For nearly half an hour, the sports director of Girona, Quique Prison, has offered his point of view on the team’s present, assessing this latest signing market. He explained that the club has succeeded sign 70 or 80 percent of the first picks, at the same time asking for calm and patience from everyone. “If we want to have more players in ownership, we have to spend more years in the First Division,” he said. Names likeOriol Romeu i Miguel Gutierrez they also appeared during a press conference in which Cárcel confessed that it has come to pass badly, but that he is lucky to be part of a good work team and the support of Míchel Sánchez, the club and the owners, which makes things even easier.
Last day of the market
“It was a long day. Logically people can think that with signings at the last minute it is because there is no forecast, but we connected players with whom we had already spoken days ago. Until the last minute there are clubs that influence whether or not to reach an agreement. We brought in two players who left at the last minute because the other clubs also wanted to take them.”
Goalkeeper management
“First we planned from minute one. We spoke very clearly with all the players in the squad. Juan Carlos was told that he was counted on and Ortolá that we wanted him to come out. Every professional deserves the utmost respect. It’s news not nice and we couldn’t play with the player. We have a lot of respect for him, he has had an exemplary behaviour. When the opportunity came for him to leave we could not stop this situation. We were very clear about the idea of signing an important goalkeeper, who could give us guarantees. It was tried from the first minute. We didn’t get there. The first signing we had to make was that of a goalkeeper. Also, at the same time, we wanted a younger profile as the third goalkeeper. It’s a very complicated market, we knew that. Goalkeeping is a difficult position. We had options for many goalkeepers throughout the summer, but due to market reasons, because other clubs were moving forward or we didn’t get there, everything has been a bit stressful, difficult and not pleasant. I’m the first one who hasn’t had a good time. With Juan Carlos we had peace of mind, but we went at the same time with the goalkeeper of the subsidiary. In the end we signed two goalkeepers that we know well, who were not first choices at the beginning of the market, we didn’t know if they would leave or not.”
First options
“The fact of being a month and a week without signing, many things have been said. There has been talk of bad or little planning. I always respect that, people who have an opinion and say what they think is appropriate. I have always commented on a thing: I work mainly to try to do what I feel and what I believe. I joined my work team two days after the promotion, on the 21st of June we met. We put some very clear ideas in the blackboard We knew it would be very difficult, but 70 to 80 percent of the first picks have come through. Owning players is very difficult. You have to look for transfers, purchase of footballers. And all this is a lot of management, a lot of negotiations. Everyone sees it from a different perspective: players, agent, clubs… It’s been like that. In time, knowing what the master wants and his idea, we discussed the planning with him. Míchel is an exceptional person in many aspects, who goes hand in hand with the sports management. Some important things have slipped out as is logical, but we are happy. We went with an idea, with a lot of passion. Being five or six weeks without signing anyone has not been easy. The wafers came and went, here and there. We are close to the idea we wanted. Now there will be talk on the lawn, I’m not calm. It is the First Division, respect must be given to this category.”
Market valuation
“The notes must be put at the end of the season. At the beginning everything is very nice, you see the field full, excitement and passion. We know the difficulty we will encounter, this has just begun. We worked with an idea, with a way of thinking to bring a lot of talent, it’s what the coach needs. He believes and values this, the players who really have this important quality point for the game he wants to convey. But the Primera also needs experience. We tried to find this mixture. Young and talented people, who start in Primera, and at the same time footballers who can give us this degree of knowledge of the category. They also have talent, because they have proven it. This mix makes us think that we have options to achieve the goals we have in mind.”
Paper of the Manchester City
“It’s my ninth year and since we’ve been working with the new ownership, I’ve always had words of thanks. They’re people who get involved at a football level. They’re not people who generate pressure, but unity and a football dynamic. There’s a lot of talk of football. Every week I have between two or three meetings with the City and Bolivar sides, people who understand it. This means that there has been planning for a long time. The first signings are usually the City footballers. Many of us try and there are those who cannot come, because the player does not see it clearly or because he has other options. Planning therefore takes time. They sell two City players, such as Herrera and Couto on loan. There is one left. And Taty Castellanos has also come, from New York City, who has provided us with a footballer we wanted. For them he is a very important player and we appreciate that the group understood that the next step for him was to come here. I have always felt the support of the people above me, they loved me and in the difficult moments they were with me“.
limitations
“We went up on the 19th of June. It’s impossible to sign players before because you don’t know what category you’ll be in. We went up in a distressing way, on the last day. I’d like to plan three months in advance, but in this case it was unworkable. S “he has to work in both scenarios, Segona would have been a different story. More complicated, due to the budget and the type of footballer who would have come. If we want players in ownership, we must be in the First Division for many years. And this is not easy. We are the team with the least history, and by far, in this category. We have to be very humble. Everyone, we first. Team, coach, club and the people. Journalists too and everyone. We all want to be in Primera and do things well, and at the same time you have to be humble and not lose the north. If we all go together, on the same path, and the club consolidates in Primera, we can do very important things. For now we have to keep our feet on the ground. Today we have players on loan who are unviable for Girona. This process takes time.
