4 1 22 12 5 2 5 15 17 48

4th Betis 26 10 1 2 26 11 3 7 3 18 16 47

5th Espanyol 26 12 0 1 18 4 2 4 7 9 18 46

6th Atlético Madrid 26 8 3 2 18 12 6 1 6 12 13 46

7th Valencia 26 8 1 5 23 14 5 4 3 22 17 44

8th Sevilla 26 7 3 3 22 9 4 3 6 12 14 39

9th Tenerife 26 7 1 4 23 16 4 3 7 10 13 37

10th Málaga 26 8 2 4 30 17 3 2 7 14 21 37

11th Villarreal 26 6 5 3 11 7 3 2 7 9 16 34

12th Deportivo 26 6 4 2 18 12 3 2 9 17 29 33

13th Athletic Bilbao 26 7 3 3 19 14 2 2 9 10 23 32

14th Mallorca 26 7 4 3 19 14 1 2 9 7 19 30

15th MOTRIL 26 4 3 5 19 19 4 2 8 23 30 29

16th Celta 26 4 6 4 14 15 3 2 7 13 20 29

17th Sporting Gijón 26 5 3 4 15 16 2 3 9 14 28 27

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

18th Real Sociedad 26 5 3 5 20 20 3 0 10 7 26 27

19th Badajoz 26 3 3 6 9 15 1 2 11 13 30 17

20th Alavés 26 3 3 6 10 19 1 1 12 6 25 16</pre>

[BobBev]

March 2008

Sunday 2nd

The visit of Real Sociedad is a game that offers a big chance to get a win and Massimo Mutarelli gives us the lead a few minutes before the break but once again we fail to hold on and allow an equaliser in the second half. The 1-1 draw is better than a defeat but really doesn’t help our cause too much.

Wednesday 5th

Our penultimate Champions League game sees Galatasaray visit and we comprehensively outplay the visitors with Clinton Morrison scoring twice in the first half to give us a very good 2-0 win.

Saturday 8th

Now that Gary has broken his duck the team are in more confident mood for the league game at Atlético Madrid. We fall behind midway through the first half but Estecha puts us back on terms before the break. Ramón Cabrera gives us the lead just after the break and Frédéric Piquionne secures the win late on. The 3-1 win is a huge boost to the team and well deserved on the day.

Tuesday 11th

We travel to Feyenoord for our final Champions League game with nothing to play for but pride. Unfortunately we put in a very poor performance and concede a first-half goal to lose 1-0.

Sunday 16th

The visit of bottom club Alavés is a must-win game and I suffer a tense first half as we strive hard to break through a stubborn defence but reach the break scoreless. We finally get the goal we deserve with 15 minutes remaining when Estecha scores. The narrow 1-0 win gives us three more valuable points and another boost in confidence.

Wednesday 26th

We visit strugglers Badajoz looking for another win but fall behind to an early goal. We dominate the rest of the game but have to wait until the 64th minute before Fábio gets us back on terms. Despite creating a number of good chances we just can’t find a winning goal and have to settle for the 1-1 draw.

Sunday 30th

The month ends with a visit from Celta and captain Massimo Mutarelli scores once in each half to cap a fine individual performance and secure a good 2-0 win. Now that the team has managed to get a few wins confidence is much better and Gary is looking a lot more relaxed than he was a few weeks ago.

Some decent results this month have moved us up to 11th and we now have a 10-point breathing space between us and the relegation places.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">*******************************************************************************************

Spanish First Division - Sunday 30th March 2008

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Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts

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1st Barcelona 30 13 1 0 40 7 7 6 3 26 15 67

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2nd Real Madrid 31 11 4 1 28 9 6 7 2 13 8 62

3rd Zaragoza 31 11 4 1 26 13 5 3 7 16 24 55

4th Betis 30 12 2 2 32 13 3 7 4 19 18 54

5th Espanyol 31 14 0 2 22 5 2 5 8 9 19 53

6th Valencia 31 9 1 6 25 16 6 4 5 26 21 50

7th Atlético Madrid 31 8 4 3 20 16 6 3 7 12 15 49

8th Sevilla 31 8 4 3 23 9 6 3 7 16 18 49

9th Málaga 31 10 2 4 35 18 4 2 9 17 25 46

10th Villarreal 30 7 5 3 12 7 4 3 8 14 20 41

11th MOTRIL 31 6 4 5 23 20 5 3 8 27 32 40

12th Deportivo 31 7 5 3 22 14 4 2 10 19 31 40

13th Tenerife 30 8 1 6 27 21 4 3 8 10 14 40

14th Mallorca 31 8 4 4 21 16 1 3 11 10 26 34

15th Celta 31 5 6 5 16 18 3 3 9 16 26 33

16th Athletic Bilbao 30 7 4 5 21 23 2 2 10 10 24 33

17th Sporting Gijón 31 6 4 5 19 19 2 4 10 15 30 32

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18th Real Sociedad 30 6 3 5 22 21 3 1 12 9 32 31

19th Badajoz 31 3 6 6 12 18 2 2 12 15 34 23

20th Alavés 31 4 3 8 12 23 2 1 13 7 26 22</pre>