Friday, December 30, 2011

Because Of Boxing Day......

If there is one thing I really miss about english football, it's the fact that while the mere mortals are enjoying a few days off over Christmas and New Year, the football fixture list is full.

In our house, the Boxing day trip to a game is as traditional as turkey for Christmas dinner. It's the males chance to get out of the house, let off a bit of steam, and leave the clearing up and making of leftover sandwiches to the ladies. I know that sounds sexist....but that is how it is. It's never that important what game, although if an Arsenal, QPR or a team followed by one family member, all the better. Like at the theatre, with matinee sessions, football puts on it's entertainment over the holidays. Even as a teenager I can remember going off with my mates to either White Hart Lane or Highbury for the North London derby - boxing day was always derby day.

Now this becomes a problem when the family come down to Spain every second year. There's a void, and we fellas are at loose end on Boxing day. There's only so much wii'ing, so much board game you can play, and so many chocolates or mince pies you can chomp through before you get the itch. And no footy can mean frayed tempers.

It's a shame, but I think that player power will very soon put an end to Christmas and New Year footy in the UK, and players will be able to join their european counterparts in having a nice 3 week break (really, I mean, it's not that they really work hard for the other 49 weeks is it?). I feel this will be rather sad, from a social and family point of view. How many bored henpecked husbands will kick their dog? Plus the fact that that english games soothe the rest of the footy-mad continents football deficit.

This year I was able to attend, with my father, my brother and my son, the first lower level game (League 2 - Hereford United against Port Vale) I have seen in England for some years. Used to segunda B in Spain and it's totally empty stadiums, zero atmosphere and terrible football, it was good to see a reasonably full ground, 500 visiting supporters, good atmosphere, and warm weak tea to go along with the awful football.

Long may we be able to enjoy holiday football - it keeps a lot of men out of a lot of trouble.

Sunday, December 18, 2011

Real Murcia 3 Alcoyano 2


It was looking pretty grim when Alcoyano scored their second. The truth is, Real Murcia seemed lost, we huffed and puffed without creating much. Going 2 down seemed to awaken a kamikaze spirit. Coach Alonso had already thrown caution to the wind taking off defenders and putting on attackers. The fact we scored our first very quickly seemed to drain Alcoyano of any physical strength they had, and the fans that had remained drove Murcia forward towards a win that had looked totally impossible a few minutes earlier.


Real Murcia:
Alberto
Molinero - Oriol (Borja 67') - Jorge - Rubén Párraga
Aguilera (Pedro 53') - Richi - Isaac Jové - Sutil
Emilio - Cristian García (Luciano 92')

Alcoyano:
Maestro
Devesa - Rojas - Morcillo - Carrión (Xavi Molina 68')
Fran Miranda - Miki - Cañadas (César Remón 79') - Guille Roldán
Gato - Paco Esteban (Álvaro 45')

Goals:
0-1 Álvaro 47'
0-2 Álvaro 76'
1-2 Borja 77'
2-2 Cristian García 82'
3-2 Sutil 92'

Referee: Miranda Torres. Brave enough to send off an Alcoyano player in the first half.

Att : 7.110 at the New Condomina. Strange lot, Real Murcia supporters. These is a core of say 4,000 who stick with it through thick and thin, and who have the hope and belief that any adversity can be overcome. Then there are many that, when supposedly easier games come along, think that their support isn't needed and don't even bother to go to the game - yesterday's attendence a couple of thousand lower than the norm. Then there are those of little faith, sprinting for the exit when Alcoyano's second hit the net. The 4.000 that remained were rewarded with a spectacular comeback. I can only imagine the anger of those who preferred to leave, grumbling and swearing, making promises of never coming back, when, in their cars listening to the radio, they hear of Real's bouncebackability. Just another example of how Real slap them in the face, taking away the opportunity to mock and criticise.

Thursday, December 15, 2011

Sorry....

Sorry about the lack of blog recently. Very busy and stressed time at work....

Hope to get things back to normal over the next week or so.

Sunday, December 4, 2011

El Arbitraje.

Ayer, antes del encuentro, el fondo sur protestó contra los árbitros. De nada sirvió, ya que se vio el mismo arbitraje parcial que venimos sufriendo hace ya 5 años. A el rival se le perdona todo (deberían haber quedado con uno menos en el minuto 15 por doble amarilla, y ni en el minuto 88, con el partido acabado, una entrada criminal tipo karate a la altura de la cabeza, merece expulsión), pero a el Murcia no pasa ni una....la expulsión de Christian Garcia es de chiste, el balón está en juego, tiene posibilidades de llegar, le estorba un defensa, y no llega a dar con el portero. Pero es tarjeta roja.

Yo creo que todos reconocemos que son personas y se pueden equivocar. ¿Pero siempre en contra? Tan solo esta temporada, incluso en los últimos dos partidos se refleja lo que hay. Dos goles casi idénticos, el del rival sube al marcador, pero el del Murcia se anula. Se castiga a un jugador del Murcia con una amarilla ridícula, que llego queda expulsado por la segunda, pero un defensor comete penalti como una catedral, y no se pita ni es expulsado. Ayer, en nuestro mejor momento, intentando remontar, el árbitro tardo nada en cortar la reacción de cuajo, dejándonos con menos opciones.

Es que llueve sobre mojado. No mojado. Inundado. Desde la primera jornada no se pitan penales a favor pero no podemos ni tocar que los árbitros están esperando castigarnos. Hay una larguísima lista. Cagadas tremendas como el penalti más que claro a Kike en Elche (recibe tarjeta amarilla por simulación, para luego pasar 4 meses lesionado. Le rompieron la pierna) hasta ayer mismo que decididamente los jueces hicieron lo suyo para dejarnos sin opciones. Mira que el linier señala saque de puerta en una acción ante sus morros que era córner. Lo sabe, no cabe duda, pero quiso jodernos.

Hay premeditación. La pasada temporada nos dieron un respiro, lo que indica que el que da las instrucciones de castigo esta dentro de la LFP. Nuestro dueño, Jesus Samper, cae mal por donde vaya. Es un empresario de éxito, pero es un cabezón y un torpe para las relaciones. Sus batallas con Javier Tebas, ex presidente del la LFP, traen este resultado. No conozco ningún presidente de ningún club que aguanta tanto "error" callándose como una puta. Quizás las protestas, lejos de ser para los árbitros, deben mirar a Samper como causante de la situación.

Lo que sí, Murcia como ciudad y nosotros como afición, merecemos un respeto. No pedimos favores, solo el cese del castigo continuo. Ya nos mandaron a segunda B una vez, y si no paran de ningunearnos, nos mandaran otra vez.

Es que la lista de árbitros que han pitar parcialmente ya es demasiado largo para ser casualidad. El hecho de liderar la tabla de las tarjetas y expulsiones tampoco. Es una política de la LFP. Castigo a Samper. Nosotros y el Real Murcia somos daños colaterales. ¿Lo Peor? La mitad de la afición sale del estadio diciendo que el árbitro no ha influido en el resultado.

Real Murcia 0 Alcorcon 2

Real Murcia:
Alberto
Mario Marín - Jorge - Iván Amaya (Richi 66') - Óscar Sánchez
Iturra - Emilio Sánchez - Cerrajería (Isaac Jové 46') - Pedro (Sutil 71')
Cristian - Chando

Alcorcón:
Herrera
Anuarbe - Babin - Agus - Bermúdez
Mora - Rubén Sanz - Fernando Sales - Saúl (Montañés 71')
Borja (Miguelez 10') - Quini (Riera 64')

Goals:
0-1 Miguelez 16'
0-2 Montañés 84'

Referee: Mr. Ocón Arráiz.

Att : 7.720 at the New Condomina.

Monday, November 21, 2011

PEDRO!


How fickle and daft can you get? Even stupid. I'm frankly disgusted with the behaviour of a sector of the crowd at the New Condomina. Whistling and booing and taking out your frustration on a player that, yes, is a bit out of form, yes, fluffed a couple of tough controls, but who never hid, never stopped running, tried and tried again and again, had a decent first half, and is clearly trying very very hard. You morons.

How does it help? "Let's humiliate him, Let's try and demoralize him" they must be thinking. Let's boo and hiss until he crawls away weeping. Do they really think it's to their supposed team's benefit to do this? Numbskulls.

This is a player that can be very very dangerous and tricky. It's a player who stayed at Real to right the wrong of relegation to Segunda B....not like others who sneaked away blaming others. He stayed, fought, and played a big part in our return.

How can you, yes you, you vermin, dare to try and bring Pedro down? You that whistles were the same who pissed off as soon as Barcelona B scored their second. Half angry, half wanting to miss the traffic, but fully buggering off so as not to miss 10 minutes of your beloved Real Madrid.

