While pre season results must be looked at unemotionally, the results this year have been pretty good and we seem to be showing that the talent is there for the team to finish higher then expected despite the losses. Drawing 1-1 against newly promoted EPL club West Brom on the road can only be an indication that we have some strength on this club. With PSV Eindhoven coming to Palma on August 14th, we have another chance to show our stuff against a well known club. Games like these get you match ready for LaLiga.

While preseason has been great, Mallorca is still in need of a couple of players and must straighten out the Moya situation before long. With just under three weeks to go before the season starts, the club is doing its best to resolve these issues. Manzano, again I cannot overstate his importance to this club, seems to be putting the brakes on letting Moya go to Valencia. With the goal always to get local players, letting a young but good and experienced goalkeeper who is from Mallorca move to a big club like Valencia is not something you just automatically do. With all the other good players leaving with little or no fight from the club, Valencia thought they could come in and combined with the players desire to leave, felt like they could grab him with little fan fare. While you certainly dont want Moya around if he is unhappy, the fact Manzano is making an effort to see that he stays shows his importance. I think it is still 50/50 that he stays, but we arent letting him go without a little effort to keep him. Props to the club and lets hope Moya will stay and be happy.

With the Moya situation still an issue, we managed to sign Juan Callejon, from Real Madrid. He is a young striker/attacking midfielder who spent last year playing regularly in Segunda B for RM Castilla, basically where Madrid stashes all its young players who are good, but not quite ready for big club football. This is a great signing for our team as we get another attacking player, who is showing he is ready to emerge and can possibly develop into a star in Palma. Real Madrid is not dumb however and this deal is similar to Samuel Eto’o and his time in Mallorca. Like with Eto’o, Real Madrid is going to keep a percentage ownership in Callejon and if he becomes a star, they will have the option to buy him back or if he is sold elsewhere they will share in the profit. This deal works well for both clubs. We get a talented young player who will be given every chance to develop his talent and if he succeeds, he will enjoy a year or two starring for Mallorca before his inevitable departure. This is how you get young players from the big clubs and we werent the only team who wanted him so even if we lose him eventually, we get to see if the talent is there. From what I have read, he has Cristiano Ronaldo type skill, but needs to work on the intelligence factor of his game. If the skills are there, Manzano will make him smart. For the minimal price we paid, this is a great move and the club should be commended for getting the player. These are the types of players, even if they eventually show they arent that good, that we need to get to stay competitive. The upside is huge and the price is good. Well done management.

As we get closer to the season, the new players combined with the performance of the returning players seem to give some hope to the fans who still are smarting from all the offseason losses. Lets hope this continues and maybe we can land one more player whether it be another veteran striker ie Morientes or a nice defender. A couple of more additions could cause this club to be back in the hunt for Europe which just a month or two ago would have been laughable after all the player losses.

However, for all the optimism, we will be relying on a lot of young players with not much first team football in LaLiga, unproven youngsters, and some veterans with minimal skill who are trying to regain form or return from injury. The potential is there but we will need a surprise player or two for this team to emerge. The potential makes this season more exciting then I thought it would be so I am ready for the season to start.

Manzano, who I feel is one of the clubs biggest assets, has done a great job bringing the new players and mixing them with the returning players to form what may be a better side then we thought. With all the losses and the question marks surrounding the new players, to see what we have seen in the preseason is a sign of good things to come.

Yes we went to Austria and knocked out around a couple of third division clubs, but then we moved up and took out strong Dutch side Feyonord to prepare for hosting the Mallorca Cup and some better competition with German Club Hannover and Premier Side Newcastle United. After pushing four goals past Hannover, we beat New Castle 1-0 to win the Cup. We showed we have some players who can score and also that we can get an early goal at home and make it stand up for a win. Yes it is preseason, but to beat these two clubs is good. Yes the German League is weak and Newcastle is a mid table EPL club, but I think we are showing that despite all the losses, maybe we wont be a relegation struggler and if we can add a couple of more pieces, we can make a run similar to last year. Watch new player Jurado and if Keita can be a scoring threat, captain Arango is going to lead an attack that might make this an exciting club even without Guiza.

