Jesús Martínez, hand in hand with former presidents of Oviedo: “We will have a great project, but Rome was not built in a day”

–Old man, how long were you president of Oviedo?

Eugenio Prieto responds.

– A barbaric, Jesus. Fourteen years in a row.

Follow Manuel Lafuente.

–I was only three, Jesus. But they were worth thirty!

Toni Fidalgo concludes.

–I was in two different stages and I arrived as a “firefighter”, because nobody wanted to be president in that meeting that was held in 2012.

Jesus Martinez smiles. nod. He takes what he hears and values ​​the advice. “How am I not going to value them? They, the former presidents, are the ones who have experience and have taken Oviedo first-hand,” the top blue shareholder told them at an Oviedo summit held yesterday in LA NUEVA ESPAÑA. On one side, the present, with Martínez and his right-hand man, Martín Peláez, president of Oviedo and his “most valuable collaborator”, still with the good taste of his Hall of Fame success.

On the other, the blue past of a team that lived through exciting times, fell into the well and now wants to return to the elite: Eugenio Prieto, the last president of Oviedo in First Division; Manuel Lafuente, the leader of the mud era, and Toni Fidalgo, the man who piloted the salvation that ended with the arrival of Grupo Carso.

Now it is Pachuca who picks up the baton and it is Jesús Martínez himself who explains his project to those who not long ago were in charge of operations. He also probably hears what he knows only by hearsay. The dream time of the nineties, with Oviedo settled in the First Division and playing in Europe, the times of mud and suffering and the subsequent resurrection with the team one step away from disappearing. The meeting, pleasant, funny and with a lot of crumbs, lasted two hours and had everything. Confidences, jokes, some slap on the wrist to the pens and, above all and above all, a lot of football. For this reason, because he talked about the ball, Martínez was in the sauce with him: he is passionate about the ball.

Also space, of course, to talk about Oviedo’s course and to verify that Pachuca and Cervera are going in the same direction this season: “We have to save the season and create structure in the club so that we can grow. I say one thing: I invested as much money in none of my teams as in Oviedo in six months. We have to do a great project, but Rome was not built in a day, we have to be patient,” Martínez told the former presidents, who in turn told him they registered their support, in the mouth of Eugenio Prieto. “We are happy with you, you brought illusion to Oviedism and on a social level you are doing wonderfully,” said the Oviedo, in a message that was supported by the other ex-presidents.

Although the magic potion of soccer is known: the results. “Look, soccer is the only profession in which you put ‘wool’ and prestige is also at stake,” explained Martínez, who also analyzed with the former presidents how the Pachuca model works. “We always start in Second Division teams, never in the First Division. For us, the base, youth football is very important. That’s why we have the Football University and some 80,000 children in all the teams we manage and our schools. For us that is success, because betting from the base results come. I don’t want to sell smoke, we need structure to ‘create’ players with our DNA. That’s my policy and I’m very sure of it, that’s why we need a sports city, yes or yes”, said the Mexican, also speaking of one of the reasons for his visit to Oviedo.

Each former president took the debate to their terrain. The one who talked the most about football was Eugenio Prieto, a great lover of the quarry. “Keep one thing in mind, Jesus, we need a lot of Spartans and the kids have to be signed soon. There is a tripod: player, family and club. And you must have a lot of talent scouts. In Oviedo you have a good team and Martín Peláez, your president, it is a jewel”.

Lafuente, the only one of the three who already knew Jesús Martínez, put the most demanding point on the summit. “What you are doing is to applaud, but it is true that in football the result is worth it. Although, look, I lost a promotion and came out on the shoulders of Tartiere, with Rivas as coach.” Fidalgo, for his part, explained how the arrival of Carlos Slim’s Carso was forged because he was the protagonist first hand and spoke more about numbers than about balls. “In the First Division, Oviedo would receive around 50 million euros a year. In other words, for every year that it is in the Second Division, that money stops coming in.”

Martínez took advantage of this impasse with Fidalgo to explain his arrival at the club and how he had the opportunity to buy Oviedo years before. Even an emissary from Pachuca contacted the former president, who first spoke with coach Javier Aguirre, a good friend of Martínez. “Was it me who called you?” Martínez asked Fidalgo. Negative answer. “At that time I had other investments, but I spoke to Arturo Elías and Carlos Slim. I told them that Oviedo was a historic team and that the fans were incredible,” said the president of the Pachuca group, who at various times during the summit praised to the Oviedo fans. “These fans deserve much more, but you have to see how complicated the Second Division is. I insist: you have to save yourself.”

As the meeting had everything, there was even room for a fun exchange of views between Prieto and Lafuente because of the coaches. Prieto used to be right in his choices: Antic, Luis Aragonés, Irureta… There were others who fell short of what was expected. Like Tabárez, who did not like Lafuente very much in his Oviedista stage. The two former presidents defended their own, with Martínez attentive to the scene between laughs and Toni Fidalgo mediating between the two. The Mexican recognized him. “My Toni, you are the balance between these two miuras, eh”. And they all laughed. Then they said goodbye. Martínez and Peláez to continue with more meetings. Before, a hug. Of course, for Oviedo.