Thank goodness there are many decent fans at Real. Those who cheered Pedro off when he was subbed, those who, when Barcelona scored their second, sang the team through those hard last 15 minutes.

To the boo-ers, PEDRO doesn't deserve that. And if you think it helps, you are as thick as pigshit.

¡ÁNIMO PEDRO!

Sunday, November 20, 2011

Real Murcia 0 Barcelona B 2

It was all so predictable. Real's history dictates that whenever there is a game where we are on a good run, the press have been talking up promotion posibilities, and an "lesser" side visit us (or especially a B team), we lose. So it was no surprise at all.

There is no doubt that most of this Barcelona outfit will end up in their first team or forge a career at other Primera sides. That said, we did have chances to win, but were rather innocent in front of goal. The lack of goals from the forwards is becoming a bit of a worry.

Real Murcia :
Alberto
Molinero - Jorge - Amaya - Óscar Sánchez
Iturra - Richi (Borja 72') - Pedro (Isaac 67') - Sutil
Cristian García (Emilio Sánchez 54') - Chando

Barcelona B
Oier
Montoya - Bartra - Muniesa - Lobato
Dos Santos - Rafinha - Sergi Roberto - Rodri (Tello 59')
Soriano (Planas 88') - Deulofeu (Riverola 70')

Goals
0-1 Deulofeu 65'
0-2 Tello 86'

Referee : Mr. Gil Manzano.

Att : 11,391 at the New Condomina.

So our 10 game unbeaten streak is over. The fans rewarded the players with an ovation despite defeat. There is no shame in this loss, nor should it effect the overall confidence within the squad.

One question that arises is the urgent need for a reserve league in Spain. Over the last few seasons we have seen how Villarreal, Barcelona and Sevilla have had their reserves in Segunda. Why should they have the advantage of a pool of players who are on a different rung of the same ladder? It adulterates the competition. Teams can face a stronger or weaker B side depending on call ups to first team. Come the end of the season, they have little to play for (they can't go up) and often make better or worse effort depending on how many suitcases of cash come their way. We were victims of this in 2009/10, when Villarreal's players rolled over weakly in many games, yet ran their socks off when playing Real Murcia - there celebrations of an equalizer, when they had nothing at all to gain, were quite embarrasing. Why there was no investigation of such strange results and behaviour I don't know.

Saturday, November 19, 2011

Cheating

At present, Man City are a few points clear at the top of the Premier league. I really don't get why there is so much praise being heaped upon them in the press. Have they worked tirelessly to build a team, whilst living within their means? Has a successful youth policy developed a crop of home-grown talent? I know they are, sorry, were, a proper club with proper fans....but now they are just the biggest payer to the ever more mercenary modern player.

Reading the papers you would think that Mancini was some sort of magician. He's not.

Well run clubs have no chance to hang on to stars when City offer to double their salary. They are so "rich" they can even sign players to stop them playing for a rival.

Yesterday, and without one iota of worry or embarrasment, City announced losses of £ 194,500,000 (€ 227,500,000) in just one year. And that my friends isn't sport, isn't competition, in fact, it isn't anything except financial doping. Cheating. Cheating of the highest order. City are making it even worse with the vile attempts to hide losses through super inflated sponsorship and naming rights with the family of their owner. It's about time the rest of football, the hardworking, well run and decent clubs, said enough is enough.

Chelsea's titles under Abramovich hold zero merit for me. There should be an * and in brackets the money lost each season in persuit of silverware. Citys record loss will make their title worthless in my eyes.

Friday, November 18, 2011

Fan Power!


Great image of Real Murcia support in Alicante. I'm in there, obscured by a post....

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Table after 13

Hercules 0 Real Murcia 1


Proper derby game. Tension, insults, fisticuffs. In the week leading up to the game there had been a build up of tension between the two "sporting directors" Sergio Fernandez of Hercules and Chuti Molina of Real Murcia. Now Sergio was a fiery character in his time as a player and director at Real Murcia. His departure back to his beloved Hercules this summer wasn't without acrimony - and it is said he had tried to torpedo a lot of Real Murcia's moves in the transfer market. He even had the cheek to say Real Murcia had a bigger budget for players, when in reality our squad has been put together on a shoestring. This grinded with the hardworking Chuti Molina who had a difficult time this summer and was widely criticised in the press (how wrong can you be). There was also comment that the referee was a personal friend of Fernandez (both from Castilla León). It seems things came to a head at half time.....they came to blows.....Chuti head butting Sergio who retaliated with a couple of kicks. The Real Murcia delegation were literally thrown out of the stadium.

Seeing the game - it was evident that the referee was only going one way. In 30 minutes Real Murcia had committed 3 fouls, all of which the referee penalized with yellow cards. I would say maybe one of these was deserved. In the meantime Hercules were allowed to foul and break up any counter-attacks with no punishment. Then Ruso was taken out by (I think) Peña, right in front of Iñaki Alonso....our manager picked the ball up and made a tiny gesture of anger at the tackle, as if to throw the ball back at the perpetrator. It was nothing, yet the referee showed him a red card, and off he went. Late in the second half Aguilera committed a foul to break up a Hercules move....a yellow...no problem....we had been the victims of the same tackle with no card....but the ref gave a straight red. Credit to our defenders for not making any tricky tackles in the box, as the ref was desperate to help Hercules and his buddy Sergio.

You have to say Hercules dominated, Alberto had plenty to do without ever being really stretched. He did make one good save from a brilliant overhead kick, but was otherwise relatively untroubled. This Real Murcia TEAM shows so many good things. They don't crumble under pressure. There is a spirit and an ethic. They clearly BELIEVE in Iñaki Alonso’s methods. Ten games unbeaten – is no fluke.

Hércules:
Falcón
Juanra - Samuel - Mora (Jefte 89') - Peña
Arbilla (Sergio Díaz 84') - Rivas - Sanchón (Sardinero 64') - Callejón
Tiago - Urko Vera

Real Murcia:
Alberto
Molinero - Jorge - Amaya - Óscar Sánchez
Aguilera - Richi - Pedro - Sutil (Luciano 81')
Cristian García (Isaac 60') - Chando (Mario Marín 89')

Goal:
0-1 Jorge García 89'

Referee : Mr. Valdés Aller. Casero, as the Spanish say. A homie. I would say MUY casero. Let his subconscious betray him by using different criteria for each team, thus helping his friend at Hercules. Every Real tackle was carded...Hercules could kick with impunity.

Att : Aprox. 10,500 at the Rico Perez stadium. Around 1,000 of these supported Real Murcia.

It was great day out. Beers, laughs, a win, celebratory chow-down and gin and tonics back in Murcia at the supporters club bar. Got home at 4 a.m.!

So we now sit in 5th and in the play-off zone. How far we have come in just a year. In November 2010 we had just lost our first game against Ceuta.....and faced an uncertain future, not only on field, but the very existence of the club in danger. There were months ahead before qualification for the play off, with no guarantee of success, even if you did win your group. We were about as distant of our current position as was possible. It’s a credit to everyone involved – players, coaching staff, the board, and the fans. We all pulled together, and although nothing has been achieved yet, we look in a very strong position to obtain those 52 points that guarantee safety, which, let’s not forget, should still be our target.

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

England - Spain? No Gracias.



I do support England, but....I can’t ever get as excited about international football as I can when my own club is involved in a game. Why should this be? I can remember as a kid being glued to every England game, and thinking of all the players as heroes, even if they didn’t play for The Arsenal. That “golden age” where footballers were hard as nails but fair, played honestly, didn’t dive, gave as good as they got and enjoyed a pint and a fag. It was impossible to dislike any of them. Unless they were Tottenham. Or Portuguese.

Today’s England stars, where do I start? At the back. It’s tough to suddenly wish good things on such a huge mega twat as Ashley Cole. Then there’s one of the most obnoxious human beings you could meet, the racist idiot that is John Terry. In midfield you have the thick as pigshit Frank Lampard.....can you see a trend developing here, around one club in particular? Then there is the gobshite Rooney and his hair plugs and preference for the older whore. All players that week in and week out you are desperate to see make terrible bungling mistakes, miss open goals, score own goals, or in the case of John Terry, pick up gangrene off a rusty stud and suffer a long slow painful death whilst trying to make up with Wayne Bridge, who, by a quirk of fate, is the only man in the world with an antidote. You get the picture I’m sure. I can’t suddenly turn off the hate and want them to do well. I want England to win, but, it would be soooo funny to see Cashley Hole trip over his own feet and crack his head on the post whilst diverting a wayward shot into his own goal. That would be hilarious! I would even say even better than seeing an England goal. Sorry.