In other important news, I think this new owner Paul Davidson is looking at the purchase of the club as kind of a hobby with his extra money, but as a Brit, he he has a passion for soccer and is a smart enough man to know that he needs input from soccer people to do this right. He evidently received much input from Keith Wyness, a British buddy who is former Chief Executive at Everton and made many decisions behind the scene to help improve revenue and that clubs position in the EPL table. Everton is similar to Mallorca in their relative leagues, so if he can be brought to Mallorca in some capacity, we might be that much closer to becoming a regular in Europe.

For all the good news, there is still that reminder that we are a small club and until we can make Europe a regular achievement, we are going to lose our good players. The latest deserter seems to be goalie Moya who wants to go to a big club, Valencia. While he is under contract, he has made it clear he deserves a big club for his loyalty to his local team. Whatever. For us to move up, we cant lose players like this, especially a young goalkeeper who is our version of Iker Casillas. But if he is that good, he wont stay here as the big clubs come calling unless we make Europe which makes the players stay, hopefully. Kind of a chicken/egg scenario. You need the players to get to Europe, but if you arent making Europe, you dont get the players. While losing him be can dealt with a little easier because we have Argentinian Lux, a good keeper in his own right to step in, the loss of Moya makes it that much harder to become a team that other players come to because we are in Europe consistently.

With the season just weeks away, there still has to be a player or two added. We need a veteran striker and hopefully we can get Morientes. I also thought we had a real shot at Juanfran from Zaragoza, but we missed out on him. Again most of what you read is rumor based on speculation, so who knows what will happen, but we have some money so lets spend it.

We have to continue to watch Manzano as his mindset and opinions are key. He is very aware of what parameters he has to operate with and is great at mixing his players in to produce the best results. Some of the new guys are going to make more of an impact then we thought, but dont doubt the toughness of LaLiga. Without another striker and a solidified goalkeeper, we are a mid table club at best. However, as we have shown in the pre season against a couple of decent clubs, dont write us off yet because of all the player losses.

The season cant get here fast enough.

While the owners of the club openly looked for a buyer, the team expectedly but belatedly pushed for a European spot and almost pulled it off. The decision to skip the Intertoto Cup seemed to be ignored as the team saw a mass exodus of talent would soon be leaving the club. Im not talking about sending players like Pablo Cendros or Tuni on loan to Tenerife or Hercules respectively, Im talking about letting tons of talent leave with their replacements offering very little hope that the club can maintain a top half of the table position and become a consistent European spot contender.

As soon as the ink dried on the final standings of 07-08, we lost Fernando Navarro to Sevilla, David Navarro returned to Valencia from his loan, Guiza was sold to Fenerbache in a move bad for club and player, Jonas Guitierrez ends up in Newcastle, and Ibagaza goes to Villarreal to play in the Champions League. Other then Moya and Arango, these are basically the players responsible for the great run last year. As a small club, you expect to lose talent but not in the mass exodus we have lost it this summer. What makes it hard is that there was really no explanation about what was done to keep these players. Even if we couldnt have kept them all, somebody in customer relations needed to be aggressive in explaining to fans why the players were leaving even if it was obvious. Marketing is important whether you are a soccer club or selling cars. The summer is not over and it is not a sure bet that Moya and Arango open the season in Palma so the plunder of this club may not be over.

Manzano, give him credit, has tried to bring in players with potential and on the cheap to help offset the losses, but to replace Guiza with Keita who can score goals in the Swiss League like no other, and Ibagaza with old Sevilla reject and Mallorca native Josep Luis Marti, only shows that our team is on the way to becoming this seasons Real Zaragoza. Josemi from Villarreal is a big question mark, Suarez from Atlhetico Madrid could help, and the biggest prize will likely end up being Jurado who we dont even own, who is on a year loan from Athletico Madrid. Fillers like Corrales from Osasuna, Ayoze from Racing, Scaloni from Lazio, and Oscar Diaz from Elche are worth what we paid for them with the word free pretty much coming to mind. When a club loses massive talent and downgrades in pretty much all key positions, in a tight LaLiga, this means going from fighting for a European place to battling for survival.

