Rescuing the Rojiblancos

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Harries

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Wednesday, 24 February 2016
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I'm looking out the window as the plane begins to descend through the clouds. Miserable rain and strong winds wasn't the entrance I had expected to be making but my positivity was not to be deterred.

A quick check of my mobile before landing indicated rumours of my impending appointment were rife online while I also had several messages from friends querying an update. After flying to Spain last week for preliminary talks, I had returned to London to consider the opportunity and discuss it with my boss. I had first met Pochettino while working as a coach at Southampton and soon followed the Argentine to North London with Tottenham. Personal progresson has accelerated hugely under Mauricio and he highly recommended I accept such an opportunity.

I'll miss working with such a positive character on a day-to-day basis but I'm confident I can have the same impact on the squad I inherit that he has had on me. Lying just one place and three points above the relegation zone has caused the club to react, with the fear of relegation in their first season back in the top division costing Abelardo Fernandez his job.

Security and baggage claim were passed relatively stress-free in the quiet airport. I was greeted as I passed through arrivals.

"Mr Harries," said a voice I had become familiar with throughout negotiations, "welcome to Asturias!"

Note: I have used an in-game editor for the sole purpose of updating the league table so it is as realistic as possible as of todays date (24/02/2016). This will become clearer in the next couple of updates.
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Also, the OP is realtively short but I intended on this being just a short introduction.
 
Thursday, 25 February 2016
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Sporting de Gijón is a club that has often been an odds with itself throughout its 111 year history. Liga Adelante, Spains second division, has been won by Sporting five times - though this is the clubs only honour. The 1978-1979 season was the closest the side have ever came to winning the Liga BBVA title, finishing second behind Real Madrid.

In recent years Sporting have performed consistently average, prompting the club to change managers fairly often in the hope of stumbling across somebody worthy of the fanbase. I'm the 7th manager to be appointed in the last five seasons alone.

Despite the recent uncertainty, I believe there's a lot of potential within the squad. Youngsters Jorge Meré and Carlos Castro have both risen through Sportings academy and will have a great career ahead of them if they're eager enough. Alen Halilovic and Tony Sanabria are excellent young talents, ableit only being on loan until the end of the season. Iván Cuéllar is an experiened head in between the sticks and should prove vital in our survival push.

Several first team players have their contracts expire in the summer and the majority are in talks with other clubs to sign a pre-contract agreement. Jony, possibly the star man in the team, is in talks with Stoke City and I'm told has his heart set on leaving. Having watched recordings of Sportings performances this season, he is probably the only one we would miss.

Espanyol will be the first opponents of my tenure and are in a situation almost as desperate as our own, lying just one point ahead. On paper their squad is marginally better but I firmly believe that if we can get a bumper crowd at El Molinón, three points are very achievable.

I'm about to take the first training session since being appointed. Wish me luck.
 
Best of luck with Sporting Gijon! I hope you're the right manager to rescue them! ;)
 
Sunday, 28 February 2016
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Much of my pre-match press conference was conducted via a translator. My Spanish isn't terrible, per se, but it is very limited and for the time being I feel having a translator by my side is the most efficient way to project my thoughts to the media. I was questioned a lot about how I plan to set my team up which was to be expected. As I have no prior experience, the press have very little information to predict from. I only had one answer.

"Para la victoria. (To win.)" My translator replied, causing chuckles from those gathered before us.

I faced further questions regarding the poor form of our opponents, who have lost their last five away games. The vultures circled around my feelings towards my opposite number, Constantin Galca. I refused to cause a scene - the Romanian, I said, is more than capable of handling a relegation battle.

Personally, I used the press conference as a method to attract the attention of the people of Gijón. We needed them way more than they needed us, I proclaimed, and we could only survive with their support.

And I have to give them credit, they have responded in their numbers. I walk out from the tunnel, just seconds ahead of the team, to a deafening applause. I salute the crowd in appreciation as I head to take a seat in the dugout.