But this weekend is of course England against Spain. Now in my house I’m outnumbered. So that means I’ll have to go all patriotic and be fully behind England. Cashley. Terry. Lamps. The Roon. Of course there is a very very soft spot for Spain. My home, my missus and kids are Spanish, the place has given me so much, I’m very attached.....but, oh no, who are those two unieyebrowed eyestooclosetogether midgets in midfield? The mouthy, too full of himself Xavi, and some bloke that used to seem like a nice lad when he spoke English, but has recently become all cocky, gobby and big headed when speaking Spanish. Then there is Busquets, the lanky, cheating, can’t keep his balance within a yard of a defender, master of deception. Oh dear.

The international kicks off at 6.15 p.m. (CET) on Saturday, if seeing overpaid, pampered, legs-waxed, tattooed primadonnas dive and gesture their way through a meaningless friendly is your thing. There are alternatives. In England it’s the sadly devalued but extremely good FA Cup first round. In Spain there are a round of Segunda games.

Me? Oh feck it….I think I’m going to pass on the Wembley kickabout on the telly. I’ll be at the Rico Perez watching Real Murcia try to extend their unbeaten run in a real game.....and will only have to deal with one hate figure (the ref) instead of 8 or 10.

I'll get my coat!

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Kike Garcia


Feeling sorry for Kike Garcia. Our young forward will miss a further 2 or 3 months after another operation. He was close to a comeback after being injured against Elche in the second game of the season. A nasty tackle.....a clear penalty....that referee Pino Zamorano deemed unworthy of a penalty, and of a yellow card for a dive. This referee, gesturing to Kike to get up, even had the cheek to say the booking was for dissent just so the card could not be struck off. Broken leg, 2 operations, total 5 or 6 months out, a yellow card and no penalty. Quite unbelievable.

The day Pino Ray Chales Stevie Wonder Zamorano comes to referee at the New Condomina.....he deserves to be roundly abused.

Attention from 20 seconds .... if that isn't a penalty....I'll eat my underpants.

Real Murcia 0 Deportivo 0

To say that Deportivo were lucky to get away with a point would be an understatement, and they can thank a benevelant linesman, a poor referee, a massive chunk of luck and a brilliant display of goalkeeping by Aranzubia. This Deportivo side, with all their massive budget and highly paid stars, had no answer to Real Murcia's high tempo and sheer will to win. They were second best in every department.

Real had many chances to score - and perhaps the biggest moment of the game came when Cristian "Ruso" Garcia, clean through, went to ground under the keepers' challenge. The referee pointed to the spot, and the linesman seemed to be OK with the decision....that is until he was surrounded by Deportivo players. Whatever they said to him had the desired effect, as after discussion, the referee booked Ruso and gave a free kick to Deportivo. Ruso later admitted on the club's radio that he had taken a bit of a dive, but anyhow, this decision made the crowd a bit wild, and they went even more nuts a couple of minutes later when Ruso was again fouled in the box, this time clearly, and maybe the referee deicded not to blow for pen due to the previous dive.

Second half was all Real Murcia, Deportivo didn't get a sniff. We should have scored....Molinero missed the best chance in injury time, or rather, Aranzubia somehow managed to steer his shot wide.


Real Murcia :
Alberto
Molinero - Oriol - Amaya - Oscar Sanchez
Iturra - Richi - Cerrajeria (Aguilera 75') - Sutil
Ruso (Isaac 87') - Chando (Pedro 63')

Deportivo :
Aranzubia
Laure - Colotto - Aythami - Ayoze
Bergantiños - Jesus Vazquez (Lassad 69') - Guardado (Gama 84') - Salomao (Saul 57')
Valeron - Riki

Referee : Mr. Sureda Cuenca. Both he and his linesman were clearly intimidated by the Deportivo name and players.

Att. 10.609 noisy fans at the New Condomina.

So our unbeaten run extends to 9 games. There is no reason to feel we lost points yesterday. The performance was outstanding, and players like Ruso, Iturra and Sutil are now fully fit and playing a big part. And this was against everyone's favorite for promotion.

Another big test coming up on Saturday (20.00 p.m. at the Rico Perez stadium in Alicante) in the derby against division leaders Hercules. Let's hope our form continues but our luck gets better, and that our unbeaten run goes into double figures.



Photo : Isaac and Molinero can't believe the ball isn't in the back of the net.

Monday, November 7, 2011

Meat Pie / Bilbao

Big game tonight.....really looking forward to it, but feet firmly planted in the ground. As Iñaki Alonso said....Deportivo have struggled, but only at small grounds. In stadiums, like ours, they have done fine. If you are going, don't forget your PASTELICO DE CARNE.

Watched Atletic Bilbao against Barcelona last night. Great game in the rain, makes you realize what a feat it is for Bilbao to compete with the money cheats at Barcelona, up to their necks in debt, highest wage bill in modern football, and using private offshore investment funds to sign players they can't afford. One of the truly great things in Spanish football (Basque politics aside), is a team made entirely from local Basque players who give everything for the shirt.

One thing did however strike me, and it was the spanish commentary on Canal+. He referred to all the Bilbao players by their surmanes, so why did he call all the Barcelona players by first name? Are they his mates? Can you imagine Martin Tyler, in say an Man Utd game, referring to "Rio, to Wayne, back to Darren, passes out wide to Patrice who thumps it forward to Michael.....". How unprofessional would that be? In any case....it showed and badly those side he was on. You could tell when Bilbao went ahead that it stuck in his throat. The opposite of when Barcelona flukily equalized. He had kittens.

Saturday, November 5, 2011

Reality Check....

I don't think most of us realize what a good position we are in. Relegation in 2010 to Segunda B, and our immediate promotion back to Segunda in 2011....is completely undervalued. Why? I'll explain.

Let's look at the teams relegated along with Real Murcia, and those relegated to Segunda B in the 2 previous seasons. I've made a league table for comparison.



Of the 11 sides (Cadiz relegated twice in 3 seasons) only Real Murcia are back in Segunda, just 6 are still in Segunda B (and have to first qualify for the play-offs, then get through them, to retrun to Segunda), 3 are in the hell hole of Tercera (and not doing well), and one has gone out of business.

So let's keep our feet on the ground and enjoy the moment. Our objective is still the 52 points that guarantee safety.

Friday, November 4, 2011

And if, you know, your History....Real Murcia - Deportivo.

In season 90-91, Real Murcia seemed well set for promotion to Primera. We had topped the league for months, but on the last day of the season, away at Deportivo La Coruña, everything was at stake. There were a lot of "dark arts" practised by Deportivo as a club and by their (still) chairman Lendoiro. The worst happened. 2 - 0 to Deportivo and we finished third, which then signified a play off with the third bottom side in Primera, in this case, Zaragoza. I can still remember clearly the home leg and how we dominated, hit the bar, but were denied by some very poor refereeing by (I can still remember his name) Diaz Vega. The second leg we fell apart, and were soundly beaten 5 - 2.



From that point on the 90's were a disaster for Real Murcia. Administrative relegation to segunda B, promotion back to Segunda, but then a series of years in segunda B and even one year in the depths of Tercera, mean that the decade was one of the darkest periods in the history of the club. The 00's were a little better, even playing 2 seasons in Primera, but both campaigns ended in relegation. Compare this to the last 20 years for Deportivo. After that game, they have not been out of Primera until this season. They won the Primera title in 99-00, have won the Copa Del Rey on two occasions (94-95 and 01-02), enjoyed 13 seasons of european football (playing in semi finals of the Cup Winners Cup in 95-96, and the Champions league in 03-04). It's almost as if the history of both clubs pivoted on that 1991 game. The two stories could not have been more distant, one teams success, the others almost complete failure. We should not forget the treatment received by club, players and fans on that day in 1991. It was anything but Deportivo.

We have had occasions to in some way repay Deportivo on the few times we have met since. In the Copa del Rey in 03 we undeservedly lost the first leg 1- 0 in Coruña, and then started the second leg by letting 2 in.....and then made a magnificent comeback, only to go out on away goals after Manuel Pablo scored the flukiest goal he'll ever score. Here you can see the videos of the first and second halves.





So.....now we have a situation. Deportivo just relegated from Primera, Real just promoted from Segunda B. They have 19 points, we have 18. Beat them, and we will be above them for the first time since 1991. Could this be the moment when the circle is complete, and the roles are changed?

This game is not to be missed. Kick off is on Monday 7th at 9 p.m.

Tickets are available from the box office at the New Condomina stadium.
For the Lateral it is €30, and behind either goal is €20.

With the run we are on, expect a good gate, and a great match. Who knows....maybe 20 years from now we can look back and say "I was there" the day it all changed.

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Enemy Within II

You would imagine that after an 8 game unbeaten run and after winning a derby game, all would be well and our friends in the press would be contented, or even moderately positive, about the prospects for Real Murcia. Surely local journalists should have a minimum of partizan feelings?



