The collateral victims of the Athletic elections

Athletic is immersed in the electoral period that will conclude with the elections that will be held on the 24th in San Mamés. All the members will elect the president who will direct the club’s designs for the next four years, but in the meantime this time of uncertainty that officially began on May 11, when Ibaigane made the electoral call official, is taking ahead very valuable assets from a sporting point of view, most importantly in the case of a football club whose goal is to win as many matches as possible.

for now, Marcelino Garcia Toral y Patxi Salinasnothing more and nothing less than the two coaches of the first two men’s teams, have left the club affected by the process that will appoint Ricardo Barkala, Iñaki Arechabaleta o Jon Uriarte as the 33rd president in red and white history. These are the consequences of this phase in which all the quarry technicians end their contract and do not know very well what their future will be until the new Board is installed and makes the first decisions so that all the teams begin their 2022-23 journey at the beginning of the month of July.

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The Asturian coach directed the team for the last time on May 22. The lions lost in Seville and with it the options of playing in the Conference League next season vanished. The goal of playing in Europe came to nothing again and as everything suggested, the tenant of the San Mamés bench for the last year and a half said goodbye on Tuesday 24 at a massive press conference held on the Bilbao pitch.

without the necessary trust

The one from Careñes reiterated that he would have accepted the renewal offer if Aitor Elizegi had continued at the helm of the red and white ship, but the conversations he had with Barkala y Arechabaleta, the first two candidates to present themselves, did not convince him. “It is evident that if the leaders who hired us and have allowed us to work freely had continued, we would have accepted the renewal. But now I feel that the club does not give me the confidence I need. It does not offer me the necessary support to build a project in the medium and long term. I have not perceived the unequivocal interest or the necessary confidence to continue being Athletic’s coach”, he pointed out in a speech broken by emotion. This feeling served to ratify that his decision not to renew with the current board was the right one. “This has served us to confirm that we had been right in not extending the contract as we had been offered on several occasions.”

Regarding his future, he assured that now it is time to rest in his native Asturias. The selection has sounded as a possible destination from January 2023, but everything is at the expense of the decision of Luis Enrique and the role played by the Red team in the World Cup to be held in Qatar between November 21 and December 18. The man from Careñes wanted to train abroad before coming to Bilbao. Perhaps he can return to this idea for the next course.

The last chapter of the influence that an electoral process of these characteristics can have took place on Monday in Lezama. Patxi Salinas summoned the media in the evening session after they appeared in the morning Rafa Alkorta, Andoni Ayarza y Andoni Bombin to make an assessment of his three and a half years at the head of the Lezama quarry. The call already generated some uncertainty after ten days had passed since the last game played by his team, Bilbao Athletic. It seemed like too long to do a season recap. The doubts were soon cleared up when the man from San Adrián arrived accompanied by his brother, Julio de el. The press conference was more important. It was to say agur. “After three wonderful years, the step to renew my contract has not been taken and there is no contact with the candidates to succeed Elizegi in Ibaigane. With the date that it is, at this moment the possibility of training another club opens up, ”he said.

Enormous merit

Once again, the elections ruined the coach who has done the most to continue after taking on an almost hopeless team in December and saving it with one day left to finish the League in the RFEF First Division, scoring 32 points in the second round, playoff numbers. The man from Bilbao was hurt that none of the candidates had called him to offer him continuity next season. “I am the happiest guy in this club, but none of the three have called me. The League ended on May 28 and we are at June 6. If no one has called me, what am I waiting for! They’ve had plenty of time to tell me we’re talking when they’re elected president. I think I’m an experienced guy. No one has called me, I would have been delighted if one or all three had called me, but no one has called me, “he said.

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Now he has an offer on the table to direct Portugalete in the Third RFEF, although he has a poster to train a higher category team. The former lion has not wanted to risk waiting for the new president and then not having his services. In that case, it would be very difficult to find a new destination with all the benches closed. “You have to sign footballers in record time. On June 25 no one will wait for you. The success of the coaches is signing well in preseason. Anticipate the opposite, if you fall asleep… You have to be ready in this. The sooner you sign, the sooner you can make the team,” he stated. He is the second collateral victim in this entire electoral process.