The announcer begins listing the teams, with the crowd applauding louder after each Sporting player is announced. The team looked something like this:

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Both teams started the game at an electric pace. El Molinón was in fine voice and Espanyol knew they would have to be at 110% to get anything from the game. The first meaningful piece of play came for us came on the counter. Marco Asensio, Espanyols tricky little winger, initially got the better of Meré and the stadium fell silent as he appeared to be through on goal. The young centre back didn't stop at his mistake, hassling the Real Madrid loanee out of possession to a rapturous cheer from the home supporters. His long ball forward found Sanabria on the edge of the Espanyol area, encircled by three opposing defenders. After somehow sliding between two of those, he squared the ball to his striker partner, Guerrero, who cannoned the ball onto the crossbar and into the goalkeepers hands.

The intensity of the match, despite the lack of clear cut chances, blinded my awareness of time as the fourth official put the board up to indicate a minimum of three minutes' injury time. And with that, the visitors broke away. Asensio was again causing problems down our left side - this time skipping way too easily beyond Hernández. The Spaniard appeared to take the ball away from goal with his right foot, before hitting a surprise effort with his weaker left foot. Cuéllar wasn't expecting such a fierce effort and could only watch in despair as it claimed the post and went behind for a goal kick.

Half time was sounded for by the referee and both teams temporarily returned to the dressing room. I talked to the team about calming down when we were in possession of the ball. They had impressed me with the intensity of closing Espanyol down high up the pitch, but once we had won the ball everything seemed a little rushed. Guerrero, aside from hitting the woodwork, had been poor and was snatching at most of his chances.

I made the decision to withdraw him from play, to be replaced by Carlos Castro. It was a big move, meaning our front two of Sanabria and Castro were 19 and 20 years old respectively - but I hoped their inexperience meant they could act without pressure in front of goal.

The referee signalled for the start of the second half and it was immediately evident Espanyol were out to shut us down and hold out for a single point. We were winning the ball back high up the field, but we were completely nullified by Espanyol always having more numbers ahead of us.

We were having a lot more possesion in the second half, but much of it was wasted in our back line.

As full time approached in an increasingly frustarting second period, we finally gave the Rojiblancos something to celebrate. A throw in close to Espanyols corner flag was taken quickly by López to Sanabria who had dropped short. The Paraguyan took the pace from the ball in one touch, swivelled, and precisely delivered a ball onto the head of half time substitute Carlos Castro.

While the Espanyol goalkeeper was picking the ball from the back of the net, Castro collapsed to his knees in the corner of the pitch - looking up at a red sea of thousands of celebrating supporters.

Espanyol hadn't long since restarted play when the referee signalled for full time, and El Molinón erupted with joy following an important victory.

Full time: Sporting Gijón 1-0 RCD Espanyol
 
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Monday, 29 February 2016​

Training this morning was very much a recovery session. Typically I would allow the squad to have the morning after a late kick off away from the training ground, though that wasn't an option this week as we play away to Granada on Wednesday evening. We spent time running fitness tests on the players and focusing predominantly on how we can control games when the opposition defend deep against us. Much of the morning was used for analysis - we watched back clips from the Espanyol game and highlighted the positives and the things that need improvement. Clips of Granada in their previous matches were also shown to the entire squad - they hadn't won for seven competitve games now and we needed to make sure we fully understood their weaknesses.

By around 2pm, the squad had went their seperate ways. We planned to hold another light session tomorrow morning and then fly down to Granada in the evening. It should only take around an hour and forty five minutes to travel, and it means we can spend all of Wednesday preparing for the 9pm kick off.

For the rest of this afternoon, however, my attention would be turned away from football. Since I initially arived in Gijón, I've spent my nights in a hotel room in the centre of town. I'm beginning to lose my mind - staring at the same four walls. I'm heading out with an estate agent and assistant coach Jon Goikoetxea to view a couple of properties up for rental.

The first property we arrive at is a complete write off. It's an old farmhouse, which I initially didn't have a problem with, but the building is extremely run down. Something from upstairs has been leaking and left stains on the kitchen roof, while the bathroom smelt like an old sewage unit. I'm sure some time in the past it was a beautiful home, but I'm not even certain renovating the property would do it justice nowadays.