With the money flowing in from the sale of talented players, you would think we would have atleast one big signing of our own to offset these losses rather then buying players who are cheap and coming off injuries, or receive little playing time at their old club, or who can only dominate in lower level leagues. Maybe Morientes is interested in coming to Mallorca and we clearly have our eyes on some decent players who are still out there, but I wonder if the owners of the club were just trying to profit before they finally sold the club leaving new ownership holding the bag of angry fans.

Now that all the profits have been taken, the club was sold quietly by Spanish ownership to an English group lead by Paul Davison who pledges to maintain the quality of the team and wants them to stay competitive in LaLiga and Europe. If the new ownership was really interested in the club, they would have used their millions to get in earlier and buy the club before the spanish owners sold off all the assets. I guess they wanted the price to go down first which is not a good sign of a group who will spend money on players.

The club now for the first time in its history is not owned by Spaniards. I dont think having domestic ownership is a big deal and a situation like the Glazers buying Manchester United and the fans getting all crazy because americans are buying a British team is idiotic. Its all about spending money and keeping the club at a certain level. No matter where the owner is from, if they care about the club they will spend the money. If the money is not there, then they need to be more open with explanations to the fans about why the club cannot purchase players and keep the club competive. This club has been silent considering the massive losses we are suffering.

New ownership cant hurt, but the silence of the prior regime all while the assets were being sold or allowed to leave is bad for morale of not only the remaining players, but the fans as well. Ownership can speak with their wallet and we dont need to hear apologies or promises about what the future holds. The bottom line is that no team should lose this much talent without adequate replacements which ownership has failed to provide.

As the transition from old to new takes place, there are still games that must be played in the preseason. I am not too excited about ass kickings of Austrian third division clubs called Swasshtika or whatever. Manzano cant judge the talent by playing these games. I know its good to get a run and play a match, but there would be more competition with an intrasquad scrimmage.

Barring some sudden influx of talent, this has been one bad summer if you are a Mallorca fan. No team in La Liga has lost what we have and which remaining players are going to step up. Is a Webo/Keita strike force going to scare opposing teams? Is Arango going to work well with Jurado and is Marti even a LaLiga quality player? Will our defense be old and beat up who uses intimidation tactics to make up for lack of talent? At what point does Moya leave for a big club? There are way too many questions heading into this year and for all the selling off of players followed closely by the selling off of the club itself, anyone who supports this team has to be shaking their head.

Lets see what the season brings, but this is a sinking ship that needs some quick rebuilding. Lets hope new ownership and some of the new players surprise and help us forget how the club was decimated so quickly or we might turn into Celta or Zaragoza and by the time we wake up from this nightmare, we are in the Segunda Division. For a club that was the most exciting in LaLiga last year in the second half of the season, what a fall that would be, even for a small club.

Fan favorite Ibagazas transfer has been confirmed to Villarreal and it is a good move for him as he wants to improve his level of competition and pocketbook. The same cannot be said for Dani Guiza. It has long been rumored that he has all but signed for Fenerbache in Turkey, but his noteworthy performance in Euro 2008 seemed to make him think he could get offers elsewhere. This clearly shows Turkey was not his first choice even if Aragones would be his coach but I guess he got impatient and wanted to make a decision.

Who knows what other offers were out there or if Turkey paid more all around then anyone else would have, but this is a bad move for his career in my opinion. I have no doubt that Turkey probably offered the most money and willingly gave Mallorca the 15-17 mil they wanted in a transfer fee, but I wonder if his girlfriend could ever think about something other then the money. I cant believe that he could not attract serious attention from Barca or a club like Arsenal or even Roma where if he signed there, he could really up his world profile with another dominating season. He has that kind of talent. While a move from one big club to another does not always guarantee success and can be a total failure for some players, ie Shevchenko and maybe even Henry, a move from a midlevel club to another club that isnt in one of the big three leagues, who albeit is in the Champions League every year, it is not a move that will further develop his career. Turkey is an inferior league and no matter how much he dominates, he would be better known as a footballer if he tried his luck with a big club. Considering he also likes Spain, the cultural transition will not be easy. Guiza has done wonders for Mallorca and is no doubt a talent, but I think whomever advises him made a bad move here. He will score goals, but will basically be an afterthought in Europe. I am sure Barca, Arsenal, or Roma wanted him and a deal was there to be made, but when Nuria answers my emails for a response, Ill get back to you. With Guizas good looks and talent, combined with a hot wife, he could have become the Spanish version of Beckham or something close. To see how Torres took a move to Liverpool and raised his profile was what Guiza should have done.

