Wednesday's Copa del Rey exit has mostly been forgotten already, but one thing I did find interesting was the variety of different perspectives on the game. While the press was pretty harsh (AS: "A blow to the moral of the verdiblancos who were once again betrayed by a lack of ideas, even with four strikers"), the Béticos I've spoken to have on the whole been much more relaxed about the team's performance. As Beticismo.net put it: "At least we can say with our heads held high that Betis died trying, and with their boots on, with dignity and without deserving to be knocked out."
What happened is that Pepe Mel went at the opposition with an attacking 4-2-4 formation, which probably cost the crucial away goal - and thereafter it was always going to be hard to score three in an hour against a very decent team ready to use every trick in the book. It was an exciting game, well worth the entrance fee (€0 to season-ticket holders) and my only complaint was the odd withdrawal of Nelson for Roque Santa Cruz, which denied Betis width down the right, just when that's exactly what they needed. Other than that, it would be silly to be too hypercritical, particularly after a couple of very sound Liga performances.
Some more very brief notes...
l The two first-half casualties, Amaya and Fabricio, are apparently fine. The former just banged his knee, while the goalkeeper looked in serious trouble for a moment or two when he appeared to have been knocked out cold, but was given the all-clear later.
l It was the annual shareholders' meeting last night, which has been a stormy affair in the past, but these days is less rowdy than a parish church choir practice. The headline news to come out of it is that Betis are planning to sue former director Luis Oliver and his band of merry men for some of the considerable losses the club made under his stewardship in the six months between June and December 2010. That should be fun.
l Other club news to appear in the past couple of days is the launch of the long-trumpeted "carnet de simpatizante" (membership card), Soy Bético (I'm Bético). To be honest, I'm a bit disappointed on your behalf as it's 1) expensive (€60), and 2) aimed squarely at the Spanish market (ie fans living away from Seville), with the only benefits so far being discounts with mainly Spanish firms (although Ryanair are included). Details of the whole package are still a bit sketchy (and the link to information on the club website still doesn't work). but I'll try to find out more over the next few weeks.
l Much more exciting is a new range of T-shirts from Beticismo.net. You can choose from Pepe Mel saying, "Luck is for people who look for it", Rubén doing The Fin, and "Iriney! Iriney! Iriney!", among others. If I don't get one of the latter for my birthday next month, the divorce courts had better be ready.
l Does anyone else think it's a sad indictment of Spanish football that the Betis players have now gone off for their Christmas holidays without knowing when their next game will be? It's Sporting Gijón at home, but on Saturday 7th, Sunday 8th or even Monday 9th January - the details are still a mystery.
UPDATE: The timetable has since been announced: Betis-Sporting is at 7.45pm on Sunday, January 8th, and Barcelona-Betis (eek) will be a week later, January 15th, at 9.30pm.
And that's it for now. Later this evening I'm heading off for the seasonal Grand Tour of friends and family, so coverage could be a bit sketchy for the next 10 days or so - but feel free to keep popping by just in case.