This is Juan Ignacio de Ibarra. They call him Maestro (Master), and he has a street in the town named after him. If he is the master then it is no wonder the level of sports hacks in Murcia is so bad. He will make predictions of doom every year, that we have failed in the transfer market and have signed useless players. Those who have stayed weren't good enough to start with and a long etc. If the season is a failure, he will say, grinning and proud and full of himself, that "I TOLD YOU SO". If we are a success, he will jump on the bandwagon and say the same thing "I TOLD YOU SO" even though he said the complete opposite. He literally sold out to the defunct "Ciudad de Murcia", after Real Murcia stopped all his freebies and inside information. On a live TV show on Monday, he told Cristian "Ruso" Garcia that "I don't like the way you play". To a player that in just 20 minutes on the pitch scored 2 goals and generally made a great impression. Why would he say that? I think I know.....a mixture of unconcious antimurcianism, senility and Chivas Regal. For me, he's just a clown, but for many he is influential, and forms their opinions for them, most of the time negative. A millstone around the neck of the club.



Last night on "La 7" which is our regional TV station, I was watching Villarreal v Manchester City. Now, I'm used to seeing games on Sky where you have one presenter, and three ex players or managers, who have inside knowledge and coaching badges that back their opinions. The 7 panel consisted of one ex player and three journos, one of whom, Jose Antonio Ruiz Vivo (above), is also a politician and spokeman for the Murcia regional govenment. Quite why he should be allowed to spout his inexpert opinions over a Champions League game I don't know. He used the opportunity to preach time and again about how he is a Madridista, a Real Madrid supporter, and to critisize Real Murcia, it's owner, and in particular player Paco Sutil for his comments after the derby game against Cartagena. As I have said on a previous blog....I can't see what the issue is with a player stating that he would like to see us promoted and our main rivals relegated. These were comments made amongst friends, not at a press conference. Now there are two things I dislike about Ruiz Vivo. Firstly he pushes his Real Madrid support well over a limit that should be normal on a local Murcia station. And secondly.....it's the hipocracy. Not a day goes past without him being on the radio in his political capacity wishing his conservatie (Partido Popular) party victory in the upcoming elections, and a resounding defeat for the labour (Partido Socialista) party. What moral ground does he have to demand an apology from Paco Sutil for doing the same thing he himself does every day? Is he going to apologise to the socialists?

This is the "old guard" we are up against. Hipocrites and know-it-alls. Pity that the next generation are similar....with few exceptions.

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Truth Hurts


After Sunday's game, and back in Murcia at the supporters club bar, Paco Sutil had the temerity to say exactly what he thought. "I hope that Murcia go up to Primera, and that Cartagena are relegated to Segunda B", he said. In the 92nd minute he cheekily mucked around with the ball, goading his opponents while wasting a few seconds. "If I laughed at them, it was on your behalf" he said to the fans.

These comments have really upset the delicate flowers down in Cartagena. Yes, those who helped Real Murcia down to segunda B 2 seasons ago by losing 0 - 4 to Albacete in their last game and celebrated the fact as if they had won the world cup. The same people who spend the whole game insulting, spitting, and throwing objects at us from the upper tier. The same who bring a coffin to the game with Real's crest on it. Real captain Oscar Sanchez had to issue an apology, and he did this very elegantly, just in case anyone was offended. Fair enough. But why should he do so? Is what Sutil said going to make our visits to Cartagena any more unsafe than they already are? Personally I think not. And have Cartagena ever apologised for throwing a game that help get Murcia relegated? Of course not.

Another case of speaking the truth and saying what you feel being valued below a more politically correct lie. I can see that when you have Sutil on your side it's great, but i'm sure he's dead annoying as an opponent. Like a more talented Robbie Savage.

Monday, October 31, 2011

Sunday, October 30, 2011

Cartagena 1 Real Murcia 2

9 points out of 9 in a week. Now that is great form, and this was a special win in that it wasn't going to be easy against an opponent and a set of fans whose season revolves around beating Real Murcia. As expected, and from my position in the horrible, squalid, dirty and semi abandoned lower tier, Cartagena's fans seemed more intent on throwing insults and making political statements that watching a football match.

The first half was instantly forgettable. We didn't even look remotely dangerous, and Cartagena took the lead after Richi very generously gave the ball away in the wrong area. The gaves pivotal moment came just after half time, when Collantes, clean through, was thwarted by the excellent Alberto in Real Murcia's goal. That would have been 2 - 0. From then on we seemed to be in control, Jorge heading in a free kick, and Cristian "Ruso" soaring to nod home another well executed free kick. We all went bonkers!

Cartagena :
Reina
Txiki - Herrero - Abraham Paz - Kijera
Dimas - Mariano Sánchez - Toni Moral (Marc Fernández 73') - Lafuente (Iván Bolado 62')
Antón (Maldonado 81') - Collantes

Real Murcia:
Alberto
Molinero - Jorge - Amaya - Óscar Sánchez
Iturra - Richi (Cristian García 56') - Pedro (Isaac 70') - Sutil
Emilio - Chando (Cerrajería 70')

Goals
1-0 Álvaro Antón 31'
1-1 Jorge 57'
1-2 Cristian García 70'

Referee : Mr. Miranda Torres. OK.

Attendance : 12.000 at the Cartagonova stadium.

So....after the dodgy start of losing 3 games, we have gone 8 unbeaten now, and look a solid unit and are going to be very very hard to beat. Added to this we have a variety of options up front. Chando has yet to hit form, but Cristian "Ruso" Garcia looks better and better with every minute he plays.
Nice to put one over Cartagena. To come back from behind, keep them down in the relegation zone, and boost ourselves up to near the play off positions. If one image summed today up....it's Cristian's celebration of his goal....arms folded, staring at Cartagena's rabid spittle spraying hate mob, saying OI YOU LOT...AVE SOME OF THAT!

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Recreativo 0 Real Murcia 2

To think that just a month or so ago the preachers of doom were calling for the managers head. I wonder what they have to say now? After 3 defeats in the first 3 games it was easy to jump on the bandwagon.....but as I said then, we had everything against us, injuries, poor refereeing, tough opponents, a lot of recently arrived players struggling to gel. In the following 7 games we have won 4, drawn 3 and lost none. That is form that only leaders Hercules can match.

Recreativo Huelva are on a bad run, hovering over the relegation zone, and therefore in need of points. Conditions were bad as it pelted down and was very windy the whole game. First half (with the wind) we seemed to control well, and maybe should have gone in 2 up. Second half (against the wind) was backs to the wall, Alberto making a couple of good saves and the post saving us on one occasion. There was even a miracle, yes, we got a penalty! Pedro missed it, but, we did get a penalty!

Recreativo:
Manu Fernández
Córcoles - Bordá - Manolo Martínez - Cifu
Álamo (Peinado 66') - Quillo - Arcas (Matamala 61') - Aitor (Fidel 46')
Pablo Sánchez - Villar

Real Murcia:
Alberto
Molinero - Oriol - Jorge - Rubén Párraga
Aguilera (Luciano 77') - Cerrajerría - Mario Marín - Emilio Sánchez (Richi 66')
Pedro - Chando (Ruso 84')

Goals:
0-1 Jorge 6'
0-2 Ruso 90'

Referee : Mr. Jesús Manzano Gil. Gave us a penalty! A feckin penalty! Hero status.

Att : Only 5.000 at the Nuevo Colombino in Huelva.

I think this result means a lot more than just the 3 points. The proverbial wet Wednesday, long trip away from home, without first choice players Iturra, Oscar Sanchez and Ivan Amaya, with a derby coming up on Sunday, it would have been easy to relax. But Iñaki Alonso has instilled a work ethic into this side. The players that came in (Aguilera, Parraga and Oriol) did a fine job. We defended cooly against the elements without becoming flustered. We showed that the squad has depth and that we can win ugly. "Ruso" came on and scored a good goal (beat the offside trap, controlled and ran well before finishing with a thumping shot)....who knows what that will do for his confidence.

Next up....Cartagena on Sunday. I suppose it is a derby because of the regional proximity and rivalry between Cartagena town and Murcia city ....more for them than us as our derbys are against Hercules and Elche. Traditionally it would have been, but this "FC Cartagena" isn't our historical rival "Cartagena FC" (small but important difference), this version was founded in 1995, and we have only played them a couple of times. But in a very spanish way they have taken the old clubs history as their own, just as the defunct "Ciudad de Murcia" would have done with Real Murcia's if the worst had happened.

So....things are looking up and on current form we are a match for anyone in the division. But remember....we are Real Murcia, and just when you think things are good, fate or luck or whatever will come along, slap us in the face, kick us in the balls, throw us to the floor and jump up and down on our sorry arses. JUst as long as it's not on Sunday, i'm fine with that.

