After a week when a Glasgow Rangers fan was walking past their Ibrox Stadium ground, he saw a season ticket nailed to one of the gates and thought “I’m having that – you never know when you might need a good nail !” – Real Mallorca have suspended vice-captain Dani Rodriguez after he took to social media claiming a “lack of respect” from the club’s coach towards him. The suspension is set for 10 days which is the maximum sanction the club can impose in these cases according to the AFE (Spanish FA) disciplinary code. A club statement on Wednesday morning announced that Dani’s employment and salary have been suspended for the 10 days, and the club has also stripped him of the vice-captaincy with immediate effect.
In just 48 hours, Dani Rodriguez, one of the club’s players most revered by the fans and who was, until recently, one of the most important members of the squad, sent the dressing room and the RCD Mallorca establishment into indignation with two Instagram posts in which he first expressed his anger and frustration at not getting any playing time in the recent Real Madrid game in the Santiago Bernabeu, and then posted a second trying to “clarify” the first. These statements have provoked quite a backlash from Mallorca fans, many of whom now regard him as a fallen idol.
What’s upset most fans (and Dani himself) is that towards the end of the Real Madrid game our coach decided we needed a bit of pace upfront and introduced, amongst others, new 19-year-old signing from Barcelona, Jan Virgili. That was like a red rag to a bull as far as Dani was concerned and he wrote afterwards “I understand and deeply respect that decisions surrounding who plays are exclusively made by the coach. But what I can’t accept is the lack of respect shown towards commitment and dedication. It hurts that a player who has just arrived with only one training session with us has the chance to play ahead of team mates who have spent years defending this shirt with our sweat and dedication, always putting the club above anything else. Hopefully Jan can triumph here and between all of us we can help him. But, that something like this can happen sends a horrible message to the dressing room that hard work, dedication and loyalty don’t matter.”
At the age of 37, Dani’s legs don’t respond as they used to and he’s finding it difficult to take on board, after seven glorious years at Real Mallorca, that it may now be the time to step back a bit. He should be setting an example for the young guys and putting the interests of the team before his own. In my humble opinion, he’s crossed the line with these messages. How can one of our team captains – a pillar of the club and hugely adored by us Mallorquinistas – write messages that have put the club under the national and international media spotlight for all the wrong reasons ? His thoughts and feelings should be private and not out there in the public domain. If he has a problem, then talk about it face to face behind closed doors. What goes on in the dressing room should stay in the dressing room. Dani’s suspension comes during the international break, which will partially mitigate any impact it may have on a dressing room depleted by the departure of eight international players.
Two of our “want away” players have had different outcomes to this Summer’s transfer dramas. Firstly, misfiring Canadian striker Cyle Larin has joined Dutch club Feyenoord on a season-long loan. As Canada are one of the host nations for next Summer’s World Cup, Larin has to get some kind of form back if he’s to play. Failing that and if he doesn’t make it in Rotterdam, he may well be back here next season.
Secondly, right wing back Pablo Maffeo will be staying here as after several half-hearted offers from England and Brazil, none of them were acceptable to the player or our sporting director. Just how our “Ultras” will take to the news of his staying at Mallorca is another story. Probably the best right back we’ve ever had, there’s no doubting his footballing ability. However, what goes on inside his head is another matter.
AND FINALLY, it was reported this week that writer Byron Rogers, who famously interviewed Britain’s last “human cannonball” (a 42-year-old Hungarian named Osci Tabak), had passed away. Rogers asked Tabak, who performed for Gerry Cottle’s Circus, if the job required any special skill, to which he replied “Only the ability to withstand being shot up the a**e every night by 150lbs of compressed air !”