Comparison of all markets in Girona
“Every market is very difficult. The worst market I did is the one everyone said I did. Everyone said it was the best, and by a long shot, when I didn’t see it that way. What I feel is that the idea I have, and the master’s, go hand in hand. Míchel is a coach who has been very close to me and my work team from the first minute. It made things a lot easier for me. We have a very similar way of thinking, on all levels. In daily life, in working in the short, medium and long term. This market has been long, difficult and tough. But I have felt his support. This feeling of nerves that has been there, has been much more comfortable at the same time. I also have life, family and stresses. There are complicated moments. Thanks to this component that I have, with three exceptional people by my side, everything is easier and I feel privileged. I consider this to be another market.”
Salary limit
“The line of humility marks us a little. We are the second worst salary cap, it’s for something. Girona needs time and work so that little by little the cap will improve with growth as a club and sales. Our club is growing brutally, especially in terms of image. People are doing a brutal job. Our limit is one of the lowest but we have some competitive advantage, like being with the property we have. There is money to do more. I wish I didn’t think about it. We have a long and good squad. We have seven or eight injured players, they will be the signings that will arrive in a short time.”
Oriol Romeu
“I put it on the board the first day and did it as a joke. A player I know a lot. I know who he is from his time at Barça. That player profile knew that, if he came, he would give us very important things. Because of the way he is, the way he is, and because the master needed to cover his position with someone like that. When we spoke to their representative it seemed unworkable. But he’s Catalan and he’s been out for many years. The fact that I called him on the first day of the market, and he told me no, that it was not feasible, and then he thought about it and saw it differently… It’s what we said before, to wait and not do everything just start the market. He has done a lot to come here. He is in a very important league, with high salaries. That he wants to come has been the key to the whole story. And the fact that we have the people behind us. Pere Guardiola has done a brutal job and helped me. City have also done things to reach agreements.”
Assessment of the start of the League
“To have seven points out of fifteen we would have signed it. What I value most is that we were alive in every game. In Valencia and Celta, with the two defeats, it is true that there are decisive things, how can an Aspas decide a game. But I considered that we were there. On the day of Getafe we were superior. Mallorca and Valladolid were duels in which anything could have happened. Valladolid, for example, I really liked, showing how difficult it is that awaits us. He came here, took the ball from us and for many moments he didn’t let us play our game. But believing and being constant allowed us to take the three points.”
Filial
“We have been working a lot on the issue of grassroots football for a long time. It would be important to have it in a higher category, as is obvious. We missed an opportunity with Olot. The fact that the first team has promoted to Primera, it means that we would like to have the subsidiary, at least a higher division. The strategy is to keep growing, to believe in the young people. We see that being in the 3rd RFEF for another year is not so negative either. In the previous adventure in Primera we had the Peralada, the deal, and we spent a lot of money. You learn from mistakes. We have to go up on our own merits. We have been very close to climbing for two years, we trust Axel and his group. That doesn’t mean we make it safe, but we’ll keep that idea. We have a sports city on the horizon, a growth that would give us a lot. We have to go step by step. We can’t want it all now.”
Signing of Miguel Gutiérrez
“We have to bet on bringing in young and talented people. There were options for several players and we liked Miguel Gutiérrez. We knew him well. He could make the move to Primera, because he was ready. But he is very young. The Madrid is a club that is very open to provoke these dynamics of selling a part of the footballer. We felt we had to invest in those types of players, rather than the veterans. In Primera, in 2017, we invested more in players like Bernardo, Stuani or Muniesa. Now, in reverse. Younger people who can grow in this club, to create our particular heritage. We tried three or four other options, but they didn’t come to fruition and we don’t have that much money to make more moves.”
Sports city
“The forecast I have is that work is being done, to be done this step and that it will be done sooner rather than later. I don’t carry this issue and I just need to go look for a sports city.”