Sunday, October 23, 2011

Real Murcia 3 Villarreal B 1

I dislike games against "B" teams. They are full of very talented young players, and have no fear whatsoever, results simply aren't important to them. In Spain there is no reserve league - reserve sides are just on a different rung of the same ladder (Villarreal and Barcelona have their B sides in Segunda, and segunda B is full of larger clubs B sides). There are two thing that are wrong with this. Firestly there teams, when April and May come around, as they can't be promoted so tend to roll over easily when it suits them (or take the suitcase full of cash and fight very very hard. You never know). Secondly it gives their first-teams access to a full squad of second division players, whilst others teams have no such posibility. Surely if you are on the same ladder, you can't play for 2 clubs?

Real started well and scored early with an Oscar Sanchez header. Then promply went to sleep. Villarreal equalized with a fortunate goal after a couple of rebounds fell their way, then Oscar Sanchez popped up in the area again to push home after Sutil had put Chando through, his shot coming back off the bar into Oscar's path. Strange that a full back should be getting his name on the scoresheet, not once, but twice. There were still 20 odd minutes remaining when Iturra was sent off. It looked like we were going to have a tough time, but up came Emilio Sanchez with a majestic free kick (his third direct free kick goal this season) to remove any doubts that the 3 points were staying at home.

Real Murcia:
Alberto
Molinero - Jorge - Iván Amaya - Óscar Sánchez
Cerrajería (Aguilera 74') - Iturra - Richi - Sutil (Pedro 61')
Emilio Sánchez (Isaac 85') - Chando.

Villarreal B:
Mariño
Pere (Guerrero 82') - Lejeune - Kiko - Costa
Llorente - Toribio - Vázquez (Kike López 57') - Castellani (Jordi Pablo 71')
Joselu - Airam.

Goals:
1-0 Óscar Sánchez 2'
1-1 Airam 37'
2-1 Óscar Sánchez 44'
3-1 Emilio Sánchez 84'

Referee: Mr. Melero López. We are just going to have to deal with the fact that we get absolutely nothing from the men in black/yellow/red. Again a referee was permissive to rough foul play against Real Murcia, Villarreal made three or four bad tackles that merited yellow cards, yet as usual it was our first foul that drew punishment. He was quick and very happy to show Iturra his second yellow - two fouls, two yellows for the Chilean. Whatever partizan feelings you may have about how the refs persecute your side, you have to say that Spanish refereeing is in deep crisis. They just can't be this bad without practice. Evidently they are being badly guided, as there is zero appreciation that they should try to let the game flow, have no obligation to blow for a foul when players are challenging for the ball, are clueless about playing advantage, and have no need whatsoever for the theatrical cardwaving. Mr. Melero Lopez was so bad that he must have had the Spanish equivalent of "you're not fit to referee" ringing in his ears as he scurried off to the dressing rooms at half time as it was sung loudly by everyone present. He was ridiculous.

Attendance : 8.870

Sunday, October 16, 2011

Huesca 2 Real Murcia 2


I suppose a draw after going 2 - nil down isn't a bad result. But when you look at the game you have to think that we should have won all three points. Huesca's first goal was a gift from the referee, awarding the softest penalty ever, despite the fact no Huesca player even claimed it. Oscar Sanchez may have touched the attacker ever so lighty, but never enought to merit a penalty. For the second we fell asleep. After then it was the Emilio show. He scored an excellent free-kick, and then blasted in from just outside the box to level the scores. After that...well, we seemed to sit back.

HUESCA:
Bernardo
Sastre - Rivas - Josetxo - Clavero
Javi Martínez (Toni 61') - Camacho - Luis Helguera - Gilvan (Jokin Esparza 61')
Roberto - Tariq (Molina 34')

REAL MURCIA:
Alberto
Molinero - Jorge - Amaya - Óscar Sánchez
Iturra - Richi - Isaac Jové (Cerrajería 66') - Emilio Sánchez (Rubén Párraga 82')
Pedro (Cristian García 71') - Chando

GOALS:
1-0 Camacho 18' (pen)
2-0 Luis Helguera 21'
2-1 Emilio Sánchez 29'
2-2 Emilio Sánchez 57'

REFEREE: Mr. Mariscal Sánchez (Andaluz). Same shit different week.

I know this is just going to sound like a whinge that every fan makes about referees sooner or later....but his is just getting ridiculous. We had another good shout turned down yesterday, so we are now 0 from 13....0% awarded in favour. We have had 4 shouts against us (I'm not calling yesterday's a shout as no-one did) so we are 4 from 4 pens awarded against us...100%. Now you can say I'm biased (and I am), but that would only make the statistic look slightly better. The fact is that if the cliché that "it all evens itself out in the end" is right, these figures should be 50/50....and they are a long way from that. From my blinkered view we are being punished for something, I don't have a clue what. It can't be that the mearest touch (v Huesca), or an accidental handball (v Valladolid) are penalties against us, yet our players can be clobbered by opposition keepers (v Xerez), have a defender block a cross like a volleyball player (Numancia) or have a leg broken by a defender(v Elche) and play be waved on.

It's about time someone in the club (owner Jesús Samper, for example) thumped their fist on the table and said "enough is enough!" and asked for an explanation. The three examples I mention were so obvious, so definate, so 100% stick on, that one can only have thoughts of conspiracies, however absurd I always find those theories. But i'll sit while I wait for him to do so, as it won't happen. Samper has too many business self-interests with the Real Federación to risk rocking the boat in any shape or form. So do we as supporters have to burn some barricades or smash some windows to have our voice heard? That's not the way....but the total inaction of the club's owner and directors is extremely frustrating.

It's as they say in Spain....."el que no llora, no mama"....a baby who doesn't cry, gets no milk.....and it's about time we had had a good old snotty wet loud sob in the ears of anyone that matters.

Photo : Emilio Sanchez (19 He's magic!), is mobbed after scoring.

Sunday, October 9, 2011


Funny how in the week running up to the game I was really looking forward to the match. Evidently I had forgotten that this was Xerez who were visiting. Now as far back as I can remember, I would say more than a decade, Xerez have always been terrible visitors.....always looking to waste time, playact, use the dark arts and foul cosistently....and yesterday was no different. It seemed that every time Real broke, or made space, or beat a man....the little tug, the snide foul, the clip of an ankle or the crude obstruction came about in order to give Xerez time to get back a reorganize to defend the dead ball. The constant fouling got beyond a joke towards the end of the first half, of course it all went unpunished except for the award of free kicks. We huffed and puffed, play well at times, but just seemed to be nervous in front of goal. Our best chance came whn Chando, playing his first minutes of the season, lobbed goalwards only to see Doblas pull of a great save. Xerez rarely threatened with any danger.

Real Murcia:
Alberto
Molinero - Jorge - Amaya - Óscar Sánchez
Iturra - Emilio - Cerrajería (Aguilera 83') - Richi (Isaac 79')
Pedro - Cristian (Chando 62')

Xerez:
Doblas
Cámara (Campano 55') - Robusté - Lombán - Mendoza
Bruno - Rueda - Capi (Codero 82') - Redondo
Israel (Óscar Díaz 65') - José Mari

Referee: Mr. Arias López. Just unbelievable, the worst of a very poor bunch so far. Let Xerez get away with constant niggly fouling, gave a series of stange decisions, blew for a lot of really soft fouls, didn't let the game flow. One wonders what on earth they are being taught. Frustrated everyone.

Att : 8.878

Again a referee failed to see another 2 good shout for penalties. One a pretty clear handball, the second an absolute stick on, the keeper rushing out and literally bundling over an attacker. I don't understand. I'm not one for conspiracy theories but....the facts make you think. In 7 league games we have had a dozen good penalty shouts, of which 7 or 8 I consider very awardable. None have been given. Thats 0%. Now....against us I can remember 4 penalty shouts, 3 of which have been awarded. Thats 75%. It just seems that any minimal contact is a pen against, but as yet we haven't been able to present a signed confession form a defender in order to get one in our favour. These things should even themselves out over a season....but this looks very very lopsided. At least we managed to finish a game with 11 men.

Photo : The magnificent Manuel "Colocho" Iturra. Again looks to be on another level to the 21 other players on the pitch.

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Award for Iñaki Alonso



News today is that Real Murcia coach Iñaki Alonso's work has been recognized with the award of the Ramón Cobo prize. This is awarded by the the Managers committee of the Real Federación de Fútbol to a single coach from first, second and segunda B. It's like the managers vote for their manager of the year. I have to say it's very well deserved. Congratulations, Iñaki, getting Real Murcia out of Segunda B was a massive achievement given the amount of pressure. To have done it at the first attempt and with record numbers.....he deserves every plaudit he gets.

Photo : Iñaki Alonso. He's magic, you know.

