GIRONA“We have suffered a trauma and the traumas are difficult to heal,” Quique Cárcel (Barcelona, 1974) reflected on ARA months after the relegation to Segona del Girona. The wound is no longer the depth it once was, because those who say that time heals everything are right, but it still exists. Fortunately, the club is beating hard and is ready, once again, to heal it completely. The white-and-red sporting director returns to attend ARA hours before the first leg of the final play-off against Tenerife (9:00 p.m., #Vamos).
The excitement of these days is priceless, isn’t it?
– It makes me very proud, really. Everything is sold out, no tickets left. Because it has nothing to do with the club I met when I arrived in 2014 other than what exists today. The children of Girona feel like Girona, it is their favorite team, and this is thanks to many years of work. Today there is a very strong feeling towards these colors.
Will this emotional factor be the key to the finale?
– And play-off it means difficulty and stress, but we have a lot of experience and we have to dedicate ourselves to enjoying the moment. People can think of the very strong blows we have suffered in the last moments of recent years, and it turns out that a new opportunity has appeared. Pursuing it will always give us more options to make it a reality. We must be satisfied, happy and believe in it, eagerly. Will there be tension and uncertainty? Very safe. Now, desire must prevail, and that is what we are focusing on.
Was it okay to be on the verge of not getting into the playoffs, to value them more?
– It is logical that things do not live the same way over time. I remember what the first year was like, there was an extreme passion. Perhaps the fact that we have stabilized by achieving great things has created the effect that they are normal. But one day they will realize that it is not. It has to be given importance, because it is the third final in three years.
The road has been complicated.
– Yes, because we have to renew ourselves, bench included. We changed a lot of things and we had a clear growth phase. At first the results were not favorable and there was nervousness and anxiety, but I did not hesitate, because what my eyes saw was reason enough to be aware that this would be reversed. We did well in the field. It is not easy to fit all the pieces, you always need a margin. But it is true that we may have benefited from being afraid of losing the play-off after losing the direct ascent, because it makes what we have more valued.
Out of curiosity, will you go to a different place before you go to the stadium or bring other clothes? Looking for new habits?
– What I have is a feeling of déjà vu bestial, because I have already lived that moment. I’ve done so many different things over time and I’ve never been successful … [riu] I have my routines, but not because I play a final, but I have them every day. I do it to feel more secure and comfortable, even though I am deeply aware that it will be what it should be. I have to be natural, optimistic and positive.
Does mixing feelings at work help or confuse you?
– Getting involved gives you a differentiating factor, obviously. I believe a lot in Girona’s pride, because it gives you a strong point in hard times. Eight years at the club allow me to say that I feel like a Girona native. My children and my wife are from Girona, and this feeling is beautiful. Because it means that we have been here for many seasons, that this is part of our life and that I feel respected and lucky.
In every relationship there are different phases. How do you manage to tell someone you are losing your job because your goals have not been met and your budget needs to be cut?
– He’s fucked and hurt. People I appreciate and who have given me a lot, who possibly deserved to continue, have had to leave despite not being to blame. We told them that they were not following it, not because they did not do their job well, but because they did not achieve specific goals and that was one of the consequences. Club workers who have done immensely well what has been asked of them and bid them farewell to a relegation. Or players who had led us to success and my heart was asking for something but it was up to me to make decisions with my head.
We forget that this part also exists.
– Feelings are complicated, because no matter how much you want to give explanations, the other party does not see it as you do. I’ve always tried to be empathetic, honest, and put myself in the shoes of others, but it hasn’t been easy. However, I know my role, I am a leader, and it is part of my duties.
Do you think about the next day?
– The journey that accompanies me makes me take it another way, because I have to find the balance between the responsibility I have and the emotions that are generated. Every day, this position forces you to resist mentally. But it is clear that it flies over, that I have in mind what will happen when the final is over, that I am thinking about whether one thing will happen or the other will happen. This is not nice, because nothing is safe. You used to ask me about jobs. Do you think I don’t think about it, in the people who will leave the club do we get the promotion or not? I’ve already seen it, because I’ve had to do it before. How do you go about it, when does it happen? It is true that if we go up to Primera the feeling that will prevail is one of happiness, but not everything will be beautiful.
Have you renewed until 2025. When did you decide?
– To answer this it is essential to pull back. The situation of the club in 2014 was fragile and I felt very strong. Focusing on it helped to overcome many of the things that were going on. The results too, of course. I have always said that everything that goes up, goes down; that after success would come failure. Because it was impossible to maintain that energy. We have lived some wonderful years that we will always remember, with a beautiful promotion to Primera, but it was also a condemnation, because not maintaining it is not forgiven.
The damn descent.
– We do two fantastic courses, although we end very badly. Those last ten games, where we fell … Personally it was extremely hard. Now, you know what? I don’t regret anything. Nor to bet on the continuity of Eusebio, which is what reproaches me. I believed in the idea, and it was about to go well. But from there it was all the more difficult for me, because we lost the north a bit. We believe that Girona is something different than it is, it seems that it is not understood that it is not in the elite.
What mistake do you make?
– The first post-descent market, which curiously is where I felt most support. I was told it was the best, because I brought in the players who wanted me to bring it. And there I learned that I don’t have to be carried away by what people want. Why do I say all this? Because it was my worst moment as a professional and when I got back to my roots, to do the things I really feel, leaving aside commercial signings, we turned the drawing upside down.
And then, Michel appears.
– It has given me back my strength, because I understand football as I understand it. It is very important that the values of both coincide: the commitment to young people, playing good football, trying to create a project … Now I feel good and happy to continue. That’s why I renewed. I also mean that if it weren’t for the fact that internally I felt highly valued I wouldn’t be here. It is the key to history. All the workers of Girona, from the first to the last, passing through the property, want me by their side. And to top it all off, it’s amazing the brilliant ability to get up that we’re perpetuating in time.
