Oviedo says goodbye to 2022 with a renewed air of enthusiasm after winning the derby and moving on to the Copa del Rey round and with an eye on the recent past. In the year that is closing, everything happened in the blue club. The dead calm that existed after almost a decade of Grupo Carso was blown up on July 12 around seven in the evening. Arturo Elías, Carlos Slim’s trusted man, gave way to Grupo Pachuca, also Mexican, of Jesús Martínez. The Aztec is undoubtedly the most important man in 2022 for Oviedo. But there is more.
Jesús Martínez, a change of air in management.
The Mexican businessman had been studying to buy Oviedo for some time. In 2021 the agreement was close, but it did not materialize until the following year. Martínez started the Pachuca Group and is a football businessman who is committed to giving Oviedo management a change of scenery. The Aztec is up to date from Mexico on the current situation of the club and in his decision-making one can guess more speed than before. He has been to Oviedo twice: once in the summer and another just before the derby, in November. Close and an earthquake of ideas, Martínez’s challenge is huge and his goal is for Oviedo to be one more in the Pachuca method.
The goodbye of the Cuckoo Ziganda
2022 is the year in which the longest-serving Oviedo coach in Segunda said goodbye after two and a half seasons in charge. Ziganda decided not to continue at Oviedo and accepted Huesca’s offer. His goodbye was unexpected at the club, which at that time was waiting for the arrival of a sports director after the departure of Rubén Reyes. Ziganda left with a positive balance, although in his last year he did not achieve the goal of putting the team in the play-off. His detractors accused him of being too conservative and of not betting on quality players. His defenders put on the table his indisputable commitment to the quarry and his temper in office. His Oviedism is fond of him.
Borja Bastón, a scorer for Oviedo
Borja Bastón was Oviedo’s bet to recover a scorer and the blue streak in 2022 cannot be understood without his goals. He finished last year with 22 goals and this year he has 8 at the moment. Bastón, from Madrid, is undoubtedly one of the most important players for Oviedo and the flagship of the current project. The striker is happy in the city and repeats in his surroundings that his main objective is to achieve promotion with Oviedo to the First Division. With Álvaro Cervera he seems to have recovered his good form.
Martín Peláez, the first Mexican president of Oviedo
Martín Peláez became the first Mexican president in the history of Oviedo in July. Peláez, born in Pachuca, is Jesús Martínez’s trusted man in the city. He replaced Jorge Menéndez Vallina in charge, who is no longer with the club. Peláez has more autonomy than his predecessor and is the man with the most power in the club in the city. Talkative and close, he was key in the arrival of Cervera and he had to manage the first major sports crisis in Oviedo, after the dismissal of Bolo and Tito Blanco, sports director.
Cervera, a coach to get out of the crisis
Álvaro Cervera replaced Jon Pérez Bolo in October with the challenge of getting Oviedo out of the bottom of the table. At the moment he has stabilized the team, which is 14th, six points behind the descent. Cervera’s style has nothing to do with Bolo’s. The Cantabrian does not mind leaving the initiative to the rival. His philosophy is tactical order and his effort and method are gradually permeating the team. On his list of achievements is winning the derby against Sporting in an environment that, as he himself said, surpassed him.
Sporting says goodbye to a 2022 of extremes. From a sporting point of view, it has been a bad, horrible year, marked by the suffering that the rojiblanca fans experienced last season, with the club very close to falling into the abyss to the First RFEF (Second B). Institutionally, it has been a course conditioned by the sale of the club, after gaining control of the majority package of shares of the Orlegi Group. The first round of the competition has been mediocre. Although Abelardo’s team has competed in a more than dignified way and has even deserved better results, the club remains in poor clarification, condemned for its lack of success in the areas.
Javier Fernández and the settlement of the Fernández family
The man from Gijón agreed to the sale of Sporting in the summer, after ignoring offers for years. But the current scenario was different. The death of the owner, José Fernández, at the end of February and the club’s sporting crisis led Javier Fernández to open up to listening to offers. Finally and after several contacts, the Orlegi Group took control. The purchase was completed for around 40 million euros, according to different sources. This put an end to the stage of the Fernández family at the helm of Sporting, which lasted for nearly thirty years.
Alejandro Irarragorri, the ideologue of the Orlegi project
The Mexican businessman is the great proper name of 2022 in Sporting code. A businessman with experience in sports management due to the fact that he owns Atlas and Santos Laguna, Irarragorri opted to buy the rojiblanco club after coming close to taking over Zaragoza. The president of the Board of Directors of Orlegi Sports has made very important structural changes in his first six months of government. His sports policy is closely linked to the economy. He intends to create economic flows to relaunch a strong Sporting. The bases of his project are Mareo: in the sports city he has already begun a process of structural reform to convert the current facilities into a high-performance sports center. He has also fully involved Gijón in the fight to host the 2030 World Cup.
David Guerra, the brain of Orlegi in Gijón
It is the brain of Orlegi in Gijón. This journalist, with extensive knowledge of marketing and the world of sports business, leads the project of the Mexican group from Gijón. He is the executing arm, and a person of great weight in day-to-day decision-making: key to understanding some of the important decisions that are being made (subscriber campaign, Mareo reform, Molinón 2030, protocol with the Peñas …). He holds the position of executive president of Sporting. In his first few months, he has been able to quickly adapt to the club and has begun a process of changes in the operation of the entity and in the model. Guerra is the visible face of the new project and an essential figure for the Mexican group.
Gerardo García: The man from Gijón holds the position of head of Sporting’s sports area, after being signed by Orlegi in the middle of this year. His experience in the world of representation, being a highly respected agent at You First Sports, who helped the company expand abroad, establishing offices in France and Mexico, has given him a great knowledge of soccer. In his first months he has known how to read the philosophy of the club of which he has been a fan since he was a child: he has hired players like Zarfino, maintained the commitment of the previous sports management for Insua and supported the signing of Cali or Otero, all players who fit into the historical essence of the club. He leans on Fredi Lobeiras, his right hand.
Abelardo, legend and leader
The man from Gijón is clearly the most important name in 2022 from a sporting point of view. Legend of the club, he returned to the entity to rescue Sporting from relegation to Segunda B, after the dismissals of Gallego and Martí. He managed to stop the fall, with the victory for Girona. Signed by Javier Fernández, with whom he had a very close relationship, he has remained as a coach with the change of shareholders. This campaign has made Sporting a compact and competitive team and has pulled from the quarry (Queipo, Diego Sánchez, Nacho Martín…). The results are gray: a foul hit and the team has fallen back into the derby. In the Cup, they have managed to advance two rounds and now they face Rayo.
