Serbian winger signs for Real Mallorca

Mallorca had a very disappointing 0-1 defeat at home to Betis last Saturday night when a whole lot more was expected, after their heroics in the Copa del Rey game against table-toppers Girona. That La Liga defeat means Mallorca are in 15th place, four points from the relegation bottom three. Against Betis the Palma side looked jaded as we struggle to play three games in eight days.

For tonight’s game Mallorca may be without their ever-present, tough-tackling, Portuguese midfield Samu Costa, who had to leave the pitch “early doors” last Saturday after a particularly vicious tackle in the nether regions. Costa was taken straight to the nearby Miramar clinic. It seems now the injury is not as bad as first feared and there’s a possibility he’ll make it tonight and maybe Tuesday night’s Copa del Rey semi-final first leg tie against Real Sociedad, kick off 9pm in Son Moix.

Unbelievably the horror tackle went unpunished by referee Iglesias Villanueva, with not even a yellow card (at least) being shown. Also VAR wasn’t consulted earlier this season when the same referee wrongly sent off Martorell in a case of mistaken identity. Last Sunday a Sevilla player went in hard on an opponent in a similar tackle. The (different) referee was asked to consult the video screen after he’d shown only a yellow card. After viewing the screen, the yellow card became red and the culprit was sent off. In Mallorca’s case one wonders what action the referee would have taken if, say, Jude Bellingham at Real Madrid had been on the end of a bone-cruncher? Refereeing controversies persist in Spanish football every week, standing out as an almost inevitable element where match officials become the main protagonists in an already tangled web of “ineptitude.”

The Spanish transfer window shut last night and Mallorca have made a couple of signings. One came in last week when Osasuna rightback Nacho Vidal arrived as an on-loan replacement for the injured Pablo Maffeo. Then on Tuesday, 27-year-old Serbian international (44 appearances), Nemanja Radonjic was confirmed as agreeing to join the Palma side on loan with a mandatory purchase option for three million euros that can only be broken if Mallorca are relegated. Starting in June, the player will sign a three-year deal plus another optional season. The signing of Radonjic allows Amath to leave on loan to second division Valladolid. The Senegal player is better suited to the less vigorous environment of La Segunda.

According to reports, Radonjic is an extremely talented player who can play as a left winger or as a midfielder. He’s played for top clubs like Roma, Redstar Belgrade, Olympic Marseille, Hertha Berlin and Benfica before joining Torino in 2022.

The arrival of the Serb player gives our coach Javier Aguirre much more possibilities in attack alongside Muriqi, Larin or Abdon Prats. He could even take on the role played by the much-missed Kang In Lee. Radonjic’s preference for Mallorca over other interested clubs was helped by having fellow countrymen Rajkovic and Nastasic already here.

According to the website “Football Italia,” Radonjic’s rapport with Torino manager (Croatian) Ivan Juric was difficult as they regularly clashed on the training pitch over the Serb’s attitude which led to several exclusions. In a recent game Radonjic came on as a substitute for Torino only to be taken off 15 minutes later. The coach said “I tell him to do one thing and he doesn’t do it. This lad has talent but in these six months working together I’ve been unable to turn him into a football player!!” In his time at Torino, Radonjic made 23 appearances scoring four goals and two assists.

The Betis game showed the shortcomings of the new Son Moix, long queues at the turnstiles, and away fans jumping from area to area. The massive presence of Betis supporters generated chaos in Son Moix which forced around 50 local season ticket holders to be relocated. The large number of away fans exceeded the club’s and the police’s expectations, causing great consternation for Mallorquinistas. The regular cordoned-off away section was full, so Betis fans who couldn’t sit in the allocated area wanted to sit as close as possible to the other “Beticos.” The club sent out a grovelling apology to local socios promising the situation won’t happen again.

For all the crowd seating problems last Saturday, there’s no doubt the new, refurbished ground is spectacular, not least the huge video scoreboard on top of the North stand, which delivers sharp, vivid and accurate colour images. Everybody I’ve spoken to raves about it but there’s one voice of dissent. A certain muppet called Joan Andreu has joined this angry social media-driven society to complain that the on-screen language should be Catalan/Mallorcan. We’ve already got the stadium announcer rabbiting on in Catalan, surely that’s enough!!

AND FINALLY
A letter written by Mary Queen of Scots shortly before she was beheaded is being auctioned at Sotheby’s. The PS at the bottom says “Leave your reply in the basket provided, I’ll read it later!”