Monday, October 3, 2011

Las Palmas 1 Real Murcia 1

So that's 3 matches unbeaten after our unlucky start. You have to say that Las Palmas had most of the chances (Alberto was in great form) but that late in the game it was Real who looked more liekly to take all 3 points. If we could just steer clear if injuries and get a break from the referees (again a doubtful but probably justifiably awarded penalty against us, never a sending off but Oriol saw a red card). In 6 games we have had minimum 8 good claims for pens, 5 of which you could say were indiscutable, and none awarded. Against.....4 claims, 4 awards. This has to balance itself out sooner or later. Unless there is a hidden agenda....(which I doubt).

I think we are still improving, and are going to be tough to beat home or away. "Colocho" Iturra is a class act...suspect that if we don't obtain promotion (more than likely given our objective is consolidation) we will be playing in Primera next year....he just seems to be one step ahead in anticipation, coolness on the ball, speed over short distance, decisionmakimg and combination of team play. We need to have Sutil fit (he was injured in training and will be out for almost a month), as Pedro, who can be brilliant, is too Jekyl and Hyde and was at his erratic worst on Saturday. Emilio Sanchez scored a good goal from a free kick...leaving the keeper flat footed, but I think for away games Aguilera should be in the starting 11, as he puts in the mileage and will disrupt a lot of opponent attacks. We looked a bit weak in that department, hence the number of Las Palmas chances.

Las Palmas:
Barbosa
Pignol - Ruymán - Diego Herner - Vitolo
Sergio Suárez (Quiroga, 46') - David González (Artiles 46') - Guerrero (Hernán 82') - Javi Castellano
Juanpe - Viera

Real Murcia:
Alberto
Oriol - Ivan Amaya - Jorge - Óscar Sánchez
Mario Marín - Iturra - Emilio Sánchez (Ruso 72') - Pedro
Richi (Aguilera 76') - Borja (Molinero 57')

Goals:
0-1 Emilio Sánchez 36'
1-1 Vitolo (pen) 53'

Referee: Mr. Dámaso Arcediano Monescillo. Too quick to send Oriol off for what was only really a yellow. Bookings for Real players Amaya, Emilio Sánchez, Iturra, Pedro and Mario Marín.

Att : 9.132

Interesting to read our "friends" in the local press. Yesterday the headline was "One Chance, One Goal" and followed with criticism of the lack of chances created. Today it's "Can't Keep a Clean Sheet". Clearly they are out to put a negative slant on everything, but the arguments are wafer thin and don't stand up to scrutiny (we had at least 4 good chances I can remember, for example).

Anyhow....onwards and upwards, Xerez come to town on Saturday (6 p.m. at the New Condomina). Let hope we can continue the unbeaten run.

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Real Murcia 2 Numancia 1

A decent team performance against a Numancia side who, rather against expectation, came out attacking and didn't "park the bus". The win, coming from behind, will do wonders for the self belief within the squad. We still have injury issues in attack with Chanda and Kike out - but young Borja took his chance to equalize very cooly, which should boost his confidence. Sutil, back after injury, was a constant headache for Numancia's defence.

Real Murcia:
Alberto
Oriol - Amaya - Jorge - Óscar Sánchez
Aguilera - Iturra - Mario Marín (Molinero 79') - Richi (Emilio 63')
Sutil (Isaac 71') - Borja

Numancia:
Navarro
Expósito - Jaio - Cabrera - Ripa (Nieto 59')
Sunny - Víctor Andrés - Del Pino - Nano
Cédric (Bedoya 69') - Juanjo

Goals:
0-1 Del Pino 7'
1-1 Borja 10'
2-1 Óscar Sánchez 38'

Referee : Mr. Martínez Munuera. Truly awful. Again a referee fails to award Real a stonewall penalty. Strange decisions all afternoon.

Att : 10,247 at the New Condomina.

So 2 victories have calmed the nerves of the preachers of doom. I think, once we have everyone fit, we are going to be a match for anyone in the division, and can think of a higher goal than just avoiding relegation. If the refs start to balance up their errors against us.....who knows!

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Jealous



Seeing images of the Malaga - Bilbao game last night. dead jealous to see so many Crosses of St. George in the stands. I understand Malaga have many thousands of ex-pat season ticket holders (Real Murcia...I think we could count in tens maybe). I know that the Costa del Sol has a higher population of brits and is on the coast.....but would we need a billionaire owner spending wildly in order to increase our numbers at the New Condomina?

Sunday, September 18, 2011

Valladolid 1 Real Murcia 3

During the week the nervous, weak and gutless preachers of doom were having it all their own way. They talked of a team made up of everyone else'e rejects, a coach incapable at this level, a squad put together late and badly, and of impending relegation. After watching Real's games, my impression was clear.....don't panic. Football's inponderables had been against us, and details meant we hadn't gained a victory. Yesterday they balanced. Yes we still have all our first choice forwards out injured, yes we had a referee very willing to send off and award penalties against us....but this side, despite swimming against the tide, demonstrated a togetherness and a team, hardworking ethic, that finally and deservedly bore fruit.

Special mention to keeper Alberto, who made a vital penalty save when we had just gone down to 10 men, and to Iturra who was everywhere....what a great signing. His goal summed up his performance, desire, power, a cool head and great finish, all in the 87th minute. But let's not get carried away. It's a very good win at one of the favorites for promotion, but has to be followed up with a win at home against Numancia next weekend.

REAL VALLADOLID:
Jaime
Mongil - Juanito - Rueda - Peña
Nauzet Alemán (Sisi 68') - Baraja (Jofré 46') - Bueno
Óscar (Víctor Pérez 46') - Javi Guerra

REAL MURCIA:
Saint Alberto
Oriol - Jorge - Amaya - Óscar Sánchez
Aguilera - Iturra - Mario Marín (Molinero 79’) - Richi (Sutil 68')
Pedro - Borja (Isaac Jové 34')

Goals:
0-1 Baraja o.g. 7'
0-2 Richi 16'
1-2 Javi Guerra 86'
1-3 Iturra 87'

Referee: Mr. Amoedo Chas. OK I suppose.

So, a dramatic improvement in result after a similar performance. A lesson to the people who lost their cool. This is no sprint, it's a marathon.....and you are always going to have ups and downs in a long season. I just think we had all our bad luck at the start.

As Steve commented this week....KEEP THE FAITH!

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

The Footballer Bullfighter


Ever been to a Corrida de Toros? If all goes well, and the Matador is entertaining, the crowd sing their Oléee's. They cheer. The band strikes up a Paso Doble. If the president of the ring deems he is deserving of a prize (one ear, two ears, and the tail of the bull in order of importance) he can be carried shoulder high through the "Puerta Grande" (The big door). Now, if the Matador isn't entertaining, isn't performing well.....there is firstly silence. Then there is the Aviso....like a warning....and then there can be the Bronca (a jeering, a telling off). This attitude runs deep, and is applied to football by most Spanish fans. Do well, everyone is your best mate. Not so well, and far from support or understanding, you will be abused, trodden on and left devoid of confidence by what are supposedly your fans.

C'est la vie!

P.s. This week there are bullfights almost every day in Murcia, part of the Feria de Septiembre. Always worth a look at least once in a lifetime, if only to form an opinion.

Sunday, September 11, 2011

Real Murcia 0 Almería 2



Not a great result, but not altogether unexpected. Everything seems to conspire against us. Our most important attacking players, Sutil, Chando and Kike, are all out injured. Emilio, our most creative midfielder, lasted just 12 minutes. Every 50/50 ball seemed to come out in Almería's favour, the new (late) arrivals are taking their time to gain match fitness and understanding with their new collegues. The fixtures could not have been more cruel, with Celta, Elche, Almería and Valladolid, all promotion candidates, in row to start the season. And of course we have our friends in black.....Murcia owner Jesús Samper's refusal to make any comment on referee treatment of his team is now beyond a joke.

Real Murcia:

Alberto
Molinero - Oriol - Jorge - Óscar Sánchez
Aguilera - Iturra (Samuel, 58') - Cerrajería (Richi, 53') - Isaac
Emilio (Borja, 12') - Pedro.

Almería:

Esteban
Míchel - Carlos García - Jakobsen - Bautista
Soriano - Verza (Goitom, 70') - Bernardello - Rafita
Alex Vidal (Corona, 79') - Ulloa.

Goals:
0-1 Jakobsen 7'
0-2 Alex Vidal 50'

Referee : Mr. Jaime Latre. Again when a big decision came....(Pedro shaping to shoot in the area, impeded from behind)....he made the usual call.

Attendance : 8.693

Now....as usual in Spain the immediate reaction to 3 defeats in 3 is to call for the head of the Manager. It's knee-jerk. If we had lost to these 3 sides at any other time, it wouldn't be the case. We can't forget that injuries, refereeing decisions and luck have all been completely against us. Accuse Iñaki Alonso all you like....but any side would struggle with the 3 best forwards on the treatment table. Yes we could improve defensively, yes the referee could be at least even handed. But now isn't the time, all considered, to get the shakes. It's time for gritting teeth. Some of the apocalyptic preachers of doom are having a field day. Again...don't forget what we have been up against. When we play Numancia and Las Palmas will be the time to make such sweeping judgements. Some people really need to grow a pair.....the club clearly told us...this season was all about consolidation. Sacking the manager with all that is against us....would be a very bad move.

