Optimism and confidence in the work being done. Alejandro Irarragorri returned to Mareo yesterday to reinforce the image of unity adopted by Sporting in the face of the “deep crisis” that the rojiblanco president himself acknowledged last week when speaking of the failure of this season. The head of the Orlegi Group, who was already with the team in Las Palmas, will return tomorrow to the box at El Molinón to accompany the rojiblanco team during the match against Granada. His presence comes after the last defeat at home, against Mirandés, caused the first anger of the Gijon municipal council towards the board of directors.
Neither the coach has an ultimatum on the table, nor is the club thinking of a different scenario than achieving permanence at the end of the season. At least, so far. Sporting, led by Alejandro Irarragorri, met yesterday at an informative meeting with representatives of the media to detail aspects related to Orlegi’s working method. A moment in which one of the keys by which the group has achieved success in recent years was underlined: the process is always ahead of the results and is the path to finally reach the objectives.
Orlegi understands that his latest decisions, including the replacement on the bench, have helped to improve the development of the aforementioned process, that method with which they seek to redefine different areas such as nutrition, physical preparation, the infrastructures themselves… A process which, to have its effect, is considered to take a while, being valued as one of the reasons why it is taking time for the team to fight for the top positions, the objective set at the beginning of this campaign. Concern about Sporting is assumed, in the same way that a certain pessimism is perceived, something that they want to banish like other legacies of the past.
Calm, confidence and work are three of the most repeated words in Mareo in recent weeks as a formula to see the team move away from the relegation places in these last nine days of competition. An idea that has even been transferred to different mottos shared by the club in various points of the Mareo facilities. From the “Compete it, live it and trust! We are all one!”, chosen by the footballers and posted on one of the fences of field number 2 of Mareo, to photos and other motivating messages behind closed doors: “Continue when you believe that you can’t take it anymore is what makes you different from others”; “no player is as good as all together” or “on the field, to the death with mine”.
The visit to Las Palmas has also provided an injection of encouragement to continue in the same direction. The tie added by Sporting after seeing how the rival equalized the game in a more than controversial penalty, together with the image offered by the team, underlines the idea that the correct line has been found. Now, the match against a Granada that is fighting for promotion and endorsed five goals against the Gijón team in the first leg, is a new test to be able to feed optimism in times of crisis.