With two big names now gone, we have to regroup. The four players previously mentioned in my last post have the best chance to make a difference, but we have added two other players who I did not mention because I was hoping to get more players to add to them before discussing them. With the other four coming so quickly, these guys became an afterthought. The two players I am talking about are Lionel Scaloni and Ayoze Diaz.

Scaloni is a 30 yr old Argentine defender who we got from Lazio on a 12 month loan. Hes very familiar to Spanish fans as he played from 98-06 for Deportivo and was a very important defender for them. He managed to secure a spot for Argentina in World Cup 2006, but the past two years he has done nothing. He spent last year doing nothing in Lazio after a year with Racing with limited appearances. He is clearly on the downside of his career and hoping to get some action in Mallorca. I do not expect much from him and he will be an afterthought on our team next year.

The other player we player we picked up was from Racing as well. Ayoze Diaz is a midfielder who is 26. He did nothing for Racing last year after playing the year before with Real Murcia. He is another one of those guys who is a fringe La Liga player. He got some real playing time from 03-06 with Racing but did not emerge to the point where they saw him in their future. Maybe Racing has improved to the point where they can discard players like this who can turn out to make a difference on another LaLiga club, but I have my doubts. Racing for the most part is relegation fodder and like Mallorca has dodged relegation miraculously on more then one occasion. Now that they edged us for the UEFA Cup spot, maybe they are bringing in talent that allows Diaz to be a help for us, but I am not big on him at all.

It is clear that we are not matching what we are losing, but that is to be expected. I have hope for Juardo and even Josemi, but a lot must go our way to allow us to finish in the top ten next year. I hope Manzano is on the hunt for another striker because we need one. He is stockpiling defenders and midfielders hoping one emerges, but hopefully he sees what a great striker can do as we were outscoring teams last year which is the way to be successful in LaLiga. This is not Italy and with the offense we now have, we will be losing a lot of 1-0 and 2-1 games.

Thanks to Guiza and Ibagaza for all they did to raise the profile of this club. It is a sad day to lose so much talent so quickly with no comparable replacements in sight for now. Hopefully we will get another player or two before the window closes.

As of this writing, Guiza still has not chosen a club. While we all want him back, reality says Barcelona or Roma will soon have his signature. Jonas is off to New Castle where he will likely thrive, David Navarro has returned to Valencia, Fernando Navarro is off to Sevilla, and surprisingly, although not official, fan favorite Ibagaza might be heading to Villarreal who has made him a substantial offer. I am sure he prefers to stay in Palma, but with the added money and Champions League football, you cant blame him for leaving. He has always flown under the radar and Mallorca has been lucky to have him, but he clearly has the talent to be in the first eleven of a Champions League Spanish side. Lets see what happens, but I know he is having a hard time with the decision. These losses are substantial and even if we do well with some new transfers, we are back to being relegation fodder again.

This why our four latest transfers are some good news and hopefully they will emerge to make up the losses and keep us out of the relgation zone. In addition to the recently signed striker Keita, here is some information on the four additional players who will play for us next year:

Mario Suarez
We now own him fully after getting him from Athletico Madrid. He is a 21 yr old MF who played last year on loan with Celta. He has played in the Spanish under 20 club in the World Cup so he obviously is talented. This is a young player who simply hasnt emerged like Athletico thought so they sold him to us. Maybe he develops later, but 21 is awfully young and if he can make a U20 World Cup Squad, he is worth taking on. Good move to snap up a young player who could still amount to something.

Jurado
Also picked up from Athletico but he is held in a little higher esteem by them as we only get him on loan. He rarely played for them last year, but is a former Real Madrid youth player with loads of talent. With Guiza and maybe Ibagaza gone, he will get a shot to play in an attacking midfielder role and could emerge. More youth for our side and is a perfect fit for this club. We can deal with giving him back to Athletico later. Lets hope he shows the talent he has.

