Empatatis

It is almost to the point of laughable at what is happening down yonder in Murcia. After eight matches played, the club finds itself still winless on the season, yet above the relegation zone. How does this happen? Well, the answer to that could be in the form of another question: Why win or lose, when you can draw?

That's right, Murcia are currently sporting one of the oddest W/T/L lines of any team with a 0/7/1 record on the season. Zero wins, seven draws and one loss. Only Gimnastic all the way back in week one were able to alter the trend, but then again, that was the first week of the season meaning that Murcia have reeled off seven ties in a row!

Jornada 5 saw Murcia almost collect their first win but a 92nd goal by Salamanca's Goikoetxea (not to be confused with the 'Butcher of Bilbao') spoiled the party. Otherwise, it's been a continuous plodding along for the southeastern side who fell from la Liga glory after the '07-'08 season and then dangerously dropped down to the Segunda B last before a resurgent spring ensured their safety.

"Puntuando" has always been viewed as a positive thing in the eyes of Spanish futbol expert, but at the rate that Murcia is doing it, an occasional three would be much better. Last year it took 47 points to ensure safety for Celta and Las Palmas. Trying every match over the course of the 41 weeks won't get it done. I'm not naive to think that Murcia will actually tie EVERY single match, but I think you get my point that it's time to start thinking about winning, rather than not losing.

Other notes:

How about Castellon getting their first win of the year over Betis? Cheers to Tintin Martinez for his first win as coach there. Betis are now 7th and starting to fade a bit from the top three. they were not expected to be having this much trouble and losing to the bottom feeder isn't helping matters. A loss this week could see some heads rolling.

One thing we can extract from Murcia's tendency to draw is that it helps our Quiniela! Of course, I was foolish to think that Murcia would actually lose last week so I won't make the same mistake again. Four wins last week. Not much better but at least it was some improvement.

Jornada 9

Numancia - Salamanca 1
Huesca - Levante X
R. Sociedad - Córdoba 1
Gimnástic - Hércules X
Murcia - Recreativo X
Las Palmas - Albacete 1
Elche - Cartagena 2
Celta - Rayo 1
Cádiz - Real Unión 1
Villarreal B - Castellón 1
Girona - Betis X

Clasificacion:

1. Cartagena - 16
2. Rayo - 15
3. R. Sociedad - 15
4. Hércules - 15
5. Numancia - 14
6. Levante - 13
7. Betis - 12
8. Recreativo - 12
9. Salamanca - 12
10. Córdoba - 12
11. Gimnástic - 11
12. Cádiz - 9
13. Las Palmas - 9
14. Albacete - 9
15. Villarreal B - 9
16. Real Unión - 8
17. Elche - 8
18. Murcia - 7
19. Celta - 7
20. Huesca - 7
21. Girona - 7
22. Castellón - 4

A Week Of 'Polemica'

This year so far in El Infierno the news in the middle of the week has been fairly quiet. It had been quite the contrast from last season where a new scandal seemed to break every week. Whether it was the former Xerez president being involved in a shooting at a brothel or a Rayo Vallecano play implicated in a massive cocaine sting, it certainly made for good theater.

This past week provided the first instance of off the field 'polemica' in the Segunda Division and we were treated to not one, but two flare-ups.

The first was the accusation that last year's season ending match between Las Palmas and Rayo Vallecano was fixed. Rayo had nothing to play for and was simply wrapping up their season while Las Palmas needed a point to ensure safety. The Canary Islands side at the time was just two points ahead of Alaves in the standings and required a result to make sure they stayed another season in the Segunda.

Las Palmas got the result but with only two shots on goal in a match they seemingly had to have, it did give off an air that something was amiss. UEFA apparently got wind of this and elected to add this match to the already huge list of 40 gamesthat have been suspected of match-fixing... That's right, 40 games.

40 games is a telling statistic. Essentially, yes, match fixing does happen on some level whether it's with the giants like Barcelona and Real Madrid or down to the smaller clubs like our friends in El Infierno. One would hope that it doesn't happen, but it does and frankly, there is little that can be done to penalize those involved. The referee from the Las Palmas-Rayo match publicly said that he didn't see anything 'raro' with what was going on. Hell, Spanish clubs are known for offering 'maletas' full of cash to teams to win games against opponents. How is that different than throwing a match?

