Now, when a club is threatening to go under administration, under Spain´s infamous Ley Concursal, there are many reasons and most of them are probably internal, management deficiencies and the like, but quite frankly there is a plague in Spanish football and it has been created, bought and paid for by Real Madrid CF and FC Barcelona. Their success is on the backs of clubs like Racing Santander, Sporting de Gijón and a former great Real Zaragoza who all look to be relegated to the Liga Adelante which despite the name is no forward thinking league. It is not the Championship, there is no hefty balloon payment, and clubs don´t do well there having to spend any significant time there.
Dozens of clubs, including some of those I just mentioned, and others big and small from the likes of Real Betis to Rayo Vallecano are under administration and if they had to suffer the penalty of demotion like there is in England, the Spanish Primera División would be an empty, barren place with a few hangers-on, and the big-two just looking around wondering where all the competition went. I know their argument. Why should we reward the smaller clubs? Why should we reward poor management? They would just waste the extra money like they do with the money they already make.
I have no argument for that. There is poor management in the smaller clubs. Bad management has been the bane of all the clubs in Spain, even the big two, but that´s not a good reason for maintaining the health of the league, and neither is blaming La Crisis, the financial crisis that is threatening to turn Spain into another Greece, a feudal state beholden to the power-brokers in Europe. Barcelona and Real Madrid need to do more for the sake of the league, and it is not just because my club look to be the latest victims of administration. Yes, Espanyol are considering it. They are over 140 million million euros in debt and would like to pay that off somewhat, and don´t even mention the tax-bill that all clubs in Spain owe, amounting to over 700 million euros and growing of which Espanyol certainly have a part in.
Which brings me to how this effects the squad. El Mundo Deportivo is reporting that somewhere between a third and half the squad will be replaced in the next six months. With the transfer window opening soon, we will be losing players who are ending their loan arrangements, some whose contracts are ending and won´t be extended, and others who will just likely be sold.
Didac Vilá will be headed back to AC Milan to win a place in defense there even though he made no significant impression last year. Coutinho will return to Inter Milan as they are very anxious to have him back, and both Romaric and Vladi Weiss will return to their respective clubs. There is little hope of extending the stay, or even less of buying any of them out-right. Goalkeeper Crístian Álvarez, midfielder Javi Marquéz and striker Álvaro Vásquez are likely to leave as well. Their contracts are ending, and while the club would like them all to stay, the players will probably not resign on a discount. The fact that none of them have played a significant part, either by coaching decision or due to injury, points to the fact that they are likely also out the door. The fact that the club recently sold a percentage ownership rights to Álvaro, and also of defenders Héctor Moreno and Jordi Amat, points to their imminent sale as well. Juan Albín is on the bubble, as his participation has been negligible due to injury, and Walter Pandiani won´t be returning at all as his contract is ending. Will a bright, young manager like Mauricio Pochettino renew his contract after 2014? Will he even stay until then even if a Valencia, a Sevilla or a Villarreal come calling?
Next year´s squad will be younger, more inexperienced than it already is, and facing similar pressures to stay afloat. For a club that struggles with relegation once every decade at the best of times, the future is looking rather gloomy for us pericos. I am not hopeful at all.
It's tragic but to see it as a result of inequality is overly reductionist. There's huge pressure to achieve and compete and it's scary to see that what Espanyol have managed to do (i.e. be there or there abouts for Europa League places) comes at such a cost. However, there's plenty of over clubs across the continent that haven't played the financial game in such a way. My biggest concern for Espanyol would be the loss of the squad but more the loss of the Pochettino in the summer which might happen.
ReplyDeleteAll this being said, an equal league with fairly distributed TV money (or "unfairly distributed" in the eyes of Barça and Real) is a good place to start, but there's a whole raft of other changes that have to go on too and that starts with how teams see themselves.
I think I said at the beginning that this wasn't just a matter of economic disparity that was causing this, nor faulty management or lofty aspirations, but a combination of all of it, but you're right, for the sake of the article I may have been a little simplistic in my argument certainly.
ReplyDelete