Can Mallorca make it into Europe?

This situation is quite remarkable when we were down and out in Segunda B (Spanish third division) going nowhere 10 years ago. That was until an American entrepreneur and basketball club owner Robert Sarver (Phoenix Suns) bought the club for a paltry 20 million euros (loose change for billionaire Sarver), saying that he was in it for the long term. Although Sarver is no longer our owner, the American consortium headed by ex professional tennis player Andy Kohlberg has transformed the Palma side into something long-time Mallorquinistas (including yours truly) would never in their wildest dreams have even contemplated. People visiting Son Moix now for the first time in years would be gob-smacked to see what a magnificent state of the art stadium we have.

Mallorca have set themselves the goal of beating Celta Vigo, Leganes, Valladolid and Getafe in Palma because our away schedule is, to say the least, complicated. Two of them take in Real Madrid and Barcelona with our final game of the campaign away at fellow Conference League aspirants Rayo Vallecano at the end of May. All this means is that over the next nine games Mallorca are going from final to final with winning home games a priority because on the road it resembles a minefield, especially with our away form full of doubt and uncertainty.

After a poor away display at Valencia last Sunday, coach Jagoba Arrasate was talking about the importance of tomorrow’s game as Celta also hope to take these giant steps to a European campaign next season. Also goal difference is vital and both Celta and Rayo have better stats than us. Also very important is keeping a clean sheet, something we haven’t done since before Christmas.

Arrasate made several changes to our starting line-up against Valencia and our display wasn’t good. Without our regular strikers we were always up against it and fans’ favourite Abdon Prats ploughed a lone furrow upfront starved of service. He spent more time falling down but he did give us a comedy moment towards the end of the game. He went down clutching his face after a tackle then realised it wasn’t his face that hurt – it was his ankle!

Our line-up at Valencia clearly showed that some of our bench-warmers are not good enough to gain a regular place. Technical director Pablo Ortells is going to be busy over the Summer and his mobile phone will be red-hot as he buys and sells squad members.

The range of players at our disposal has been narrowing down as the season’s progressed. Ortells has brought in some good signings and some “donkeys.” A few seasons ago he signed an unknown American called Matthew Hoppe. He only played 128 minutes across five games. His signing cost 3.5 million euros from Schalke 04 then we sold him to Middlesbrough.

In 22/23 a Zimbabwean called Tino Kadewere arrived on loan from Lyon and he played 539 minutes in 15 appearances. Then came Van der Hayden who hardly kicked a ball in La Liga. The Belgian international is now on loan at German side St Pauli. However, the one who takes the Quely biscuit is Francisco Tavares Oliveira, better known as “Chiquinho.” He’s now the invisible man at Real Mallorca playing 141 minutes spread over eight games. He’s a signing (on loan from Wolves) that shouldn’t be repeated. We were told that the 25 year-old Portuguese was a sensation at Wolves before he had a serious knee injury.

Described on the Molineux website as “so fast” and “quick, skilful and a great crosser of the ball.” Mallorca soon found out he wasn’t living up to expectations. We tried to give him back to Wolves in January but a clause in the loan deal would have cost Mallorca one million quid. His team mates here now call him “El Juez” (the judge) because he’s always sitting on the bench ! He’s surely not that bad that he doesn’t even come on as a sub these days? All of these unfortunate signings were carried out just before the transfer window shut, and it looked like our director of football was pressing the panic button.

A Mallorca youth player started against Valencia, with 22-year-old David Lopez from Alaro making his debut in La Liga. With a Bolivian mother, he’s played for their Under 20s and has been picked for the first team squad twice, against Ecuador and Paraguay. After a terrible season for our “B” team, it’s good to see a young player “from our neck of the woods” getting a chance at senior level.

AND FINALLY, there’s the usual bickering going on in Spanish football over the subject of refereeing standards and of course VAR. One outspoken journalist wrote last week “I personally think referees should be wired up not to other officials, but to a couple of electrodes. They should be allowed to make three mistakes before running 50,000 volts through their nether regions.” That’s the way to do it!!!