The latest signing of Sporting will debut in January. Eva Sánchez-Céspedes Rojo (Madrid, 1980), the new director of maintenance of playing fields and Gardening, a position enabled with the entry of Orlegi, is expected to begin developing her functions in Gijón with the arrival of the new year . On the table, several challenges pending response. The most urgent, that of improving the state of the El Molinón green, with the possibility of undertaking a comprehensive reform at the end of the season to tackle the problems accumulated in recent years.
Orlegi had been moving for months to try to give a twist to the maintenance work in the Mareo and El Molinón fields. The consultation made to various specialized companies, as reported by LA NUEVA ESPAÑA, has been followed by the hiring of Eva Sánchez-Céspedes. She graduated in Technical Agricultural Engineering, with a Specialty in Horticulture and Gardening, from the Polytechnic University of Madrid and she has the Turfgrass Management Golf Course Program Certificate from Michigan State University. She comes from working as “number 2” in the same area in the Real Madrid sports city, where she held the position of head of pitch and gardening services. Her arrival in Gijón is a sign of the importance that Orlegi attaches to the opportunity to grow in infrastructure both in the short and medium term. The third phase of the expansion of Mareo, in fact, includes investing in improving the playing fields of the rojiblancas facilities. There is no date, for now, for this third phase.
The poor condition of the El Molinón grass became one of the problems to tackle in the first round of the championship. A circumstance that even forced the team to stop training in the Gijón municipal hall for several weeks. The cause was the fungus called “pyricularia”, the origin of the disease known as “grey spot”, which was fought at the beginning of the campaign. In previous seasons, the appearance of “poa”, an invasive species, has already resulted in sanctions by LaLiga, which scrupulously monitors this type of circumstances, contemplated within television agreements. If in 2017 improvement works were carried out on the drainage and irrigation system, the club has not faced a comprehensive remodeling of these drains and the lawn for decades.
On the table of the new maintenance director there is also the possibility of using heat lamps for the first time in El Molinón, already extended by the different Spanish professional football clubs. A resource that Sporting manages to treat certain areas in which the hours of shade hinder optimal care. Where there will be no changes, at least imminently, is in the relationship with Jarpa, the company in charge of maintaining the lawn of El Molinón and Mareo, with a contract in force. Sporting will have a demanding month ahead of them, with four home games, three in the League and one in the Cup, which will once again test the state of the Gijón municipal green.