Oscar Diaz
I dont know much about this guy other then he is a 24 yr old midfielder from Elche in Segunda B. It did not cost us anything and I think our scouts just liked him and wanted to see if he could make the move to LaLiga. If he shows something great, if not, no big deal since he was free. Give the club credit for trying to unearth a gem while he is still in expensive.

Josemi
We got him from Villarreal and he is a defender we are looking to use to replace Navarro. The talent is there and he is only 28. He has dealt with some injuries and has played with Liverpool in the Champions League so there is no doubt some real potential that he could add to our back line and make up for the loss of Navarro. We now own him outright and this is a classic example of a big club having too many players and Mallorca grabbing him quickly. He is not of Navarros quality but he could bounce back and bring some real leadership to our club next year. A much needed addition that could pay big dividends.

Whether any of these players make a difference next year is really unknown, but clubs like Mallorca have to rely on big clubs loaning out or selling players who simply arent able to crack their lineup or are still developing. This creates a lot of uncertainty the big clubs dont face. While these additions are good, we still need to add another striker. Knowing we were going to lose so many players, you have to give credit to management for trying to get some new players with talent on a budget.

I will keep watching the transfer window, but the next news is likely some more subtractions and not additions. It will be sad to lose Guiza and Ibagaza, but until they are gone, I will keep some faint hope that they stay.

I know his girlfriend/agent is really hot and probably sees money before she sees anything else, but she would be a fool to let him sign for Fenerbache. Yeah they are a good club and make some noise in the Champions League almost every year, but if you are a player on the way up, you dont go to Turkey, especially if you have offers from other big clubs. It seems he took and passed a medical and Fener was ready to pay the 15 mil transfer fee, but he didnt quite sign because after his Euro performance, interest in him has increased. Nuria could learn a word called patience. Dont screw up his career because you have some money being thrown at you. Wait for the right offer and show your talents on a top level stage. I still think he ends up at Barca, but he will have to wait for some bigger names like David Villa to sort out where they will play.

Mallorca knows they are going to lose him even if the fans have admirably formed a group to keep him around. Of course he is our most important player and any fan wants him to stay, but reality is a bitch. Atleast an attempt has been made to bring in a replacement for his inevitable loss. We just signed Alhassane Keita for 3 million from Al Ittahad in Saudi Arabia. He is 24 years old and from Guinea and was once the Swiss Leagues top scorer for FC Zurich. While still young, something is amiss if this guy hasnt landed on someones radar by now. I know those Arab clubs pay more then anyone else for players who are either too old and on the downside of their career or players who might end up being good. While its easy to criticize a team who will lose a Dani Guiza and replace him with this guy, but atleast they are trying. The guy can score if even on a lower level and is young so improvement is possible. While I think it would be better to take the 3 mil and add it to a bid for a bigger player, we shall see. Im sure Manzano gave his ok so why not. For some reason though I just cant get over this guy being the Guinean Joaquin Larrivey.

With ownership in flux as the current group is willing to sell, former New Castle bossman Freddie Shepherd, who lives in Mallorca for most of the year and is known for making flamboyant statements, is trying to buy the club. I would love to see this guy take over. A big club mentality for a small club by someone who has a tie to the islands and isnt looking at it as just a business purchase will in the long run bring some money into the club. Lets hope he can make a deal to own this team.

There are many rumors about many of our players leaving yet very few about potential new players. Everyone from Ibagaza to Moya is rumored to be somewhere. No need to speculate or guess just to make a story. The fact our players our in demand shows what a team we had last year. Once things shake out and we know who is in and who is out, we can assess the team and see if we will be in relegation dogfight as we are so used seeing as fans.

As much as I want Guiza to stay, I really want to see him end up with the right big club and not just chase the first money thrown at him. Spain in Euro 2008 just summed up what was a great year for the league, Mallorca, and its fans.

The first move that we saw was the club not picking up the contract option on Jonas Guitierrez, the young Argentinian midfielder. This was a player with a lot of potential who played in 30 games for the Reds last year. He had a conflict with the club and really wanted out over the winter to go play in the Premiership. Instead he played in the Spring and once the year was over, the club did not pick up the sizeable option on his contract and it is still up in the air where he will play next year. This was a player we needed to keep, but if the cost was too high and the relationship with the club ruined, it was probably best to let him go. Either way, he is a good player we no longer have.