We're shown several more properties but nothing ticks the correct boxes for me. For whatever reason, nothing fits my criteria and the search soon becomes frustrating. We're about to bring things to an end for today when the estate agent receives a call about a property a bit further away from town. It's in the process of being added to the rental market but the paperwork hasn't been finalised yet.

I decide to make it the last property viewing of the day - after all, I'm not going to get much more time to view properties so I have to make any time spent worthwhile. We drive East of Gijón - around half an hour from the centre of town and approximately twenty minutes from the stadium. The scenery is stunning and we soon come to a stop at a property overlooking the Bay of Biscay. As the sun begins to set, the view from the house is magnificent. The property itself is probably the smallest we've viewed but that's not important as I'll be living alone. Everything within is designed brilliantly. Downstairs, there is an open plan kitchen and living area and upstairs there is one bedroom with a balcony overlooking the ocean. There is an underground garage for two vehicles.

It's exactly what I'm looking for. I've attached a picture of the property from the road outside as well as a picture of the ocean from the front gate. I only have one question.

"Where do I sign?"

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I like the outside of football story aspect to this so far, keep it up!
 
Tuesday, 1 March 2016​

The players appeared to be recovering well in training this morning. Myself and the coaching staff ran over more analysis of Granada, highlighting to the players the importance of pressing our opponents at the right time.

We travelled West for approximately half an hour along the A-8 to Asturias Airport in anticipation of moving on to Granada soon after. While waiting to board, I fired up my laptop and checked my emails. I had been in preliminary talks with Jake Garner last week regarding one of this clients. His email reply, which Tottenham midfielder Tom Carroll was the subject of, informed me the pair were unsure of the move as my contract only ran until the summer with Sporting. Carroll, I was told, wanted reassurances over what would be happening after the summer.

Due to my time as a coach at Spurs, I had Carrolls personal number. I hit call. We exchanged pleasantaries and then I got down to the important matter.

"I understand from Mr. Garner you have a couple of reservations," I began, "and being completely honest with you, it didn't come as a surprise."

"Yes," Tom replied, "I'm just not sure I want to sign my name when I don't know who I'll be playing under next season. It'd be great to work with you again but the uncertainty of your future puts me off a little."

"I've spoken to Poch to try and resolve the matter. He's agreed that next week, when you travel to Bilbao for the Europa League, you can stay behind for a couple of days, have a look around the club and think things over. Bilbao is only a couple of hours drive East of Gijón, I'll come along and get you after the match." I said.

Tom agreed to consider it and I asked him to simply keep me in the loop if anythings happens. We arranged a time to call next week to discuss arrangements if he was happy to take a look around.
 
Wednesday, 2 March 2016
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Despite his goal against Espanyol, I decided to keep youngster Carlos Castro on the bench for now. The more experienced Guerrero would get another chance for now but I made it clear to the Spaniard he needed to perform better this time out.

News broke not long before kick off that Guerrero had signed a pre-contract agreement with Romanian side Dinamo Bucharest, joining Jony (who eventually agreed to sign with Stoke City) on the list of those leaving in the summer. I know my decision to play the pair might cause disruption in the team, and I'm certain I felt several heated glances from those left on the bench when I named the team in the dressing room at Nuevo Los Cármenes. Everything, for now, remained unchanged.

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Both teams started the game poorly - Granada, in honesty, lacked any ability to cause problems for our defence due to the intense pressure we put them under whenever they advanced over the half way line. Aside from our impressive hassling, we weren't showing any signs of brilliance.

We had a lot of possession but often the team looked unsure of what the next step should be. Sanabria was running around with intent up front but lacked support from his striking partner.

Eventually something had to give way.

Carmona, a graduate of Barcelonas La Masia academy, broke down the right and was swiftly closed down by Granadas left back with the ball rebounding out for a throw in. Meré advanced from the back to take the throw and hammered it long into the box. Defensive partner Bernardo got on the end of it, flicking the ball across goal and into the path of the unrushing, and unmarked, Jony to tap in.

It wasn't a pretty goal by any means, but it counts just as much as any. The team celebrated together in front of the thousand or so Sporting fans that had made the midweek trip.

