After a week when on Friday one political commentator said Boris Johnson has done more U-turns than a veteran London cabbie! – Real Mallorca’s coach Luis Garcia Plaza received a two-game ban after being sent off for minor protestations in last Sunday’s “heated” 1-1 draw away at Cadiz.
It’s a particularly harsh sentence, so he’ll miss tomorrow’s game in the Son Moix (kick off 18:30) against Elche and the away fixture at Rayo Vallecano on Monday the 22nd with an international break taking centre stage over the next two weeks.
LGP’s assistant, Pedro Rostoll, will be in charge for these two important games against teams who are beatable as long as we don’t lose goals in added-on time which has become our Achilles heel in the last six games.
Elche come to Palma in 16th place on 10 points, four behind us (we haven’t met in La Primera for 51 years) and their away form reads: played six, one draw and five defeats so we have no excuse today. We’re still without long-term injury casualties Raillo and Take Kubo with Sedlar missing through suspension.
The repercussions from some terrible refereeing decisions at Cadiz have rumbled on.
Outrageous is a word well used to describe the officials in the ground and the VAR room.
After the game Dani Rodriguez went on Twitter to voice his disdain with a few chosen words (not suitable for a family publication) – that in itself is against the rules so we wait to see what punishment Dani will receive, and a four-game ban has been mentioned.
Referees are not allowed to be criticised for their actions and the savage tackle on our player has aroused much indignation on social media.
So much so that during tomorrow’s game, supporters’ groups have asked fans who are attending to whistle, boo and wave something white in the 12th and 57th minutes in support of Dani Rodriguez and to vent their anger on incompetent officiating.
The supporters’ clubs have also asked fans to congregate tomorrow at 16:30 outside gate zero on the Cami Dels Reis to welcome our team bus, showing solidarity before this must-win game.
I’ve watched the red card incident on countless occasions this past week and the fact that a possible career-ending assault on our player went unpunished was unbelievable.
A previous far less serious tackle by Baba was deemed a yellow card offence which made the decision all the more farcical, when all Baba did was to stand on the Cadiz players’ “tootsies.”
Baba, by the way, has been mentioned in despatches as coming up on Everton’s radar.
Did you know that their manager holds the record for having the longest neck in the English Premier League? Girafa Benitez!!!
At Friday’s weekly press meeting, LGP didn’t give away any clues about his starting XI for today’s game. Journalists were told by press officer Albert Salas that there were to be no questions regarding the situation of club owner Robert Sarver during the meeting.
On Thursday night news broke that Sarver is to be investigated by an NBA (basketball) committee over allegations of using racist and misogynist language to members of staff in Arizona, during Sarver’s 17-year tenure at his main sporting franchise, Phoenix Suns.
American sports channel ESPN have been on Sarver’s case for some time and more than 70 employees have told the TV station of their experiences.
Sarver has vehemently denied all insinuations calling them “inaccurate and misleading” and he welcomed the pending investigation.
As far as Real Mallorca are concerned, he’s been the best owner we’ve ever had.
He bought the club five years ago for 21 million euros from German entrepreneur Utz Claassen.
Back then Sarver vowed to “clean up the club” and he’s done just that – and more, by investing close to 60 million euros paying off our outstanding debts and getting us out of administration.
He tends to keep a low profile when he’s here, leaving the running of the club to his friend and our president Andy Kohlberg, who has given our owner his full backing.
Sarver’s hours of anguish and the outcome of these allegations will take some time to surface but it doesn’t auger well for him.
The outcome could have a collateral affect on his relationship with RCD Mallorca and the social peace of the club could be in danger, because it’s owner is.
Andy Kohlberg may become the fundamental reference of the club if Sarver is forced to withdraw after these accusations.
Somebody somewhere in Arizona has got an agenda on our owner and let’s hope the accusations are deemed unfounded.
In other news, Mallorca announced they had asked our Son Moix landlords (Palma City Council – Ayuntamiento) to repair and improve certain aspects of the ground including replacing all the seats (a high percentage are broken) and rectify the deterioration in the concrete of the stand and its roof (where I sit, the rain comes in through a hole above me), also the drainage system, electrical and lighting problems need looking at and the sound system, which is so muffled in our area it’s as if it’s being transmitted from the bottom of the Mediterranean.
There’s been hardly any work done inside the ground since its inauguration 22 years ago and it’s beginning to show its age.
However, with a local election on the agenda next year, it’s hardly likely anything will be done.
Palma City Council have never, ever, fallen over backwards to help the image of the club whose ground they own, unlike corresponding mainland teams like At. Bilbao where their council would jump through rings of fire to help them, no matter what.
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