Let's talk about Sunday's opponents Granada for a few moments, shall we? After all, it was exactly a year ago that Pepe Mel and his team headed across Andalucía and got absolutely battered for their troubles. 3-0 was the final score, and even if wasn't a strict reflection of the balance of play, it was certainly a tactical triumph for Granada's coach Fabri.
I thought about that day when the news came through on Sunday night that Fabri had been sacked. Even in the cut-thoat world of football management, this decision seemed particularly cruel. The man led Granada out of Segunda B in 2010, then back to Primera for the first time in 25 years last June, and leaves the club just a point away from safety (and only four behind Betis). He's an irritatingly pugnacious little man - like a yappy Jack Russell in a suit and tie - but it's hard to see how he could have done a better job in his two and a half seasons in charge at Los Cármenes. Most Granada fans seem to think the same; when I checked local newspaper websites earlier this week, the readers' comments were 90 per cent in teary favour of their team's erstwhile boss.
This all means, of course, that we have no idea what sort of side we'll face on Sunday. The new man in charge is Abel Resino, a kind of one-size-fits-all experienced Spanish coach who's had mixed results at Valladolid and Atlético Madrid recently, and you'd normally expect a sudden improvement immediately after a change on the bench. But last season's top scorer Alex Geijo has only managed one goal since August - as one comment I read put it, "Is it Fabri's fault that Geijo couldn't score through a rainbow right now?" - while another old hero, talented left winger Dani Benítez, has also singularly failed to enhance his reputation this year. It's hard not to feel that, Fabri or no Fabri, Betis should have their visitors' beating in two days' time.
0600 local time is a little early for me. Best of luck to the green and white later this morning :)
Posted by: Bill Mill | Sunday, 29 January 2012 at 05:50 AM