At half time we made a double substitution. Guerrero was replaced yet again - this time by Alen Halilovic, the young Croat on loan from Barcelona. Sanabria was also withdrawn after a relatively quiet first half. I wouldn't be drawn on criticising him, though, as maybe the lack of effort from his strike partner impacted the youngster. Castro was again to make an appearance from the bench.

The second half followed a similar pattern to the first. Many of the Granada fans had left by around the 70th minute and, honestly, I couldn't blame them. Their players looked like they had given up and were utterly devoid of confidence. We slowed the game in the second half which didn't come as a surprise as we looked to conserve our energy levels ahead of our next game against Athletic Bilbao on Sunday.

As the game wore on, I decided to withdraw Pablo Perez and replace him with Rachid - a young and versatile Algerian midfielder. Perez had picked up a booking and was tiring so it was more of a precautionery measure than anything else - he saluted the away crowd as he left the field of play.

When the referee blew for full time, I shook hands with recently appointed Granada manager José González. He stayed on the pitch as the players headed down the tunnel, facing the crowd. It takes a tough man to do that and I'm happy it's not me in that situation.

All in all, we pick up another important three points. There were a couple of worrying moments I had picked up on and I would be sure to mention these to the team to ensure they don't turn into trends.

Full time: Granada CF 0-1 Sporting Gijón
 
Saturday, 5 March 2016
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In the few days since we picked up three points at Granada, the players have been pretty impressive in training. There is definitely progress being made as it's visible the majority of the squad are beginning to understand the way I want to play. Carlos Castro, in particular, has caught my eye and is really grasping the concept that we need to press the opposition from the very front.

Not everything is as rosy as it seems, though. Guerrero approached me after we arrived back in Gijón - he didn't like me replacing him at the interval in both games I've had in charge. I didn't owe Guerrero an explanation but I wanted him to understand my thinking so he could improve in future. I made it clear that I wasn't happy with his work rate in either game and felt I had better options from the bench.

In short, he disagreed and I made the decision that he wouldn't train with the first team until it was a time that I felt was appropriate.

I arranged an immediate team meeting which staff as well as players were to attend in order to make sure everyone was aware of the decision as well as the situation behind it. Everybody, to my surprise, supported my decision.

Tomorrow, we play our first game against a team in the top ten since my appointment. El Molinón will play host to 7th placed Athletic de Bilbao.
 
I've written a couple of updates since the last posted but I'm having issues releasing them. Each time I go to post the next update, I get the following message:

Post denied. New posts are limited by number of URLs it may contain and checked if it doesn't contain forbidden words.

The update doesn't actually include any URLs and I can't see any words that would be classed as 'forbidden'. I've read somewhere it may have something to do with the low number of posts my profile has submitted, but I'm not sure if this is true. Rather than let the thread sit silent, I wanted to post to see if anybody had any advice as it would be much appreciated. :)
 
Harries said:
I've written a couple of updates since the last posted but I'm having issues releasing them. Each time I go to post the next update, I get the following message:

Post denied. New posts are limited by number of URLs it may contain and checked if it doesn't contain forbidden words.

The update doesn't actually include any URLs and I can't see any words that would be classed as 'forbidden'. I've read somewhere it may have something to do with the low number of posts my profile has submitted, but I'm not sure if this is true. Rather than let the thread sit silent, I wanted to post to see if anybody had any advice as it would be much appreciated. :)
Click to expand...


You need to post 20 times it is some sort of anti spam thing
 
Sunday, 6 March 2016​

I decided not to make too many changes to the starting eleven. I thought I may have had to rest four or five players, but in the end the only changes I made were tactical.

Guerrero was dropped for obvious reasons, with Daniel Ndi replacing him. Guerrero's previous strike partner, Tony Sanabria, also dropped to the bench in place of Castro. The youngster has impressed in training since Granada and is probably the best goal scorer in the squad. On the other hand, Ndi has spent much of his short career in midfield but starts as a striker today. The Cameroonian has great close control and has scored a couple of impressive goals in training.

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The start of the game was sloppy as both teams appeared to be cancelling each other out. We worked hard to prevent their midfield three consisting of Iturraspe, Beñat and Raúl García from getting any valuable time on the ball while we struggled to string more than three or four passes together.

