Boca Juniors Manager Issues a Statement

Under siege Boca Juniors Manager Sir Kevin Wallace has spoken to the press this morning in advance of the clubs final Division Two match against Sporting on Thursday night.

With relegation confirmed on Sunday, the club and all its best laid plans lie in tatters and the board have already met to discuss the manager’s future which will probably now hinge on nothing short of a win on Thursday.

Manager Wallace refused to answer direct questions from the media, choosing instead to read a prepared statement:

‘It has been a disaster for this club the past few weeks, I take full responsibility, it was my chosen teams that played, my tactics that went wrong, my plan that has failed to bring improvement to the club. Our season started brightly, we were consistently in the top half of the table for most of the opening weeks and the plan the Board and I settled on to bring only Argentinian born players to the club was finalised as soon as we could achieve it. The pride of being the best is at the heart of Boca, the fans expect nothing less and we have failed them…I have failed them. We didn’t add enough quality to what we had, we let better players leave based on nationality, the Board and I accept the fans mixed emotions at this all and understand their need for both a team driven by pride and also the quality of players to match ambition.

The club has now lost its status in Division Two, but I know pride still burns in the fans, I know that 49,000 will turn up on Thursday night and once again expect, and we must deliver for them and prove that this team whilst set for Division Three is capable of making a return back to this league after only one season down…It will be tough, leagues are very competitive but the fans will demand no less and the players and manager must ensure the fans expectations are met.

I want to be a part of that, I know I can turn this around, but I leave my fate in the hands of the Directors and should they choose another path then I accept that because the club comes first and the past few weeks have just not been good enough for me personally and it must be devastating for those whose lives are consumed by this great club.

All I ask is the fans get behind the team on Thursday night, make noise, make La Bombonera as uncomfortable a venue for our opponents and in return myself and the players will try to get a result fitting of this great establishment…after that the Directors will make their decisions.

It is still a massive honour to be manager of Boca Juniors, the club deserves success, and no matter what the days ahead bring I am certain that success will come.’