Travelling Without Moving

Bad news for Jumilla.....good news for Real Murcia. Jumilla failed to pay the referee's expenses again on Sunday....that's 4 times now, and according to the rules that means they will be excluded from the competition. Sevilla B have already played them twice......Real Murcia still have a home game, which, if the expected exclusion is confirmed this week, will be given to Real as a victory.

All this means that we can mathematically confirm first place on Sunday if Sevilla fail at Roquetas and we beat Lorca at home. The difference would then be 7 points, but in reality would be 10 with the 3 points we will get for the "win" over Jumilla. Sevilla would have 3 games to go (Real only 2), and can only obtain 9 more points.

All the attention is on the Real Madrid - Barcelona clashes in La Liga, Cup and Champions League over the next days and weeks. But anything other than these 2 teams and Spanish football is a shambles - Jumilla's position being a clear indication. Segunda B and Tercera are in desperate need of reform. A start would be to have a reserve league....these sides only adulterate the competition - how can (for example) 2 Sevilla B players be used in Primera one week and the next be playing in segunda B? No transfer and free to come and go. How do rival teams (such as Murcia) feel when they play a full strength reserve side, and a week later another rival has an advantage playing a weakened Sevilla B side whose 2 strikers are called up to their first team? If they are on a lower rung of the same ladder then the same transfer rules must apply as for completely different sides, including the transfer window. Only if they had their own reserve league should they be able to come and go at any time.

In Segunda we have the absurd situation of Barcelona B occupying a spot for a play-off they cannot participate in. Vilarreal B are also in this division.....if they both finished in the top 6 then even the 8th placed team could go up.....and that's ridiculous. Plus the fact that as they can't go up they sell dead games late season....part of why we were relegated last season.