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Real Murcia 0 Cordoba 1

Details.....all in the details. Strikers Chando, Sutil and Kike are all injured. Cordoba's keeper made 2 great point black saves. The referee denied Real Murcia 2 penalties. Cordoba scored with their only shot.

A Real side full of fringe players were miles better than Cordoba, that is an undeniable fact. But that we are out of the King's cup, is another. In general we played well (Chilean international Iturra looks a fine player) and should have won easily - but we were either uncertain in front of goal or their keeper was having a blinder...i'm not sure which. But as usual we were up against a referee refusing to give us anything. In 3 games so far this season we have had at least 5 good and in some cases stonewall pens committed against us, but none awarded. In those same games 1 penalty shout against us (ball to hand not hand to ball) and of course 1 penalty awarded. It's getting beyond a joke.

The goal....a gift. Parraga's misguided backpass intercepted. Another detail.

Real Murcia:

Javi Jiménez
Mario Marín - Luciano - Amaya - Párraga
Iturra - Cerrajería (Aguilera, 81’) - Richi - Pedro
Nico Varela (Isaac, 74’) - Borja (Samuel, 65’)

Córdoba:

Arias
Fernández - Astrain (Bernardo, 70’) - Prieto - Cerra
Taira (Hervas, 54’) - López Garai - Carlos Martínez - Quero
Balsas - Javi López (Patiño, 65’)

Referee: Mr. Lesma López. Same old same old.

Goal:
0-1 Quero 89’

Just over 3,700 at the New Condomina. Thanks in great part to the inept and useless RFEF. How on earth can lower league football prosper in Spain when they insist the game be played at 10 p.m. on a Tuesday, the very same time that Spain's world and european champions kicked off an international?

So 3 defeats from 3.....unjust, but that won't stop the rancid press and other vultures from sharpening their knives and, far from trying to halt a negative slide, actually pushing us downhill.

Saturday's game at home to Almeria could get ugly.

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Holiday is over....

Sorry about the lack of blog....been on holiday....and to be honest, the world of football is in such a horrid state, it's been hard to find the will to write....even to the point of considering calling it a day as far as the blog is concerned (also due to pressure of work).

But anyhow......Real lost the first 2 games of the season, 1 - 3 at home to Celta and 1 - 0 away to Elche. Celta are expected to be at the top, Elche played the play off final last season....so not totally unexpected. Bad news however is that our attacking options are threadbare....Chando, Sutil and now Kike all out injured. And some things never change.....the refs are on our case again, Pino Zamorando at Elche carding 8 yellows and 2 reds for us, and turning down 2 stonewall penalties (the second of which is when Kike was injured - he's expected to be out for at least a month, may need an operation).

Tonight we play Cordoba in the King's Cup at the New Condomina (kick off is at 22.00 hrs), and on Saturday we are also at home to Almería (kick off 18.00 hrs).

Friday, August 26, 2011

Football RIP. Fossil Fuels and Tax Havens

This week Samuel Eto’o signed for Russian club Anzhi Makhachkala (exactly...who?) on a contract worth over € 200,000 per week after tax. Juan Mata signed for Chelsea after this club gazumped Arsenal by offering the player a shitload more money. Samir Nasri joined Manchester City after having his head turned by another £75,000 per week on top of the £100,000 plus he had a pen in his hand to sign a few months ago from Arsenal. Last week a top club in Spain signed the best young midfielder in the world using an offshore investment fund as they could not afford him.

UEFA really need to get a grip, as the ogliarchs and sheikhs are about to ruin our once loved game. How can well run clubs who keep within their means compete with this? How can the Premier league remain a competitive competition when City are buying players, not to play for them, but so they don’t play for a rival? Every time a club wants to sign a player they almost have to go through an approval process from the mega-losses clubs, as they see fit they will just offer more money to stop the player going to another club (see Mata and Lukula signings for Chelsea).

Why are the rest of the continent willing to stand by and let Barcelona and Madrid use offshore third party funds to maintain their position? How long will they put up with their leagues sharing TV funds fairly while Barcelona and Madrid unilaterally take the lions share in Spain?

Financial doping is becoming a really big problem. Money has become the be all and end all, even creating a new type of player, highly paid to play little or not at all, so long as it takes resources away from rivals.

There have always been bigger and smaller clubs, of course, but it was based on fans and ability to draw in gates and sponsors, not by how much your sugar daddy was willing to throw at it or how many favours you got from your local FA. The extra money coming in does no good whatsoever to lower levels of the game – it goes straight into overpaid mercenary players pockets.


Photo : Sheikh Mansoor. Battling with Roman Abramovich to see who can buy the Premier League by stacking up the highest loss. Where's the merit in that?

New Home Kit


Modelled by Chando. Like it!

The strike is off......so we kick off the season at home to Celta Vigo on Sunday at midday (11 a.m. UK time). The club website cannot show the games this season, only radio commentary (due to TV rights in this division). Although you may be able to pick up a feed on the internet at (for example) Rojadirecta.

I'm off on holiday for a week.....let's hope for a strong start!

Thursday, August 25, 2011

Manuel "Colocho" Iturra


Chilean Colocho Iturra arrives on a year long loan deal (with a buy out posibility if all goes well) from Universidad de Chile. A full international on no less that 35 occasions. He's a defensive midfielder....sounds like a very good piece of business.

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Galder Cerrajería


Galder Cerrajería has arrived on loan from Athletic Bilbao. “I only wanted to be at Real Murcia. Since the news of their interest came out, I told my agent to concentrate on the option to come here, other offers I didn't take notice of". The key to his arrival was "Iñaki Alonso's insistance that I came".

The confidence deposited in him by the coaches at Real Murcia means he can "move forward. My intention is to give everything for this club". Galder knows that "I arrive at an important club that has to demonstrate a lot in this division. We can't renounce anything, but the first target is to make sure we stay up".

Thursday, August 18, 2011

2 Ways To Skin a Cat...


1. The City / Chelsea. Mega rich sugar daddy owners, pumping seemingly endless sums of gas and oil money into their clubs with not a hope of ever recovering a penny of it. The clubs as companies make massive losses (Chelsea cleverly released figures of a £70m loss the same day they spent £75m on Fernando Torres and David Luiz – the fact was lost as the signings took the headlines). City spending just impossible amounts on transfers and wages (next arrival, Samir Nasri, £22m plus a rumoured £200,000 per week)....how on earth any player can, in this day and age, stay at their club if one of these two come shopping needs no explanation. City's way of funding this and trying to balance the books is to get the owners also mega rich brother or cousin to have his airline sponsor the club at a hugely inflated rate so it looks like legitimate income. Let’s all drool about how well they play….but let’s not forget that they have an unfair advantage over well run clubs. It’s like cheating with drugs, but with money.

2. The Barça / Madrid. Effectively owned by their fans (unlike all other Spanish clubs who are obliged to be private limited companies) they run up debts they are finding increasingly hard to service, despite the unfair advantages they get from the priviledge of grabbing most of the TV money between them. The City/Chelsea who can just slap more money on the table to get their signings in, have made life more difficult, as the Barça/Madrid can't compete. So they use other tactics to turn player's heads, such as emotional blackmail, blatant tapping up, and the Chinese water torture of day after day media stories published in their mouthpieces (Marca, AS, Mundo Deportivo, Sport). Little or no respect for forms, regulations, process and other clubs. Take the Cesc saga....after relentless tapping up and media stories, whilst not coming up with the money, the day before the start of the season they finally get their way....but not by paying up, but by making Arsenal's position impossible by having the player insist he will only sign for them and them only, and immediately or else he would continue to be either unfit or unsettled. Then they pay only around 30% upfront, the rest later on, have the player reduce his wages and forfeit a bonus....and more than all this I hear that this may be a case of third party ownership; that Barça will hold his footballing rights (he will play for them) but his economic rights are held by an offshore investment fund not owned by the club (allowed in Spain, but not in England. Remember how complicated the Carlos Tevez signing for Man Utd was due to his split ownership between a club and private individuals? Same thing). If this is true, Barça will have brought in the best young midfielder in the world, have immediate access to his talent, but will have effectively paid nothing for him (in exchange for not being able to have any future transfer fee). The selling club will be without the player and without immediate access to the funds to reinvest. How can that be right? This is a club described by experts as "technically bancrupt" less than a month ago. Again....it's cheating with money.

