A Surprise Visit in Cantabria

Sunday’s potential relegation dogfight between Racing Santander and Real Sociedad was never going to live up to the events that unfolded in such dramatic fashion earlier on in the day. And it didn’t even come close. At the end of the 90 minutes the referee, Velasco Carballo, called an end to proceedings in which both sides cancelled each other out and shared the modest spoils in a rather dull scoreless draw.

The real story had already taken place, and boy was it juicy! Straight from the trashy of a soap opera scriptwriter the unexpected twist in the torrid tale of Racing’s ownership conundrum meant the club’s General Meeting of Shareholders was going to be an unforgettable one. Ironically it took place in Santander’s Faculty of Economics, Business and Law, three broad concepts the club has not exactly given much importance to in recent years.

The under fire board

The much-anticipated redistribution of power within the Cantabria club was not to occur as previously thought. The various groups making up the meeting were expecting to put an end to an embarrassing 2011 for the club by electing a new board to stir the bankrupt ship out of trouble, but not before a very unwelcome surprise visit.

The almost pantomime villain-esque current club owner and majority shareholder (98%), Alí Syed, who has been on the run from Interpol since earlier this year (not the doleful rock outfit, the international criminal investigation one), decided to show up. Well, as good as. From beneath the rock he has presumably been hiding under he sent his henchman, Werber Horst, and a translator, to do his bidding for him and throw a spanner in the works of change.

Much to the ire of those in attendance a new board was formed before their helpless eyes, consisting of Ramón Muñiz, the ex Bezana president, Ángel Lavín Iglesias, Fernando Burgués and Fernando Ortiz, ex president of the Association of Racinguista Supporters. When Francisco Pernía, the as of Sunday ex president of the club, announced the names things really came to a head, especially when Fernando Ortiz’s name escaped the former race car driver’s lips. Ortiz’s involvement in Syed’s acquisition of the club in the first place is seen as the main reason for the club’s sorry state and provoked some heckling and the odd cry of “traitor” to be heard.

Horst lying low as anger spills out behind him

The tension really kicked in when acting president of the Supports Association, Bernardo Colsa called for the minority shareholders to show their disgust by walking out. This caused extraordinary scenes as the auditorium cleared out with certain groups sticking around to belt out a chorus of “Nosotros somos el Racing” (We are Racing) in unison after a rousing attack on the board members by the aforementioned Colsa. Those who stuck around to ask questions used the floor as a way to vent their understandable frustration and hurl some accusations and abuse at the board members. The fan’s wrath was full on and no punches were pulled. The audience interrogated the board members about the €16 million debt accumulated over the past year and the irresponsible stewardship of the club. Their loyalty to the montañeses was also questioned, with prominent board member, Roberto Bedoya’s salary being accusingly referred to as his sole reason for devotion to the club, “your racinguismo cost €120,000”, which was followed by rousing applause and cheering.

However, as riled up as the minority shareholders were about how things had paned out, there was nothing they could do about it. Calls to have another vote fell on deaf ears and after all the fury and antagonism the meeting was adjourned by Pernía, who himself was not to leave untarnished, “We (the fans) would ask you to leave us the keys to your Audi on the table and tell us where it is”.

Only a day later and the overwhelming pressure on the new board had taken it’s toll on the two of the members. Fernando Burgués and Fernando Ortiz both resigned just a day later sighting the importance of their families well being as a major factor in their decision-making.

What comes next remains to be seen. The fact that Syed absconded for legal reasons is not something that has gone unnoticed by indignant fans, and lawyer Javier Noriega made reference to this when he called on the bankruptcy administrators to rectify the “shameful” situation. Whether Syed’s power can be dissolved through legal means won’t be known until after winter at the earliest. Until then the ice cold relationship between fans and the board is unlikely to thaw.

While the team may not be putting the world alight on the pitch, the commotion behind the scenes is enough for this blogger to hope the club stays up this season. Car crash entertainment value of Jerry Springer proportions. 

Racing Santander vs Villarreal

Three wise men: Juanjo (left) with Castaños and Pinillos

The numerous distractions away from the pitch during the week didn’t seem to adversely affect the Racing Santander players today, as they took on Villarreal at home in a bitterly cold and half empty Sardinero. A spirited display by La Primera’s most troubled club saw them take all three points in what was a valuable and important win.

With the honourable departure of Hector Cúper midweek, technical director, Jaunjo González and his trusted duo of Fede Castaños and Pablo Pinillos were left to stir the Cantabrian ship against the invading Yellow Submarine. This they managed to do successfully,  rousing a fighting mentality from the team, which has not been a common feature of late. The return of Gonzalo Colsa in defensive midfield, who started his first game for the club in over six months, was a huge boost to the home side. The 32 year worked tirelessly throughout the encounter and showed why he is considered the heart and lungs of the team.

Meanwhile, Juan Carlos Garrido had a selection headache for the first time in a long time, with both Cani and Nilmar finally available to help reinforce the attack after their injuries. In the end the ex-Levante coach opted to start with Cani in midfield and stuck with Marco Rubén alone up front. Jonathan de Guzman was sacrificed so as to better utilise star man, Borja Valero, who because of squad deficiencies had been pushed back deep into midfield in recent games, a position which hampers his creative talents.

This jinking around with the line up didn’t have the desired effect, as Racing’s compact five-man was able to close off the lines of distribution to the likes of Cani, Valero, Hernan Pérez and Rubén. The visitors appeared frustrated and short of ideas for the entire first half, only managing a single paltry shot, which was off target.

