In ordinary times, there would be a scene outside Granada’s Los Carmenes stadium on Wednesday night akin to that which greeted the upwardly mobile Andalusians on 5 March last year.
That was when Athletic Bilbao came to town for Granada’s first Copa del Rey semi-final since 1969 and home fans filled the sky with red smoke and shouts of “Si se puede!” – Yes we can.
Granada were eliminated on away goals, but Wednesday offers another opportunity with a quarter-final against Barcelona, the first big date of a month which also brings a Uefa Europa League last-32 tie with Napoli.
Given Granada sit in the same league position – seventh – that brought their first-ever European qualification last term, these are heady days for a club whose most recent top-10 finish prior to 2020 had been in 1974.
Scratch the surface, though, and the fairy tale could yet become a cautionary one. There have been more than 100 minor earthquakes in Granada in the past week yet it is the possibility of seismic activity within the club that has fans deeply concerned – notably the strong rumour that the club’s Chinese owners, DDMC, are poised to sack Antonio Fernandez Monterrubio, the much-respected managing director.
Media reports cite Patricia Rodriguez, newly departed from the same role at Elche, as a possible replacement.
The popularity of Fernandez Monterrubio – a key figure in Granada’s rise along with their impressive young coach, Diego Martinez – led to statements of support last week from the club’s former players’ association, the G19 association of fan groups and even the city council.
For last Sunday’s home league fixture with Celta, representatives of the regional and city governments, town hall and chamber of commerce were all present in the main stand to show their backing for Fernandez Monterrubio.
When DDMC, a Chinese sports and entertainment company, bought Granada from the Pozzo family, owners of Watford, in 2017, Fernandez Monterrubio set about building a club with a more local feel – with more Spanish players and tighter bonds between the club and its community and local institutions.
However, last September’s departure of John Jiang, installed as club president on DDMC’s takeover, has cast a cloud. Save for their appearance at a virtual AGM in December, there been little heard from Rentao Yi, the new president, and his Barcelona-based adviser, Juan Yang.
With an extraordinary general meeting called for 22 February, the disconnect has created anxiety about what may come next.
“When you’re distanced from something, you don’t know how it’s managed,” says Dani Hurtado, president of the G19 supporters’ group, whose request for a meeting with the owners has gone ignored. “The owners don’t show their face, they don’t give press conferences or interviews.”
As for DDMC’s motives, one source points to the fact that Yang – who did not reply to i’s request for comment – works closely with Javier Aranguren, a sports lawyer employed by the son of La Liga president Javier Tebas who is said to have close ties with Rodriguez, the putative new managing director.
So far the ripples have not reached the pitch where Martinez, the 40-year-old former Sevilla B and Osasuna coach, has built a fiercely competitive squad which includes the ex-Tottenham forward Roberto Soldado, former Chelsea and Newcastle winger Kenedy, and Yangel Herrera, a Venezuelan midfielder on loan from Manchester City but absent tonight after testing positive for Covid.
“There’s been a lot of adversity and it’s still there,” Martinez told i on Tuesday. On the off-stage intrigue, he added: “As a coach I focus on the pitch. I can’t think of hypotheses or circumstances or what the papers say may or may not happen.”
Maybe so, but for Rafael Lamelas, chief sports correspondent for Ideal, the local newspaper, the uncertainty is far from helpful given that Martinez’s contract expires this summer.
“He’s created a feeling of community, of commitment,” he says of a manager whom his paper calls “The Shaman” for his holistic approach.
“However, to renew [his contract], he’ll want to know what kind of objectives Granada have in mind.” And sadly – notwithstanding an unexpected U-turn over Fernandez Monterrubio – community and commitment do not appear high on the owners’ list of priorities.
from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/3tmGuRf
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