The other off the field 'polemica' this year in El Infierno was the dust-up between Albacete goalkeeper Notario and Celta's Catala and Trashorras. Apparently Notario took exception to Celta's Iago Aspas placing his hands on Notario's head after the keeper had saved a shot. Words were exchanged following the match and the next thing you know a brawl is going on in the tunnel between Notario and Catala and Trashorras.

Unfortunately for Celta, it was the most fight they had shown all season. Where's that spirit on the field? All players involved, including a Celta assistant coach were rightfully suspended, yet it has been only Notario who has stepped forward with an apology to his teammates, the club, the fans and anyone associated with futbol in general. I think it was contrite... I think. Going back to our friends in Galicia, they could use a little more fight in their game because right now, they are dreadful.

One last note... congrats to new Elche head man Pepe Bordalás who got a victory in his first match as coach for the Comunidad de Valencia side. Elche beat Recreativo 3-2. But with one coaching success comes another failure, Castellon showed David Amaral the door after the team only managed one draw in seven matches on the season. Not a surprise there. In his place comes Tintin Martinez who was head man at Primera Division's Espanyol, but his coaching claim to fame came back in 1997 when he managed CE Europa to a victory over FC Barcelona in the Copa de Catalunya final.

Speaking of needing a change, have a look at my Quiniela results from last week. Terrible!! I should fire myself. Just two games correctly picked. It can't get any worse this week, can it?

Quiniela - Jornada 8

Numancia - Girona 1
Salamanca - Huesca 1
Recreativo - Las Palmas X
Córdoba - Gimnástic X
Hércules - Murcia 1
Levante - R. Sociedad 2
Albacete - Elche X
Cartagena - Celta 1
Rayo - Cádiz 1
Real Unión - Villarreal B X
Castellón - Betis 2

Clasificacion:

1. R. Sociedad - 15
2. Cartagena - 15
3. Rayo - 14
4. Hércules - 14
5. Betis - 12
6. Numancia - 11
7. Córdoba - 11
8. Levante - 10
9. Gimnástic - 10
10. Las Palmas - 9
11. Salamanca - 9
12. Recreativo - 9
13. Real Unión - 8
14. Cádiz - 8
15. Albacete - 8
16. Huesca - 7
17. Girona - 7
18. Elche - 7
19. Murcia - 6
20. Celta - 6
21. Villarreal B - 6
22. Castellón - 1

The Look of a Winner

Two-time La Liga champions Real Sociedad from San Sebastian were thought of as being one of the favorites to regain promotion last year after being relegating following the 2007-2008 La Liga season. Only problem was that the Basques could never put together a run that made them promotion worthy and they were ultimately left on the outside looking in.

Granted their titles came back in the early 80's, but this was still a team that played Champions League futbol less than ten years ago. It was mildly surprising that Sociedad was left out of the mix because frankly, they are a Primera Division stalwart and should be there, not in El Infierno.

But for now, we have the pleasure of watching their passionate fans urge their boys back to victory and a rightful place in Spain's top flight so the locals can stick their chests out whenever they travel to nearby Bilbao where Athletic have never gone down.

This year Real Sociedad appear to be doing everything right so far as evidenced by their 1-3 victory this past weekend over Numancia. It's hard enough going to Los Pajaritos and getting a point, let alone three. Just ask pep Guardiola. It was Numancia who handed Barca a 1-0 defeat before the Blaugrana ripped off umpteen wins in a row and ran away with La Liga title. But still, the defending European champs weren't even able to score in Soria against Numancia, let alone win.

So Sociedad's three goals against the newly relegated side went a long ways towards experts pegging the Basques as promotion favorites this year. The club still mainly consists of Basque players with an occasional foreigner wearing the blue and white striped jersey, plus Uruguayan coach Martin Lasarte.

Everyone's favorite journeyman 'El Lobo' Abreau is now gone and playing in Greece but the core of the team are the nine players who rose up from the club's 'cantera', also known as Real Sociedad B. The leader of this group is Xabi Prieto who has been with Sociedad since 2003 when they club was coming off that second place finish in La Liga. Prieto is one of the elder statesman on the team but still one of its most dangerous playmakers including his goal against Numancia this past weekend much to the delight of the thousands that made the trip south from the Bay of Biscay.