We created the first genuine chance of the game as Ndi received the ball deep in our own half before turning and spreading the play out to the right with Carmona. The winger drove at the opposition left back who risked a tackle and managed to knock the ball out for a throw. Hernández delayed play, allowing the rest of the team to advance into the Bilbao penalty area. As the throw was taken, Bernardo nodded the ball onto Castro who volleyed across goal with his left boot.

As the Bilbao players looked on in despair, Castro celebrated by the corner flag and was engulfed by his team mates as we took a surprise lead.

Just minutes later, we piled numbers into the Bilbao penalty area again as Mascarell prepared to take a corner. His delivery was poor as the first defender nodded away, but the chance wasn't gone. He retrieved the bouncing clearance on the wing and played the ball into the backtracking Meré. The centre half, still forward from the corner, slid the ball into Ndi's feet. As the makeshift forward dummied one way before taking the ball with him the other, an opportunity arose as highly regarded Aymeric Laporte slipped on the wet turf. Bilbao's experienced goalkeeper, Iraizoz, got a hand to Ndi's left foot effort but couldn't prevent the ball from hitting the back of the net. El Molinón erupted as the lead was deservedly doubled.

Eager to not go into the interval two goals behind, Bilbao increased the tempo of their play. As they played the ball forward down our left side, an attempt by our defence to play the offside trap was poorly executed and allowed Iturraspe to race through on goal. His shot was parried by Cuéllar, but only into the path of the advancing Muniain who tapped home to half the deficit.

As Bilbao celebrated in front of their fans, Jony came over to the sideline and indicated he had a problem. Somewhere in the build up to the away sides goal, Jony took an unintentional arm in the face. I swiftly decided it wasn't worth risking him as Halilović took to the field in his place.

While the seconds counted down until half time, we launched the final attack of the first half. Ndi picked out his strike partner, Castro, on the edge of the Bilbao area who held the ball up well waiting for his team mates. Halilović, introduced just minutes earlier, offered support on the left and took a great first touch to get the ball out from under his feet before sliding a pass down the left hand side of Bilbao's area. Castro raced onto it and hammered the ball across goal and into the same corner as he did with the opener.

The referee signalled for half time before Bilbao could restart. I decided to leave the team unchanged as we looked menacing going forward and relatively tight in defence. Other than Muniain's goal, Bilbao had rarely threatened.

Our target in the second half was largely to frustrate Bilbao. While they had possession, we hustled and harried them until we won the ball back and then we lowered the tempo and kept it from them. Our tactics were working well but relied on the eleven players on the pitch making absolutely no individual errors.

We had just passed the hour mark when Bilbao reduced the deficit again. A long ball down their right wing looked to be harmless as it flew over the head of the intended target, Muniain. However, the concentration levels of left-back Isma López evidently weren't matching those of his team mates. The Spaniard jogged to retrieve the ball whilst, unknowingly, Muniain approached behind him. Bilbao's goal scorer nipped in ahead of López, raced towards goal and slotted past Cuéllar.

As full time approached, Bilbao were looking increasingly dangerous. Muniain was quite obviously their main threat and once again went to take the ball around López. His job was made a lot easier when the left-back stammered to meet the ball before slipping and making no contact whatsoever. As Muniain bolted past, López grabbed his ankle and was quickly cautioned for his actions.

It was time, I felt, to bring López and this horror show to an end. He was withdrawn to a chorus of boos as Menéndez entered the field of play. López slumped in his seat in disagreement with my decision, but I'm sure he would thank me later.

Iraizoz signalled for his team to advance up the field in injury time but the move worked only in our favour. He miskicked the long ball, which fell at the feet of Castro on the half way line. Castro advanced cautiously, waiting for support as the referee checked his watch. Winger Halilović, who had impressed since being substituted on, sprinted to Castro's left and received the ball in his path. The Croat advanced on goal, dribbled between the two remaining Bilbao defenders and smashed the ball beyond the reach of Iraizoz.

Ernesto Valverde swiftly shook my hand and headed down the tunnel to the sound of the referee's full time whistle. El Molinón was rocking as the Gijón players paraded around the field on the back of a potentially historic win.

