Mallorca third bottom after 1-0 defeat

We started on Sunday with two strikers, both Acuña and Bianchi ran around a lot trying to look menacing, but they just can’t find the net. It’s not that we played badly but we gave away a soft-headed goal in the 41st minute scored by Pollensa-born Marcos de la Espada. We now have the worst goals-for tally in the whole league with just two, and next week we face Huesca who knocked us out of the Cup three weeks ago and who now find themselves bottom. Surely we can get three points and a few goals come eight o’clock on Saturday?

Local fans are talking on social media about the ex-Barcelona players coaching connection with regard to our director of football, Miguel Angel Nadal, and calling it a bit of an “old pals” act. Over the past 14 months he has brought in Luis Carreras, Miquel Soler and now Albert “Chapi” Ferrer. None of these guys has been able to turn our results around and after I had a few phone calls on Sunday, season ticket holders think that Chapi’s days could be numbered.

In previous Fan’s Views I’ve mentioned a football guy from Northern Ireland, Peter Thompson. On Sunday he emailed me with the following missive “Good Lord, do we need a proven goalscorer? Someone who can grab a game by the scruff of the neck and put himself about. Two goals thus far in La Segunda isn’t doing the business and unless we buck up our ideas, effort, work ethic and consistency we are going to spend another year like the one just past – looking over our shoulder at the Segunda ‘B’ trapdoor. Heaven forbid!”

After the weekend’s games, Osasuna, who have no money and found it difficult even to get a team together in August, are top. Mallorca, one of the wealthiest sides in La Segunda, with supposedly the strongest squad, fill one of the relegation places. It’s simply not good enough and despite the coach always banging on about how things can only get better, fans want instant results. We’re all getting very angry and frustrated and I have to feel sorry for some expat fans who’ve only started watching Real Mallorca over the past couple of seasons. At the moment it’s hard to remember the good old days!

Club debts

Spanish clubs have reduced their huge debt with the country’s tax authorities by over 50% in the past two years, a report by the league and country sports council said on Friday. Measures introduced in recent seasons have seen clubs set a budget (in Mallorca’s case a tiny one) for transfer fees and wages by the league based on their income which they cannot surpass. Even with these restrictions taking place, it hasn’t thwarted La Liga sides from dominating on the field as Barcelona and Real Madrid have won the Champions League in each of the past two seasons while Sevilla have claimed back-to-back Europa League titles. It’s great for Spanish clubs that they can still win these competitions without losing their competitiveness of football. An extra 42 million euros is predicted to be shaved off the debt in the remainder of this season with a further 225 million euros to be repaid in the following four seasons. New legislation due to come into effect next year aims to allow Spanish clubs to negotiate a collective television rights deal similar to that enjoyed in England. The move should boost TV income for the smaller clubs and help reduce tax debts even further.