Now it seems that Fernando Navarro has finally signed for Sevilla and we will be losing our best defender. Navarro played 36 games for Mallorca and was so good he received a call up to Spains national team for EURO 2008. After some interest from Valencia at the last minute, it seems as if Navarro will be in Sevilla for a 5 million fee. The second key player we have lost.

Once EURO 2008 ends, things will pick up in the transfer market. The next key loss will be Guiza, who I expect to sign with Barca, and then David Navarro, who didnt play as much as we would have liked, but is still a talented and in demand defender, will likely be the next to go. With goalkeeping seeming to be a weakness for so many clubs, Moya leaving is not out of the question as he is going to emerge as an even better player over the next few years. He might be scooped up by a big club. Other players who either had a great year or are up and coming that could leave will be Ramis, Chori Castro, and Basinas. This does not even include Juan Arango who will be in demand, but like Ibagaza, could decide to stay. Other then Ibagaza, I think all of these other players are strong possibilities to be with other clubs next year.

With players leaving, money comes in and we will again have to spend it wisely. Manzano has made some good moves so hopefully he has a plan. I think the rumors of him leaving will stop and he should be back on the bench for us next year. It will also be interesting to see if wunderkid Nsue is ready for a prominent role. He has been a key player for Spanish national youth teams for what seems like forever, but if he truly is going to be a dominant player, we will need to see him show something on the big stage next year if he is given the chance.

To watch players that made a huge difference the previous year slowly leave the club is scary. Players we likely know little about will take their place and the hope is that they will emerge. However, with La Liga being so strong, you cannot lose the above mentioned players and replace them with uncertainties or question marks and not expect to have to fight to survive relegation. After getting a taste of Europe, to see such a drop back as reality is really frustrating. We have dodged relegation for so many years that letting talent leave is not going to be easy to swallow.

Hopefully once EURO ends, the players will decide what they are doing so we know what the club has for next year. The problem with being a small club is that we dont know who will be coming in early because we basically get the leftovers. Lets hope there is a new Guiza to emerge for us next year.

In the meantime, I will just keep my eyes open for news about who is going where and try to post accordingly. I hope fans are enjoying a great summer after what was a truly memorable season in Palma.

Anyway, now that the Liga season has ended, we can take a step back and reflect on what was a great season for Mallorca and its fans, yet in my opinion a disappointing one. It is also a time for questions to be pondered while also ignoring the gossip about what will happen to our players during the transfer market.

Thanks to last weekends 3-2 home win over Zaragoza, Mallorca finished in seventh place in La Liga, just one spot below Racing who finished sixth and claimed the final UEFA Cup Spot. These results also saw Zaragoza take the final relegation spot in what was a great finish to the year at both ends of the standings. The surge in the last quarter of the season saw the Ballerets go from relegation candidates to almost securing sixth spot and European football. The team just ran out of games and an early season love fest for draws saw this team too far down in the standings to make European football a reality. However, with the exciting offense filled with great goals and the Pichichi winner, no matter how disappointed we fans were, it was one of our best seasons in years and one of the most exciting teams in La Liga this year and also our history.

The last quarter of the season allowed the fans to see the team that we expected to see throughout the whole year. This team should have finished with a UEFA Cup spot and to me was almost Champions League quality. With disappointing years from Valencia and Deportivo, we really should have made a push for a top four spot. This just shows you how tough a league Spain is as it takes a remarkable effort to secure a Champions League spot and any UEFA Cup spot would be considered a great year.

Finishing seventh should have allowed us to play in the Intertoto Cup. From what I can gather, it will be Deportivo in the Intertoto Cup as both Mallorca and Almeria decided to pass on the competition allowing ninth place Deportivo to take a run at UEFA Cup qualification. I know the players need a break after a tough year and summer is not always a time to play football, but someone explain to me why Mallorca would pass on the Intertoto when it could allow them a path to the UEFA Cup. When you rarely finish this high in the standings and havent played in the UEFA Cup since winning the Copa five years ago, you have to sign up and play. I dont get it.

