2023-11-23 07:30:55
Surely the current Girona would not be understood without him. Neither now nor a few years ago. In fact, it has been fifteen years since he arrived and now he boasts, dressed like a dandy, that he is the delegate of the leader of the First Division. Between laughter and laughter, Javi Galiano (Valladolid, 1959) confesses that he has cried more than once for Girona and that he hopes to be able to retire having accompanied Girona to Europe.
He just turned 64. Are you thinking about retirement?
It’s a state of mind. (River). I don’t think about it right now. We are living a sweet and beautiful moment and reaching Europe would be a pass for Girona, for the city, for the juniors, for the coaching staff and for me. An icing on the cake unthinkable fifteen years ago when I arrived.
Won’t you consider retiring without having been with Girona in Europe?
I will do my bit to try to retire having been in Europe with Girona.
What do you think when you open the newspaper or look at your mobile phone and see Girona leading the First Division?
It’s a rewarding feeling. Not long ago we were in Segona and we were seeing if we were caught, with all due respect, by Burgos or Racing de Santander and now, let’s see if Barça or Atlético de Madrid do it. Guys, if four days ago things were very different!
Who was to say that with the hardships you have experienced at the club…
Yes. There was one before and one after Rubi’s year (2012-13). In the first years it was to stay in Segona as it was, then that season we were on the verge of promotion to First against teams like Vila-real, Elche or Almeria. Yes, the following year we saved ourselves against Dépor on the last day, but after that we were always on top of everything, making the play-offs or going up.
When is the change made?
Rubi opens the door. Then with the new ownership and the sporting director’s way of doing things it clicked and the step forward to where we are. We were very lame until then. We had five or six general managers and a couple of athletic directors per season. Inside, one day it was A, the next day B, the next C and in the end, nothing was worth it. With the new owners came stability in all areas.
Have you cried for Girona?
Yes. Many times.
Joy or sadness?
More joy But also sad. The day we were mathematically relegated to Segona in the Alabès field in the last game in Primera I was touched. I was expecting something at the last minute. An 0-5 or so.
Really? He must have been the only one who expected it.
(River). Football is like that. I and Jota (material manager) trusted it.
What is the worst moment you have experienced at Girona?
A few…Lugo, Osasuna, relegation…If I have to choose one, the Elche game. It was to fix and recover immediately all that we had achieved and that we had lost in a strange way with that descent. The expulsion of Stuani hurt us a lot. It was very hard.
Which of the two ascents was experienced more intensely?
the second We entered the play-off almost by chance thanks to two saves from Juan Carlos in Burgos and then we reached the final thanks to Borja García’s goal in Eibar. A great approach was taken in Tenerife. When they drew us, the team continued to play, as we do now when we are scored. We had the award when, for me, it was the play-off in which we had the least chance.
Leaders and with an enchanting dynamic. Has anyone particularly congratulated you?
A lot of people. The Barça delegate, Carles Naval, the former Espanyol Calzón… We are doing something unique. They ask me, “what does the delegate of the leader of the First Division do?”. I never would have imagined it.
You who are very close to him on the bench, what is Míchel like during the games?
Very intense When he gets home and does the voltage drop it must be just as intense as the rise. He is at three thousand and makes us all be there. Both for good and for bad. Apart from that, he has a special vision. What people haven’t seen yet, he’s already commenting on.
He is calmer now.
Sometimes it is too expressive. He is very good this season and has not seen a single yellow card. knock on wood! I’ve talked too much already…And look, he promised me that they wouldn’t show him any cards again. He promised me last year too…
Has he ever scolded you?
I will make a confession to him. At the time when he was expelled very often, I told him “if you’re busy, come to me to vent. The referee will feel the same, but since you will blame me for the booing, he will have no reason to warn you.” That’s the deal we have so they don’t kick him out. Because I’m waterproof, everything slips on me.
What is the task of the delegate?
Each club is different. Apart from preparing the trips, I enter the contracts made by the lawyers and sports director in the League, in the Federation… I also give a hand in the appeals and allegations and bring up to date the statistics of our cards and of the rivals to be in the case of possible improper alignments. Among others.
The Pencil bar has always been a traditional place where Girona players could meet. Do they still come or is it harder now?
Still, still It used to be easier because they all lived in Girona. Now most live in the PGA of Caldes, Fornells or the Golf de Sant Julià de Ramis. Before, there was also a lot of interest in playing cards and we played many games of Pocha and Butifarra. Me and Jota were the best. Now Borja García, Yangel, Aleix, Iván Martín sometimes still play on the bus…
It seems that now the fashion of ex-player rather than ex-referee to act as a delegate prevails.
For the referees, it’s different to be part of a team. Me because I had my friends at Girona and I even went to see them when I was active as a referee. Once I was an assistant in a Mallorca-Madrid game on a Saturday and the next day I was going by boat to Menorca watching a Sporting Maonès-Girona Segona B game. I was a friend of Morata, Alfons Muñoz, Raül Agné… All the day was with them, how do you want it not to be from Girona?
In order for a resource to flourish, do you need to do literature or know about regulations?
Things have changed a lot now. For them to draw a card it must be a manifest error by the referee. Before, I had gotten two red cards, Lekic and Mata.
Do you have more fun as a delegate or before when you were a referee?
Look, I whistled Guardiola’s first game in Banyoles. It’s different. Now we are a pineapple, a team looking for the same thing. The referee’s life is a lonely one. Of course, it’s a different kind of adrenaline. When I folded, what I missed most was that adrenaline. With thirty years of refereeing, imagine…
When he joined the club in 2008, he had a sweet shop (El xiulet). Did you see the delegate job as a long-term commitment or rather as something temporary?
When we went up, I think everyone thought it wasn’t very stable. I remember what happened in the second year with Kiko Ratón’s penalty… At first I combined the shop and football, which was my life. Then I closed it. If I had gone down, I would have found something by now.
Do you have the feeling that Girona has hung by a thread many times?
completely There have been a few life or death moments. Until we had this stability in which property provided institutional and economic security, yes. However, money doesn’t do everything.
Does he keep the idea of writing a book with the secrets of the dressing room when he retires?
I have something written already. They will be small articles with anecdotes and stories of juicy things that can be said. Out of respect, always.
Tell me about a player who doesn’t read us: Agostinho Cá, Muric, Doumbia…
Let’s see. About ten years ago we had a clueless player like himself, who always left one thing or another behind. On match days me and Jota are always the last to leave Montilivi. One day it turns out that when we go out, already at night, we find a player’s girlfriend alone outside. “Where is it?”, he asked us. We replied that he had already left a while ago. Then she called him and it turns out that he was already at home with his pajamas on and had neglected her… We had to take her home. I can imagine the booing he must have received. (He bursts out laughing).
God forbid… Like these, a thousand, right?
I’m cheering up. Another day, in the same season, we were playing here at the Pencil with Felipe, Jandro and a whole gang. A player’s father had come and it turns out he had a glass eye. With these, the man takes advantage of Felipe going to the toilet for a moment to remove his eye and put it in the glass of Coca-Cola he was drinking… You can already imagine Felip’s reaction… And the rest, first mind-blowing and then on the floor dying of laughter. (Crying with laughter).
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