“I said: 'I am returning the settlement, I just want to be able to work”

The may 19 the CSD approved a modification in the FEF regulations for a coach to be dismissed without debuting in official match, can train that same season to another club. Something that, nine months later, unlocks the situation of Óscar Fernández. The coach, signed by Almería last summer, whom he only led in five friendlies before, with the sale of the club to Sheikh Al-Sheikh, removed him, he can finally look to the future. Presented on June 18, destitute on August 3, those 46 days conditioned his entire future. He could no longer train any club, waiting for that Law to change his situation. Review with AS everything lived.

-What does this change in the FEF regulations mean for you?

-It supposes the possibility of being able to work before a dismissal without having been able to carry out my function. that I received a settlement, yes, but I could not develop my bet: to leave Atlético de Madrid and train on a LaLiga SmartBank bench. That I said: “I return the settlement: I just wanted to be able to go back to work.”

– Did you receive many calls?

-They call you teams. But it is 15 months without being able to train. That I have enjoyed them. I have spent time with my family, I have seen soccer, a lot, I have known him even more, conferences, I have visited Unai (Emery) …, but I have experienced a difficult situation.

-Marcelino, in Valencia, experienced a similar situation …

-Yes, but in the case of Marcelino, when he was dismissed, an official game had already been played, in my case it was in August, without an official game of any category having been played yet, in Spain.

-You, at Almería, had only managed it in friendlies …

-Five. Against Poli Ejido, against Levante, against Murcia, against Granada and against Las Palmas.

– How was that night on August 2, when rumors of a possible sale of Almería began?

-Complicated. From having dinner that night to play the next day, leaving the concentration of Marbella for a meeting. That night we had trained normally and before going to bed Miguel Corona (sports director of the Andalusian club and also dismissed with the arrival of the sheik) called me and put me on alert. You are going to play against Las Palmas when the club was sold and you don't know what will happen. You get very diverse information. No one contacts you. You are waiting.

-His bet on Almería was strong, he chose him despite still having a year of contract with the Atlético subsidiary, which he qualified for the playoff two seasons after having promoted him from Third. Have more teams contacted you?

-I had met to meet three teams, two subsidiaries. I was clear that either it was a good bet, or I stayed at Atlético, where I was very happy.

-And he opted for Almería.

-It was a bet. I wanted to try professional football and that's why I decided on Almería, otherwise I would have stayed at Atlético.

-And now?

-Waiting. But now I don't think about it, think further. The first thing is to get out of this rare situation entirely. Where football will go we don't know. My priority is not the future, it is the health of the people. The worst has been during all these months, that I have had calls from several Second-rate clubs, that I may not train them anymore, that that call does not occur again, that opportunity to which you cannot say yes because you are prevented from training. It is very unfair. Let them call you and not be able to. Will I ever have those opportunities again? I do not know.

– Had he been so many months without training?

-In the last 15 years no. I've spent them training non-stop. This is what I tell you: I was very happy at Atlético and, suddenly, all the possibilities of training disappear. But, like everything, I try to find a positive reading for it. I have learned from this situation to come out more formed or better prepared.

-How do you feel about this new law?

-That should have been solved before, but what is not in our hands that does not subtract us.

-There were some who said that he did not train, he could not, but he had charged everything from Almería.

-Look, my proposal was that I be paid the monthly payments until the day I returned to work. I received a settlement because I had been fired, like any worker in any company. But, if I started working on October 15, the rest would be returned to the club. I wanted to be able to train on the grass. My critical situation was that: What I wanted was to be allowed to train, I was willing to deliver the settlement to be able to do it. Always said so. Because beyond money there are opportunities. And mine was taken from me.

-Have you followed Almería during the season?

-I was having trouble seeing it. The game in which I had the worst time was the first. There I did feel anger. I played against Albacete and felt that it was I who had to be on that bench, that I had bet a lot on him. I had a life in Madrid, at Atleti, and that was my day, that of the debut in Segunda. That day I had a bad time because of it, because it was my game. I was so excited to debut in Second … I lived it annoyed.

-He almost wouldn't have finished making the move.

-It's just what happened to me. I had the moving boxes there in the house that I had rented, still to be placed, and Sonia, my partner, came over the weekend. “Men are a disaster.” And he took everything from me and ordered it. Well three or four days later it was my turn to collect them (smile sad). “After the job you have done, it's my turn to pick it up …”.

– Did Almería offer you something when you removed him from the first team?

-Yes, yes, I met with them and they offered me to be the branch coach. But I said no. I could not stay there in charge of something other than the first team, my bet, so I had left everything.