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