The Club President of Real Oviedo, Jorge Menéndez Vallina and Joaquín del Olmo appeared in a press conference following tonight’s final match of the season at the Carlos Tartiere Stadium.
Both men admitted that “errors have been made during the current season”, and that they had now begun preparing for the new season.
“We have ended this season, which began quite well, in a very saddening manner. I feel very bad for the youngsters from the academy who have made their debuts. They deserved to debut under better circumstances and enjoy their first game, but I still wish to congratulate them, and I know that they will provide us happiness in the future. Aside from this, I think it has been a season in which errors have been committed. We will search for where these errors arose, who is at fault and why, where fault does exist. Most important is that Arturo has reiterated his commitment to us. We are going to work so that we can take Real Oviedo where they deserve to be. And I wish to ensure everybody, including all those fans from whom no more support can possibly be asked, that we are going to work without a break. It’s a shame to have ended the season like this and the fans don’t deserve it. We take the blame.”
For his part, Joaquín del Olmo began by highlighting that “we’ve made mistakes, we have to get back on the track desired by Arturo. It was a huge mistake, and as such we take responsibility. We’re not going to criticise anybody through the press. There were moments where it seemed that we’d be in the mix for promotion. We have to come to terms with the situation, stand up, and keep working as we had been doing, now with an eye on next season. We are very close to appointing the new coach, meetingm with him and from there setting the instructions for the squad. It won’t matter whether players currently have a contract or not, the coach will arrive to help make decisions together with me and the president, endorsed by Arturo, in order to form a competitive team.
In addition, Joaquín del Olmo reflected that “looking backwards would be an error. I take the blame for the decisions we’ve taken, I’m a football person. I did many things; some better, and others worse. When you look at it, the decision we made was not the right one, and today we are all paying the price. There is no need to go round in circles. It is a terrible failure on my part, and as such I take the responsibility.”
With regards to the new project, Del Olmo announced that “I travel to Mexico next week and will look at all of this with Arturo. Not only a new coach, but also a technical secretary, new players, new offices, more club employees, better facilities for training and for the press… There are many things. When the Carso Group entered the club they took us on from nothing, and we’ve moved forward in many areas. Unfortunately, we couldn’t quite fine-tune the most important factor, the sporting side. Football is a results business. It is undoubtedly not only this year we’ve made mistakes, but last year we had enough to be promoted. We allowed things to happen because the results were there and we thought it was the correct thing to do. Today has hit us very hard.”
“There are many people marked. It’s clear that some of us are marked. The one they wanted to leave has gone. Football is all about results, and it’s certain that a model is necessary, but also we’ve been outside professional football for thirteen years. We must keep strengthening little by little. I also read that we’ll receive 9 million euros for television next year, and this is incorrect, it will be 6.6m. People think that we have more money than we actually do. We need to keep growing little by little. Those who managed to obtain the promotion last year will be marked for history. Unfortunately,
whether one ball goes in or not can mean a club goes one direction or another. Calmness is needed, we’ve started to see where we are going. First priority is the coach, who will come in to put many things in order. Create a more disciplined dressing room, with active participation in other matters, and as directors we will get involved in more things. If the coach moves I will too, and if I move the coach will too. It’s part of the
structure of the club.”
Finally Joaquín del Olmo explained that “I always make the trip to Mexico at the end of the season, I´ll explain what’s gone on to Arturo, where we’ve got things right and where we’ve gone wrong. I’m very stubborn, if my boss still has the confidence he’s had in me until now, and the relationship remains the same as it has, I have no worries. In the same way I didn’t excessively celebrate the promotion in Cádiz last year, I’m not going to let my head go down today. I’m a football person and nobody will take that away from me. There is a very serious project, since I know Arturo well I know that this project is going to lead to a lot of things.The coach is going to be of the highest level. We must give him an important role, including from within. I understand the fans’ disappointment, because they suffer and have such passion. We had all got excited and in the end we didn’t achieve our aims. I’ve accepted that we got it wrong, not just now but also in the press. Decisions are made, sometimes good ones, sometimes bad ones, but you must know how to make them.”
Listen to the full press conference, here