Full time: Sporting Gijón 4-2 Athletic Bilbao
 
View attachment 166136
How Casey Harries has found a football gem in Northern Spain
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El Molinón plays host to Real Sporting de Gijón, a largely unsuccessful club from Asturias
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When Casey Harries was appointed as manager at Sporting Gijón, many of the clubs loyalest supporters demanded answers. Who was Mr. Harries, for a start. And where had he come from? While Gijón have struggled for success throughout their 111 year history, their fanbase are one of the most passionate across Spain.

Despite having great coaching credentials on a very short CV, it meant nothing to Los Rojiblancos fans. And perhaps understandable - the club was on another downward spiral to another season in Segunda División and this looked precariously like management cost cuttng.

Not even the most optimistic Gijón fan could have seen the upturn in form since Harries' appointment. 3 wins from 3 games leaves the club 6 places - and 7 points - above the relegation zone. For comparison, when Harries took charge, the club were 1 place and 3 points above relegation. And what are the Gijón faithful saying about Harries now?

"He's a genuis," exclaimed one fan I caught up with outside of El Molinón after Sundays victory against high-flying Athletic Bilbao, "the team are playing excellent football and getting the results we need. It's been a whirlwind start to his tenure but I hope it continues long into the future."

Spanish football expert Guillem Balagué agrees: "Harries has got them playing such a high level of football that the teams they have faced so far just couldn't match them. They're quick to close down and minimise the gaps left for the opposition while they're very comfortable on the ball. The real test for them will be in 2 weeks' time when Atlético Madrid come to town and they're the best at what they do. Their philosophies are very similar and I'm sure Harries will be looking at Simeone and hoping for the same sort of success."

While Gary Neville stole the headlines in December when he was appointed Valencia manager, Harries was very much an appointment made under the radar. It's probably worked in his favour, too, as Neville's star studded side struggle for consistency while Harries is propelling his hard working team up the division - and to within 3 points of Valencia.

But Harries is hoping his squad can remain grounded and made it clear in his post-Bilbao press conference that is side aren't safe yet: "We still have a long way to go with another 10 games to be played yet. We have a good bit of form and momentum but we're taking each game as it comes and not worrying about who we face in 2 or 3 weeks' time because a lot can change before then. Our only aim at the moment is to stay clear of the bottom three and make sure we can give the supporters another season of footbal in La Liga."

Whatever happens between now and the end of the season, I'm sure Harries will point to these first victories if he is successful in keeping Gijón in the top division.
 
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Friday, 11 March 2016​

This week had started with some negative news in the form of Tom Carroll rejecting my advances. The midfielder was unsure about committing to a contract when my future at the club was uncertain - in honesty, I don't think a move to Northern Spain ever attracted the attention of the Spurs academy product.

It was a little disappointing Tom hadn't given me the chance to show him the stadium and the facilities, but I had more important things to consider than dwelling upon that. I had forwarded on a contract to French forward Moussa Dembélé, currently at Fulham, with a view to the youngster joining in the summer. Moussa has a lot of potential and is somebody I know Spurs had been considering in my time there. He's let his contract run down at Craven Cottage, seemingly unhappy with football in the Championship.

Signing players on a free contract is typically difficult at a club of our size. There's normally only one reason those available are up for grabs. On the odd occasion you'll stumble across a worthwhile signing who has just grown discontented in his surroundings - but even those situations raise doubts regarding their attitude and application.

Edgar Ié and Marcos Llorente are two others I'm currently considering. The former is a product of La Mesia, currently sitting on the bench at Villarreal while the latter is still on books of Real Madrid after graduating from their academy. Both players have great potential but I'll decide whether to formally offer them a contract after I've personally spoken with both.

We're due to leave for Malaga this evening. We don't actually play until Sunday lunchtime, but I'm keen to avoid any tiredness and travel early. Our aeroplane should land late tonight and then we can have all day Saturday to train without having the stress of travelling.

I've decided to leave Guerrero behind and, again, I know he's not happy. His attitude doesn't concern me any more - my only worry may come if he influences any others in the squad but up until now that's not something I've had to face.
 