Los racinguistas were by far the better side to begin with, and the fruits of their labour came in 27^th minute when a wonderful triangular move between Arana, Colsa and Adrián caught Villarreal off guard leaving Arana to tear up the right flank and wipe in a dangerous cross which Christian Stuani obligingly headed into Diego Lopez's net.

Villarreal’s flatness continued throughout the first half with their best move culminating with Toño in the Racing goal easily smothering a Cani cross which was meant for the maraudering Marco Ruben on the back post.

Racing could have made it two nil just before the whistle when a threatening corner kick by Papakouly Diop fell to an unsuspecting Colsa who couldn’t get a proper hold of the ball and stir it in.

Garrido changed things up for the second 45, taking Cani and Ángel off to bring on de Guzman and Nilmar. The shake up nearly worked, when in the 52^nd minute former Mallorca talisman, de Guzman launched a missile of a shot from about 30 yards which just whistled over Toño’s cross bar.

However, this invigoration soon petered out and it became obvious that Villarreal simply weren’t at the races today. Even with Racing beginning to tire and losing their original intensity, Garrido’s men could find no way through and would be punished for such a lousy first half performance.

With 17 minutes to go Juanjo took off Pedro Muintis for Christain Fernández in a clear move to rough out the storm and hold on to their narrow lead. His defensive decision could, and probably should, have ended in disaster had Ruben been more clinical after a great act of technical brilliance from Hernán Pérez on the right found him free on the back stick in a clear goal scoring position. Instead the argentine struck his shot into the heel of Marc Torrejón and the ball went out for a corner.

The match finished with Racing deservedly being crowned winners. Whether their rejuvenation was a once off, a phenomenon often occurring to teams keen to impress a new coach, remains to be seen. Villarreal’s woes on the road show no signs of letting up though, which real cause of concern for them.

FT: Racing Club de Santander 1 Villarreal 0: Stuani (27)

Fact: Juanjo continued his 100% record managing Racing today. His one and only other time in charge of the team resulted in a 4-1 victory to put Salamanca out of the Cup in 2009.  

Hector Cúper: Fighting Fires on all Fronts

Travelling has never been a problem for current Racing Santander coach, Héctor Cuper. Since starting his managerial career in his native Argentina, with Club Atlético Huracán, the 53 year old has clocked up plenty of air miles moving from one bench to the next: Lanús, Mallorca, Valencia, Inter Milan, Real Betis, Parma, the Georgia national team and Greek outfit Aris FC are all crammed into his CV (probably with the help of a small font).

This upcoming Monday he is set to embark on yet another journey. This time making his way down to Madrid, where the challenge facing him is not a football matter but rather a judicial one. There he is set to play the role of defendant as Italian anticorruption prosecutors question him about his alleged involvement with the match fixing capers of certain Napolese mafioso types from the Camorra family. The allegations being mounted against him are in connection to his time in charge of Mallorca in 2006, when he is thought to have provided information to the infamous D’Alessandro clan relating to four league games: two Spanish and two Argentine. Of course he and his lawyer, Vicente Montes, irrefutably deny any wrongdoing or knowledge of such activities.

However tough going his sticky legal situation may be, it’s not the only thing affecting his blood pressure. Performances on the field have left a lot to be desired so far this season, and the club sits perilously close to rock bottom with a meagre tally of just nine points.

It’s sure to be a very long day, as he not only appears before the law, but also in front of the Racinguista faithful straight afterwards (if he’s permitted to leave Madrid of course), when his team hosts “money bags” Malaga in the first league game back after the two week international break.

These are dismal times for anyone associated with the Cantabrian club, not just the manager. And as is usually the case in Spain when problems begin to arise on the pitch, the cause for los Verdiblancos current difficulties can be found off it.

Club owner and majority shareholder (98.89%), Ahsan Ali Syed can probably sympathise with Cuper more than most people. His dubious financial dealings, via his company Deccan Chronicle, have caught up with him to such an extent that a disappearing act was the only way out, seeing as jail time is not a viable option for a “respectable” Indian mogul.

After being turned down by Blackburn Rovers, the tycoon set his sights on Spain and bought Racing instead. Club president, Francisco Pernía, welcomed Syed with open arms, feeling no need to question who this (up until now) mystery man was. And why would he? After all, as he said himself, “I’ve looked into his eyes, and I can see that Ali is a trustworthy man”.

Presumably Rovers were, unlike their Iberian counterparts, too meek to lock eyes with this strange man and opted to do their looking through Google instead, where a quick search would have dug up enough dirt on Syed for the Lancashire outfit decline his offer. Pernía soon found out that foregoing this most rudimentary method of investigation into a potential suitor was a poor move, as Syed went AWOL when Interpol came knocking.

Last month, with the rot well and truly sunk in, the club’s board (including Pernía) unanimously decided to resign. However, they are legally obliged to see out their duties until a new director is found, which will probably be in December when a shareholders’ meeting is scheduled. Until then Pernía is taking a leaf out of Syed’s book and keeping well clear of El Sardinero for fear of any retribution from any disgruntled fans.

By no means are the supporters wet behind the ears in terms of their club’s monetary constraints. However, where previously they could rely on a local government bailout to keep creditors at bay, now the current economic climate in Spain won’t allow for such assistance.

Should things go wrong for Cuper’s team on Monday, he is sure to feel like the captain of a sinking ship as he peers up to the director’s box and sees that the rats have already scarpered off.

Throughout his journeyman career as a coach he has famously lost every cup final his teams have partaken in, he faces his own ultimatum on Monday and must be praying that his luck finally changes. Unfortunately for him though, unbearable as his current personal problems may be, they just so happen to coincide with his club’s most nerve wrecking situation in recent years.