The question for me is how UEFA are going to view both cases in respect of their "Financial Fairplay" laws that come into being next season, that insist on book balancing if you want to participate in european competition. I suspect the whole thing is just a smokescreen to make the competition almost a closed shop, and smaller sides will be the ones to suffer. Would they be brave enough to prohibit a really big club, with all the TV money they bring in for UEFA itself?

It's a sad state of affairs when to be at the top you have to either make massive losses without a care, be in dept up to your neck, and/or engage in such complicated financial shenanagens that no-one really knows how or what's really yours. Well run clubs can't win....and that's why UEFA need to grow a pair and do something about it.

Cieza 3 Real Murcia 4

Last of the pre-season friendlies.

Real Murcia:
Alberto
Molinero - Aguilera - Rodri - Oriol Lozano
Nico Varela - Pablo - Richi - Emilio Sánchez
Isaac - Kike García

We raced into a 0 - 4 lead after just 20 minutes. Rodri (2'), Kike García (4'), Isaac (10') and Emilio Sánchez (21') scoring. Then managed to let 3 in to make it close.

Next up (or not) is the away trip to Huelva for the first league game. I say not because it looks like being postponed as the LFP (the league) and the AFP (the players association) have failed to reach agreement over money for a fund for players who don't get paid by clubs (a surprisingly common practice in Spain), so the players are going on strike.

Monday, August 15, 2011

La Roda 3 Real Murcia 2

Penultimate pre season game at La Roda. It seems we took a 0 - 2 lead through Sutil and Kike, and should have had a few more against La Roda (recently promoted to segunda B). Their goals were from set pieces, so work needed there......the winning goal in injury time penalty given away by new keeper Javi Jimenez.....

Real Murcia :
Javi Jiménez
Molinero - Oriol - Amaya - Óscar Sánchez
Pedro (Isaac Jové, 81) - Richi (Pablo, 81) - Emilio Sánchez - Sutil
Kike - Chando (Aguilera, 81)

Last friendly game is against Cieza on Wednesday 17th.


Wednesday, August 10, 2011

The Triangle.....

Real Murcia took the "7 Región de Murcia" triangular tournament last night, and deservedly so.

First up we played against Lorca with :

Alberto
Mario Marín - Luciano - Rodri - Rubén Párraga (Óscar Sánchez 33')
Nico Varela - Juan Aguilera - Eddy - Pedro
Lionel - Kike García

So only Alberto, Kike, Pedro and Aguilera who could be considered from the first 11. Of the reserves Nico Varela on the wing has put down a marker in pre-season, he's busy, skilful and committed.....and may save Real the trouble of having to sign a player for that position as was the plan. Eddy crunches into tackles and makes good use of the ball....he's Eddy Vieira from now on. Kike continues to look very sharp indeed, Pedro a little lost and short of confidence. Parraga was on the wrong end of a bad tackle and may have a damaged knee. The result was never much in doubt once Pedro put Real ahead after being set up by Kike.

But the real action came when we faced Cartagena.

Alberto
Molinero - Oriol - Iván Amaya - Óscar Sánchez
Isaac - Richi - Pablo - Sutil
Emilio Sánchez - Chando.

A much stronger line up. Cartagena came out looking strong, and dominated for the first 10 minutes or so, had a few corners, but without really threatening or having a shot. They were evidently wound-up for the game, making several reckless tackles. The game changed quickly once Real got hold of the ball. Emilio Sanchez controls midfield, is unfluttered, and seems to make his own space and time where there doesn't seem to be any. Sutil is a great signing....skillful, swift, direct...and ready to give as good as he gets. Even before Chando gave us the lead, we could have been 2 ahead....great team passing movements not getting the finishes they deserved. A Cartagena defence cock-up let Chando in, who finished calmly. After that Sutil hit the bar with a free-kick. Then the ref decided to get noticed and sent off a couple of Cartagena players, not really deserved, but there were only a couple of minutes remaining and they were not going to equalize....indeed they started to look quite downhearted and desperate even before the ref's intervention.

Cartagena have been most active in the transfer market, and have spent heavily. It must be very very worrying to be beaten by an austere Real Murcia, who are still to make more signings.

Real Murcia fans should be congratulated. Impeccable behaviour, despite the Cartagena supporters provocations and insults. The best way to answer the rabid insults was ignorance. They also goaded us...saying we were "four cats" (cuatro gatos) which is a typical spanish saying meaning you are very few. Evidently they couldn't see that their end was full to the rafters, as the photo below proves.


So a very very promising pre-season so far and more new arrivals to come. But let's keep our feet very firmly on the ground.

Sunday, August 7, 2011

Hércules 1 Real Murcia 1

Another game against a recently relegated (from Primera) team. This time comments are that Real Murcia dominated from start to finish, and were very unlucky not to beat a disappointing Hércules Alicante side.

We lined up in the first half with :

Fernando
Mario Marín - Luciano - Oriol Lozano - Óscar Sánchez
Nico Varela - Pablo - Emilio Sánchez - Sutil
Kike García - Chando

Second half subs : Nuno Viveros (trialist), Richi, Aguilera, Isaac, Molinero, Iván Amaya, Rodri, Párraga and Pedro.

The game was played at Campoamor, about eqidistant from Alicante and Murcia. I hear, and if you were in any doubt as to which team has the best support in the area, that 90% of the attendence were wearing red.

Vamos Real Murcia!

Next up is a triangular on Tuesday in Lorca against the hosts and FC/CF/Balsicas/Cartagena/Cartagonova or whatever our noisy neighbours are calling themselves nowadays. Should be fun!

Thursday, August 4, 2011

Almería 2 Real Murcia 2

This friendly was played in Lorca, all the gate money going towards earthquake relief (Lorca was severly damaged by 2 strong quakes on May 11th).

Real lined up in the first half with :

Alberto
Molinero - Oriol - Amaya - Párraga
Richi - Aguilera - Nuno - Pedro
Emilio Sánchez - Kike

In the second half Isaac Jové, Mario Marín, Pablo, Chando, Nico, Luciano and Sutil came on.

Now this was a serious friendly against a decent Almeria outfit who must be one of the favorites for promotion. They were definately taking this game seriousely, as they only made a few substitutions and were almost what we could call a first 11, and made several over zealous tackles. Real Murcia were also almost a first 11, but with trialist Nuno on the right wing.....he didn't look out of place, but his contribution was limited and after a brutal over the top challenge didn't feature much, and was substituted at the break. We took the lead through a nice Kike finish after a great pass by Emilio Sanchez (who looks a good buy - controlled the midfield and always seemed to choose the right ball). Both Almeria goals were avoidable, the first was a bit of a gift...sloppy defending, and the second the ref missed a clear foul. Sutil came on...and had immediate impact, his good play obliging a defender to handle in the area, he took the pen, missed, but put the rebound away.

Think we are just a defender and a striker away form being very solid.



Now....solidarity with the people of Lorca, victims of the earthquakes. Back in May there were other benefit games...and at one of these we had people very upset at not being able to contribute, and a very full 33,000 capacity stadium. yesterday these same people could have contributed.....they chose not to. In Spain...it's Madrid, Barcelona...or nothing.

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

If You Visit Murcia, Don't Miss (REPEATED)...

I originally posted this a year ago......but just to remind you all....and I noticed he has a Real Murcia crest on the wall, so is deserving of any publicity!

Bread from Tio Benito. This isn'y your flabby, square, packed in plastic horrid stuff, or the mass produced baguette types you get at a petrol station. It's not even comparable to the barras from your local bakery. This is the real thing. Homemade and baked in their own oven.



I first heard of Benito's bread when a friend of mine turned up one day with half a loaf. Wow. Just by itself it's great, but with a drop of olive oil or used as a scoop for any sauce it is in a class of it's own. And if you toast it a bit, douse in olive oil and add some proper tomato (the pig ugly ridged ones with blotchy colour) then you are close to perfection. If you rub a clove of garlic onto it before adding the oil and tomato, they you are almost in heaven.



The amazing thing is that Tio Bentino is situated in a tiny village, Los Ventorillos, on the road between El Palmar and Mazarron. However his bread is famous throughout the Murcia region, and it is a fame well earned.



They bake bread every day except Tuesday. Go late afternoon and you may have the pleasure of a loaf that's still hot, fresh from the oven....but be careful, the smell that fills your car will have your stomach grumbling to unheard of levels. And only 5 euros for a loaf that will last you a week, can be frozen and still taste great once out of the freezer.




El Ventorillo del Tio Benito....should be a candidate for a UN world heritage site. His embutidos are also not to be missed while you are there.

Signing : Paco SUTIL


Francisco Sutil (Jaén, 21/12/84) arrives on a 3 year contract from Real Sociedad. Sutil played 17 games and scored 2 goals for Sociedad in Primera last season. He plays on the left wing - so some good competition that may bring the best out of Pedro.