Sunday, 13 March 2016​

I decided after the Bilbao game to try and change the shape of the team a little in training. Rather than play two forwards, we switched to playing a lone striker and another attacker just behind. In simplistic terms, I changed the formation to 4-2-3-1. It's probably the most common shape in the modern game but I've always had my concerns that the striker can become very isolated. Hopefully we've worked on the shape enough in the past week to ensure that doesn't happen.

Ndi showed his potential as a forward in the last game and will start slightly deeper. The trio of attacking midfielders (Ndi, Jony and Carmona) are aware that at least one of them needs to be supporting Castro at all times. If we attack from the left, Carmona has been instructed to sit narrow as if we were playing two strikers while Jony is under similar instructions if we're attacking on the right.

The change, fairly obviously, was caused by the worrying amount of space Bilbao were able to have in the lines between our midfield and defence. Hopefully having an additional midfielder in our defensive shape will help out.

I also decided to make one change to the starting XI. Álex Menéndez came in to replace Isma López at left back. López had been poor against Bilbao and Menéndez had been pushing for a start since I joined the club.

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The temperature inside La Rosaleda dropped slightly as our hosts kicked off. In the morning, the sun had been scorching but as kick-off approached, the clouds rolled in and brought with them a strong breeze.

In the first real chance of the game, we looked to take advantage of the wind that was brewing around La Rosaleda. Hernández won a throw on the right and quickly recovered the ball. The Spaniard hoisted the ball deep into the home sides area, which Bernardo managed to nod on. Unluckily for us, the ball dropped into the space in which our attackers had vacated moments ago in an attempt to get closer to goal. The Malaga defence hammered the ball out of the danger area to our disappointment.

Moments later, Pablo Pérez skipped past his midfield counterpart and played the ball out wide to Jony. He drove at the opposition right back, shimmied in field before cutting back on the outside and hitting a thunderous effort at goal. Ochoa, Malaga's 'keeper, looked on in relief as Jony's effort smashed off the post and behind for a goal kick.

As half time approached, we looked to turn the screw on our hosts. A corner was poorly delivered by Carmona and was cleared to the edge of the area where Menéndez was positioned. The left back stood the ball up to the right side of the area where Hernández headed across goal and into the path of Castro. The young striker smashed home for his fourth goal since my appointment and gave us a valuable 1-0 lead going into half time. He celebrated to a chorus of boos from the home fans and who could blame them? They had been extremely poor on the ball and could hardly get over the halfway line.

At half time, I made one tactical change. Ndi switched to the left flank, allowing Jony to come in field and sit behind Castro. Other than his effort which hit the post, Jony had been largely quiet on the wing and I felt Ndi's dribbling skills would be more useful out wide.

In the second half, Malaga were having more of the possession but were doing very little with it. The home side enjoyed much of their time on the ball in their own half and whenever they ventured towards our goal, we hounded them until we won it back.

The only notable chance of the second half was as simple as football can be. From a goal kick, Cuéllar played forward to an unmarked Castro who controlled the ball with one touch in midfield, turned and ran into the space ahead of him. As he drove towards the Malaga end, he skipped over the sliding challenge of one centre half. His defensive partner advanced towards Castro who slid the ball onto his left foot and hit a 20 yard strike past the post. In fairness, it always curling away from the goal and the Malaga goalkeeper didn't look worried for a moment.

As the full time whistle approached, we still had time for a little bit of controversy. A deep cross from Malaga was headed clear to Castro who drove forward with no support. The referee was seconds from sounding his whistle to end the game when Ander Capa, who had already been booked, hacked Castro down from behind. The referee made his decision almost immediately, showing Malaga's right back the red card to a wave of hostility from the home crowd. I don't really know what they were complaining about - he had already been booked and it was a stupid challenge to make with Castro going nowhere quickly. Perhaps it was the frustration of a poor performance by their players, but it only made the victory sweeter as the referee brought their pain to an end and the away fans erupted into cheers.

