Another season draws to a close

Espanyol will tomorrow face Porto as another season in top100 draws to close on what’s been another successful season for the club.

Predicted to go down the club could finish in the top10 but won’t finish lower than 13th. The top10 position has been somewhat sacrificed since safety was secured as the manager has looked to manage the squad and give youth opportunities to shine in the first team ahead of what’s going to be the clubs hardest season yet next season.

Glen Mullan is proud to have always finished above the clubs predicted finish since taking the helm during season 16. Despite this its been a roller-coaster to rebuild one of the leagues oldest rosters to give the club a sustainable future . As the clock passes 3 years since his appointment the manager thinks the team is finally in a position where its going to be tweaks rather than wholesale changes going forwards.

OMORODION, FAYAD and CHASE are all secured for next season which is likely to be the clubs main business over the close season, especially with the updates suddenly upon us.

“We are coming to the end of our rebuild, which seems strange given we are not power packed with ratings. We’ve invested massively in the clubs long term sustainability which is going to bare fruits every season for a very long time. We’ve some incredibly talented footballers across all positions who are going to be hot property as seasons progress. Buying the off the shelf stars with ratings is a costly formula where you end up sacrificing squad stability and depth unless your starting block had an abundance of assets . We’ve had to be brave in letting big players leave to create a 50 man squad littered with talent for the long game, rather than just exist with a strong 13 or 14 with very little coming through which inevitably will lead to steady decline on the pitch as the experienced pros lose value and ratings. We like to keep an eye on all clubs , and there is certainly storms brewing in many squads as players begin to drop, given the infrastructure of many teams does not give them the assets to either trade up or improve come update time. Stagnation to maintain status quo can be a dangerous policy especially at a time where many are now looking for improvers rather than potential droppers.

Tactically we continue to tinker from game to game to allow certain players opportunities to start, this can lead to some big defeats but has also lead to famous victories against the big clubs we all endeavour to catch. We’ve enjoyed the adventure this season, we’ve never looked like being dragged into the relegation dog fight, but understand next season once again we will hold that “favourites to go down” tag. We are still in that yoyo bracket but for the first time actually have a squad which can develop us out of the yoyo situation as time evolves. It may take another relegation/promotion but we are on the right path to establishing the club as a competitive unit capable of challenging for trophies. We get enquiries daily for our young stars which is a massive shift to where we were 3 years ago when the team was old and we couldn’t sell them for love nor money. We enjoy the challenge at Espanyol and hopefully we can give our fans some more silverware to add to our promotions and European Trophy as time progresses”