A Glimpse of the Abyss

We haven’t given a B team update since the 20th March when a disappointing 1-1 draw against local rivals Atlético Baleares made us realise one unfortunate thing – we need a miracle to avoid relegation.

And in the time in which we haven’t updated, nothing has really got any better. In fact, it has got worse because that 9 point gap on Sunday 20th March has grown to an 11 point gap. We have dropped from 18th to 19th (out of 20 teams) and there are only 12 more points left to play for. Even if by some minor miracle we have not been officially relegated by the afternoon on Sunday 24th April, we will only be delaying the inevitable.

The B team has not won since the 20th February. The 8 games played in that time consist of two 3 match losing streaks separated by two draws in the middle. That’s 2 points from a possible 24.

This weekend, Mallorca actually started well against Alcoyano. Man of the match Uche scored after just 14 minutes following good play from Jaime. The lead didn’t last long, however, and the visitors were back on level terms just three minutes later. A Diego Jiminez corner was turned in by Fernando Martín to make it 1-1.

Despite Raúl Fabiani’s goal on 40 minutes consigning Mallorca to a third straight defeat, the talking point came immediately after when during the celebrations Alcoyano defender Paco Esteban called Mallorca striker Sergi Enrich ‘un hijo de puta’ (roughly, son of a bitch, literally, son of a whore) and bit his ear. Esteban was then sent off by the referee for his actions.

But it wasn’t all he did. The defender during the match shouted ‘come on, you’re going to lose’ and ‘you’re going down’ to the B team players. He also said to Sergi ‘you are a cuckold, you are a cuckold’.

After the game, Sergi said he could not understand the reason for the assault saying ‘everything that has happened is completely surreal. I have been insulted. I have been spat upon. When they scored their second goal, Esteban called me ‘un hijo de puta’ and then he bit me’.

Mallorca did have a glorious chance to level on 57 minutes, but Uche’s close range attempt was touched wide for a corner by the goalkeeper. It just wasn’t to be. The same story of the whole season.

Local reports went with the headline ‘A Glimpse of the Abyss’. I’m afraid to say these reports are wildly inaccurate. It’s alot more than just a glimpse.

So what’s next for the B team? Well they will see out the remaining four fixtures of the league before the inevitable return to the Tercera División for the 2011/2012 season.

It was revealed much earlier in the year that Serra Ferrer and the Board of Directors were very concerned at the plight of the B team and signed players in the January transfer window to try and keep them in the Segunda División B. Whilst this has not worked, it has showed that the B team is a priority of the new Board.

Now that alot of the dust has settled for the first team and the club in general, and with youth development plans now confirmed as a key aspect for the club, I am sure we can expect a overhaul of the B team in the summer. It doesn’t matter whether coach Vicente Engonga (former Mallorca midfielder) could be held partially responsible or not because, as a fan of the FC Barcelona culture, Serra Ferrer will very much be trying to groom Engonga in the way he is grooming Nadal.

Teams

Real Mallorca B: Tomeu Nadal, Ximo (Bardolet 80), Polaco, Uche, Pablo, Hervé, Jaime (Abdón 64), Victor (Aridai HT), Sergi, Didac, Aleix.
Goal: Uche 14.

CD Alcoyano: Maestro, Pina, Cesar Remon, Raul Fabiani (Alex 70), Gato (Xavi Molina 77), Paco Esteban, Diego Jimenez, Alvaro (Dani Fernández 74), Berna, Fernando Martín, Devesa.
Goals: Fernando Martín 17; Raúl Fabiani 40.
Red Card: Paco Esteban 41.