Real Sociedad sit second just a point behind Hercules and it would not be surprisng at all to see the club end in that exact same spot come early June.


As for last week's Quiniela. Well, it was better than the previous week with five wins including my Real Sociedad pick. Also picked the Cartagena - Villarreal B tie which I'd say if fairly impressive.

One last note - first firing of the year was handed down this week. Elche bid adieu to Claudio Barragán who the club said, "was not the leader we wanted and not right for the team." Think you could have decided on that before the season started, not six weeks in?

Jornada 7 - Quiniela

Huesca - Numancia 1
R. Sociedad - Salamanca 1
Gimnástic - Levante X
Murcia - Córdoba 1
Las Palmas - Hércules 2
Elche - Recreativo X
Celta - Albacete 1
Cádiz - Cartagena 1
Villarreal B - Rayo 2
Betis - Real Unión 1
Girona - Castellón X

Clasificacion:

1. Hércules - 13
2. R. Sociedad - 12
3. Cartagena - 12
4. Betis - 11
5. Rayo - 11
6. Levante - 10
7. Numancia - 10
8. Córdoba - 10
9. Salamanca - 9
10. Recreativo - 9
11. Las Palmas - 8
12. Cádiz - 8
13. Real Unión - 7
14. Gimnástic - 7
15. Albacete - 7
16. Huesca - 6
17. Villarreal B - 6
18. Murcia - 5
19. Celta - 5
20. Girona - 4
21. Elche - 4
22. Castellón - 1

Impressive... so far

Sevilla B's abysmal play last year in El Infierno opened up the debate that The FEF needs to put together a "Liga de Filiales" so "B" and "C" teams of some of the bigger clubs could compete against each other.

I'm still in favor of the idea and think that "B" teams facing off against other independent clubs in league play is a mistake. But it won't change anytime soon so we may as well make the best of what we have, which in this case, is Villarreal B.

The Baby Yellow Submariners are already well ahead of Sevilla B's pace from last year when the junior Andalucians finished with a paltry 18 points. Villarreal B already have a victory and two draws on the season giving them five points and are currently above the relegation zone.

This apparent success lends even more credence to the fact that Villarreal are doing something right in terms of producing players and finding the right guys at the right time. The senior club is struggling this year with just two points, but prior to, the small club managed to make runs to the Champions League knockout rounds in 2006 and 2009.

You have to understand, Villarreal is tiny. The big huge Real madrid and Barca dollars aren't there. So to combat that, you have to actually rely on scouting and development of youth talent. What a concept!

They're doing something right down there in that Comunidad de Valencia hamlet as three of their players are at the FIFA Under-20 World Cup in Egypt. And they're not all Spanish either. Two of the Argentineans on the squad, Marco Ruben and Mateo Musacchio, have spent significant time at River Plate. These guys assuredly played in a Boca-River game so having to endure the raining of insults from the fans at the Bombanera probably pales in comparison to hearing a slight from someone shouting at them in Balaidos or Anoeta.

So maybe Villarreal B will disprove my theory that Spain needs a Liga de Filias. Heck, maybe at this rate, they'll simply swap places with their parent side who are in la Liga's relegation zone allowing the B team to play the giants of Spain next year!


So last week's Quiniela didn't go well. Definitely would have lost money. The tally was just three wins. Pretty embarassing. Let's try it again.

Cartagena - Villarreal B X
Rayo - Betis 2
Real Unión - Castellón 1
Levante - Murcia 1
Córdoba - Las Palmas X
Hércules - Elche X
Recreativo - Celta 1
Albacete - Cádiz 1
Huesca - Girona X
Numancia - R. Sociedad 2
Salamanca - Gimnástic 1

Clasificacion:

1. Cartagena - 11
2. Betis - 10
3. Rayo - 10
4. Numancia - 10
5. Hércules - 10
6. R. Sociedad - 9
7. Levante - 9
8. Recreativo - 9
9. Las Palmas - 8
10. Gimnástic - 7
11. Albacete - 7
12. Córdoba - 7
13. Salamanca - 6
14. Huesca - 5
15. Cádiz - 5
16. Villarreal B - 5
17. Murcia - 4
18. Real Unión - 4
19. Elche - 4
20. Girona - 3
21. Celta - 2
22. Castellón - 1