Full time: Málaga 0-1 Sporting Gijón
 
Wednesday, 16 March 2016​

We had arrived back from Malaga on Sunday evening. A light training session on Monday afternoon helped ease the players back into their usual routine in time for yesterday. All in all, everything appears to be going well. You can sense the positivity that a couple of good results has pumped into people around the training ground. Having 4 wins from 4 has propelled us to relative safety.

The gap between ourselves, in 11th, and the relegation zone is actually larger than the points deficit between us and Celta Vigo, currently sitting in 6th - a position which also yields Europa League qualification.

I had been called into an early morning meeting at El Molinón with Antonio Veiga, the club President, and three directors. I was given little warning - Veiga called me at around 7am and informed me of the meeting which was scheduled for an hour and a quarter later.

The meeting was held in the boardroom - it was decorated in the clubs colours for the majority, with red taking the lead role in the bright and expansive room overlooking the pitch. I arrived a little earlier than agreed but Veiga and the other directors were already waiting. I exchanged pleasantries individually and then took a seat.

"We've called you in this morning to discuss the long term future of the club," began Viega, "obviously, the deal you're currently on expires in the summer and we need to begin discussing what happens when the deal comes to an end."

"I'm a little surprised we're discussing this just 4 games into my time here," I replied, "but I can't say I'm not relieved. I've been in talks with a couple of players about joining in the summer and the majority of them are reluctant to discuss terms while our future is uncertain."

"That's actually another topic we'd like to discuss with you - we should discuss our strategy for signings before the transfer window opens."

"I think I can speak on behalf of the other directors here when I say we're a little concerned with the number of players' whose contracts run down in June." interjected Javier Fernández, the youngest of the directors, "Aside from Jony and Guerreo who have already agreed deals elsewhere, there are another 3 first team players who haven't been offered contracts."

"Take into consideration that another 5 first team players will be leaving due to their loans expiring - it leaves our first team squad at a measly 14 players." Replied Veiga.

"As I've mentioned, I've already been in talks with a number of players about the possibility of joining up with us come the new season. Moussa Dembélé is full of potential and has agreed to join which is evidence of the progress we've made." I replied, "And in terms of those leaving, we've already decided it's not of value to offer them new deals. Halilovic, Mascarell and Sanabria will be big misses when they return to their parent clubs but there's nothing to stop us approaching them for a second season. The other two, Lichnovsky and Jankovic, have showed nothing to me in training to merit a first team place and, in fairness, I'm sure some of the staff won't even notice they're gone."

"Our main concern," interrupted Veiga, "is that we can't afford replacements. Many of these players will need replacing with others who will cost millions in transfer fees - and that is something currently out of reach for us. We're aware you haven't offered Álex Barrera a new deal and we believe that to be a mistake, so as of this morning, we'll be entering into contract talks with him directly."

"We do want to get a new contract signed with you, too." Added Veiga.

I didn't like where any of this was going. I'm grateful to Gijón for giving me my first managerial job, but if I wasn't to be trusted with transfers then it was a huge blow to my hopes of staying here long term. Oh, and Álex Barrera was certainly not worthy of a new contract.

"Before I discuss terms, I'd like to agree upon the figures I'd have to work with in the transfer market." I wasn't particularly concerned with having a huge budget - but I needed something to work with.

"We're prepared to give you €900,000 to spend on transfers," replied Veiga, "but we would also like to reduce the wage bill to around €100,000 per week from the current figure which is marginally higher."

"I'd like the wage budget to, as a minimum, stay consistent so we can at least attract worthy replacements for those leaving on frees." I attempted to negotiate, but I don't think the directors were here to listen.

"We can't grant that, Casey. Our terms remain the same."

"In that case, I'm not prepared to discuss a new contract with you. I would love to be in charge come the new season, but if our ambitions don't align then it's not something I can consider," I replied. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a training session to run through with the squad."

I left the room in silence, and didn't regret saying what I had. I was truthful in saying that I would love to remain in charge. I've not been here a month, but I've already fallen in love with the town and my home is everything I could ask for. The fans are amongst the most passionate in Spain and crave success as much as they deserve it. But, judging from the meeting I've just left, it's not hard to see why the club has had so little success.
 
Stingy board! Hopefully you can get them to loosen the purse strings a little
 
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