Since the year is now officially over, we get to read all the rumors and gossip about where players like Guiza and Arango et al will be playing next year. Unless you are a fan of a big club who will truly be active in the transfer market, why would you read all these stories about who is going to get transferred when there is so little credibility to them. Another reason to ignore the soccer columns for a few weeks is the attiude of the players and what they say. Does anyone think Guiza will stay in Mallorca? As the season drew closer to an end, it became obivous that big clubs want him and he talks about Baecelona being a dream move, yet as they approached the end of the season and he wins the Pichichi, he talks about staying in Mallorca being a dream for him. Which is it? The players need to keep their mouths shut and stop teasing fans of their current club and clubs that would like to obtain them. This is a reason I dont read much soccer for the next month. I know my club will likely lose its best players and will need to be creative to bring in replacements that can help it improve over last years season or the likely scenario, players who can keep them out of the relegation dogfight. However, I dont like to get my hopes up or get frustrated that a player might leave based on what he says or does not say in response to rumors about him.

Mallorca is a solid mid table club and should be every year. We dont have the resources to compete for European football except when we aqcquire players relatively inexpensively who perform well above expectations ie Guiza. This happens on occasion, but is a rarity. The scary thing is that because of the competitiveness from top to bottom in La Liga this year, without Guiza we are in serious relegation trouble. Who will be next years Guiza? I dont know, but if we dont replace him, we arent moving up in the standings.

All we know at this point is that Jonas Guitierrez is not coming back, but that has been known for some time. Mallorca was not going to exercise its 8 million option on a player who was not happy in Palma. He is clearly talented, but it was a good move to let him go relative to the price. Guiza is gone. Arango is 50/50, and Ibagaza is likely to stay. Navarro will also attract interest from other European clubs. It is also not clear that Manzano will stay on as coach, but I think he will. He has a knack for bringing in the right players for the right price, but until this year getting them to develop has been tough. Hopefully he stays and continues to solidify this club.

This year was a great year from a team and player standpoint, but now that I have taken a deep breath from watching the drama of the season unfold, it is time to take a break and not read too much into the gossip that continues to swirl around the players. I hope all fans of Mallorca can be proud of this team, but also hope that some changes can be made that can allow us to not only keep the players who succeed, but also add players to take us to the next level on a more consistent basis. With the majority shareholder selling for 40 million euros, maybe a new owner can step in and put some money into the club. I wish I had 40 million Euros and Id move to Palma and buy a soccer club.

Until things sort themselves out, lets be thankful for what was one of our better years in some time even if it turned out to be a little disappointing. Ill be back to post when there is some real news and not just a bunch of anxious specualtion and gossip.

As big a game as this is for Mallorca, its probably a bigger game for Zaragoza. For a team that was expected to be where Mallorca is now, they instead find themselves in the relegation zone and will not only need to win on the road, where this year they have one win in eighteen matches, they will need help from other clubs. The irony is there are two games where the teams will be trying to help each other as Racing Santander sits on 57 points with Mallorca on 56. Santanders weekend opponent is Osasuna with 43 points and Zaragoza has 42 points. Zaragoza beating Mallorca helps Santander maintain their hold on sixth place and Osasuna beating Santander not only keeps them in the top flight but gives Mallorca a real chance for the final UEFA Cup Spot.

There is no reason to believe that Guiza will not have a big game. It is his final game in the Mallorca shirt, he needs to win the Pichichi, and show the big clubs yet again that he is a bargain at 15 million. With the team goal on the line, their recent form including a stunning win against Barca last week, the home fans cheering, combined with Zaragozas woeful road record, should make this a seriously winnable game for the Reds. I know teams fighting for survival tend to play better, but Zaragoza has been so poor this year that combined with all the infighting, they are going to end up in 18th place and go back to Segunda. Considering what was expected of them this year, this would be a major surprise.

