Real Mallorca threw away three points against a totally rubbish Lugo side at the Son Moix on Saturday night, the game finishing 1-1. Before kick-off both teams lined up around the centre circle as the sparsely attended Son Moix fell hushed and still as a minute’s silence was impeccably observed. Once underway the first half was purgatory personified. Mallorca as usual at home started quite brightly, dominating possession early doors without creating a single clearcut chance.
The less reported on the first half debacle the better, but after the break Mallorca looked a different team thanks in part to the introduction of 20-year-old James Davis Boriko in the second half. This young guy, born in Palma of Equatorial Guinea parents, has reportedly been turning on the style for Javier Olaizola’s “B” team. With his first touch he showed blistering pace before putting in a rasping shot which Lugo goalkeeper Jose Juan pushed round the post. Every time James got the ball he gave ex-Mallorca full back Pau Cendros, who’s now at Lugo, a torrid time. It was great to see a young player with such exuberance and he definitely looks like one for the future.
In the second half Mallorca created several chances, most of which were spurned. In the 57th minute a fantastic through ball from Hector Yuste saw Michael Pereira score his first goal of the season to put the islanders ahead 1-0. Pereira, along with Sissoko, had outstanding games for Mallorca before the latter had to go off with a cut knee which required 11 stitches. The out-of-sorts Bianchi had come on just after half-time and he once again looked yards off the pace.
Then disaster struck Mallorca in the 79th minute when we were hit with the old sucker punch - a counter-attack goal. Lugo broke forward and on a one-on-one with Mallorca centre back Aveldaño, Caballero won the race to put the Galacians level, 1-1.
He was sent off in the 87th minute as Mallorca went all out for the winner. With almost the last kick of the game we forced a corner and from the resultant kick somehow Coro couldn’t find the net with a header.
SUMMING UP : At the end of this week, three months will have passed since Real Mallorca began their third season in La Segunda. Before a ball was kicked in earnest in August, there was plenty of talk about how in the club’s centennial year all the stops would be pulled out to get Mallorca back where they rightly belong, in La Liga. Fast forward three months and reality kicks in. After 14 games we’ve won only three and scored only nine goals. We’re now in a worst position in November than we were under two previous coaches, Oltra and Karpin, who both were sacked early in the New Year.
The present incumbent, Albert Ferrer, seems a good guy and an honest professional, but I’m afraid to say his expertise as a football coach at Real Mallorca is now very much in doubt. He doesn’t know how to get this team out of their present predicament and the bottom line is we have to let him go before things become irreversible. Football is a results business and at the moment Real Mallorca are a club stuck in limbo. The fans’ hunger for Ferrer’s dismissal as coach was cranked up several notches after another lacklustre home performance.
On Saturday we had the smallest league match crowd of the season, with just 4,900 bothering to turn up. Our new “Luis Sitjar” stand has now been completed and will be operational for the Albacete game in two weeks, and one wonders how they are going to fill it. El Clasico was always going to be a distraction, starting just minutes after our game finished, but that wasn’t the only reason for the sparse attendance. As I’ve mentioned before, we’re not scoring enough goals and we so desperately need a striker in January. We’ve allegedly sold 11,136 season tickets which meant on Saturday more than half stayed away.
Our chronic lack of firepower upfront is an ongoing worry. We have absolutely no chance of even thinking about promotion with our present two strikers, Coro and Bianchi. The latter’s being left on the bench at the start is now no longer newsworthy and I’d expect him to exit the Son Moix in January. He didn’t even celebrate our goal, preferring to walk back to the halfway line on his own.
Without any punch upfront Mallorca have become stagnant and now find themselves stuck in the bottom four with a tricky fixture away at third-placed Alaves next Saturday. We have a good goalkeeper, a satisfactory defence (compared to the last two seasons) and Sissoko has been consistent in midfield alongside Yuste. It’s just upfront where we are abysmal. On reaching the first third of the season the balance is poor for all Ferrer’s optimism as once again he pontificates about “having a good feeling.”