As Mallorca tries to wind down the year and secure European football, there is still the issue of who will be leaving and staying. With Guiza gone, we did receive some positive comments from Ibagaza this week as he made it clear he was not going anywhere and will likely stay in Palma to finish his career. He is one of those players that is settled with a family, likes where he lives, and is happy to play for Mallorca. He knows who he is and where he is with his career. He also knows where Guiza is and has made it clear that Guiza needs to move to a big club. While Ibagaza still has a couple years left of great play, we should be happy to have him if for no other reason then his maturity and guidance in the dressing room. A player like him is key to a small clubs success. Now we just have to see what Arango will do and who will come to Mallorca to play with the money we have. Manzano has shown great ability to bring in players and he will have more money to spend in the summer, but with UEFA Cup football, he might get some better players then he thought which would solidify the club as a top half of the table team and not a relegation candidate.

With so much on the line this weekend and all the factors for victory in our favor, I cant see Mallorca losing this game despite Zaragozas needing to win. If Osasuna can get a tie on the road, I think we can slide into sixth and that would be something. For all the joy that would bring, you have to wonder if we could be in the Champions League if not for the inconsistent play in the beginning of the year.

Prediction Mallorca 3-1 Zaragoza.

Party in Palma this weekend.

This is my attitude toward Barcelona as their behavior lately toward their players and coach to me is reprehensible. There is nothing wrong with voicing frustration and all players deserved to be booed on occasion for a brief moment, but for the fans to boo their players the way they did this weekend and to call for the resignation of their President no doubt contributed to the loss against Mallorca.

Barca came out strong and put two past Moya in the first half and while it looked like the Reds defense was swiss cheese, Barca could have had more goals but Mallorcas defenders and Moya made some stops that prevented the score line from getting worse. Barca was playing well even if the results meant nothing to them. They still wanted to put on a show for their fans and they could have blown Mallorca out very easily. I think the soccer gods werent going to give it to Barca so easily.

Mallorca on the other hand had everything to play for and came out flat. Going to Madrid or Barca can be a harrowing experience when you know that you are up against a more talented side, but that also the home sides fans will be out in full force. While all road games in La Liga are tough, teams feel that they can win when they feel like they match up talent wise. No one matches up with Madrid or Barca so you expect to take your lumps. However Mallorca is one of the few teams that manages to thrive on the pressure of these big clubs so it was surprising to see them so dominated in the first half, final home game for Barca or not.

The second half was a different story. As the fans began to boo their players more, Mallorca continued to push forward. Surprise bench warmer Ibagaza came on for Mallorca and they seemed to respond pushing two past the Barca goalie. By then the fans were becoming even worse. Booing players like Deco and Etoo every time they touched the ball was not deserved so when Guiza pounded in the third Mallorca goal to seal the game with seconds remaining, it was as if Barcas fans got what they deserve. Wasnt this the same team that finished in the CL semis? I dont get the booing as the big clubs must share the spoils with few exceptions.

For all the inspired play by Mallorca and not quitting, the game was lost because of the fans. Players have egos yet are very insecure in many cases. They need the love of their home fans and cheers inspire results. While they can ignore brief boos for bad play, with everything surrounding the club and even after jumping into the lead, they lost it easily as the negativity continued to increase. Analyzing aside, this was a great game for any fan to enjoy with the result in doubt as soon as Mallorca got on the board. I hope this game ends up on Barca TV on FSC someday for me to tape. These kinds of games are what make La Liga the most exciting soccer in the world. You felt something was going to happen as Barca could not get more then two in the first half.

With that 3-2 win Mallorca has achieved so much and can now do the impossible, qualify for the UEFA Cup. We are now guaranteed no worse then 7th which puts us in Intertoto. This gives us a shot at Europe. It sure would be a lot easier to finish 6th if we can make up a point on Racing. We play Zaragoza at home and they play Osasuna at home. Two teams fighting for the final UEFA Cup spot versus two teams fighting for a spot in La Liga next year. Two great games coming up. With Guizas goal, he now leads the Pichichi by two goals and it would be something for him to win it for the glory of Mallorca. With a lot to play for at home, finishing 6th is certainly possible.

Under any circumstances, winning this kind of game against Barca has to give the players confidence and fans have to be excited. While finishing 6th should have been realistic at the beginning of the year, the never quit attitude of the players to bring it back to this final chance is amazing. I hope we get a full house next weekend for the game. I have no doubt the fans will treat the players better then Barca fans treat theirs. Why Guiza would want to go there other then for money to me makes no sense, but we will talk about his future later. Right now we need him for one more big performance.