The rise of the yo-yo clubs part 1
La Liga is seeing a rise in Yo-Yo clubs who are too good for Segunda but not good enough for La Liga
Real Valladolid, Espanyol and Granada are three clubs who are part of a new breed of clubs, seemingly not good enough for the top tier yet too good for the second tier.
All three have more in common than just their struggles, ownership issues blight all three and they’re not immune to sharing players either.
This will be a three part series starting with Real Valladolid and their problems under Ronaldo.
Real Valladolid have spent most of their history in the top tier, with a passionate fanbase they’re a club ripe with potential and with the possibility to be challengers for European places. Back in 2018 Ronaldo Nazario the World Cup winner took over the club for €30 million. El Pucela had recently been promoted and the change of ownership felt like a step in the right direction. Ronaldo himself had made the bold claim in his unveiling that the club would aim for the Champions League in five years.
The side struggled having been newly promoted but finished in a respectable 16th position securing survival on the final day. The next season was even better with a 13th place finish.
That though was the high point of Ronaldo’s ownership of the club with the 20/21 season ending in disaster with a 19th place finish confirming relegation. After three seasons of struggle in the bottom half of La Liga it can sometimes be good to come down, regroup and get back that regular winning feeling.
Their Segunda campaign started off slowly with just two victories in six and three defeats on the bounce without scoring in what looked to be a season of struggle. Powered by the goals of Shon Weissman though they found a way securing promotion on a crazy final day where three sides were vying for two spots.
All the noises from the club and the owner were about lessons being learnt and that the club wouldn’t find themselves in a situation like this again but on returning to La Liga they found nothing had really changed.
Pacheta had overseen the promotion and had the side outside the drop zone when he was fired following a 6-0 defeat to Real Madrid. He was replaced by Paulo Pezzolano who had been at Ronaldo’s other side Cruzeiro. The hiring was unpopular from the start and despite a three game unbeaten run to start his tenure they then lose five in a row to drop into the bottom three.
A late rally saw them beat Barca 3-1 before a crucial match against fellow strugglers Almeria. It felt like a must win for Valladolid but they could only draw 0-0. They then had to better Almeria’s result on the final day against Getafe who also needed a result but they could only play out a 0-0 to see El Pucela in Segunda again.
Fans were unhappy that Pezzolano was kept on for that campaign and the mood around the Jose Zorilla didn’t improve when they lost three of their first four. They then went on a five match winning run without conceding a goal and despite some shaky patches of form ultimately returned to the top tier with January signing Amath Ndiaye helping them get over the line. During this time Ronaldo had come out to say the club was for sale and he was open to offers.
Nothing could encapsulate better the disconnect between the club and the fans than Paulo Pezzolano baiting the fans at the celebrations of the promotion party by starting a chant off about him being sacked at the city hall balcony which was widely booed. Ronaldo decided not to act and keep the Uruguayan manager in charge.
Their opening clash saw them take on fellow newbies and yo-yo side Espanyol and a narrow win gave them hope. The hope though didn’t last long and a 7-0 drubbing by Barca showed the gulf between La Liga and Segunda. Just before the season opener Ronaldo had stated that not only was the club now not for sale but he would be putting some of his own money in to increase the salary cap imposed on them by La Liga.
With Ronaldo being pictured at boxing events, at tennis matches and pretty much everywhere but the Jose Zorilla the fans had reached breaking point with his ownership of the club. Ultras played out a game of tennis during the home match against Atleti after Ronaldo had been vocal in his preference for the sport of Tennis over Football and it struck a cord with fans of El Pucela who saw through their team first hand how over football the owner was.
With the protests so loud and viral, Ronaldo felt he had no choice but to make a decision and he did by sacking Pezzolano. Owners usually need a distraction when the crowd turns against them and the sacking of an unpopular manager was an easy option.
Diego Cocca was brought in as the new Head Coach but his first two games couldn’t have gone much worse, firstly they went down 3-0 to Girona before a Copa del Rey clash against struggling third tier side Ourense.
Things looked to be going good when Valladolid took an early lead but that lasted just two minutes, El Pucela got themselves ahead again in the 24th minute but again were pegged back. Early in the second half Ourense amazingly took the lead to go 3-2 up and that’s how it stayed for a giant killing that just summed up a terrible season.
While Valladolid went on to win their next game they’ve yet to taste victory again. The protests against the owner have increased at the Jose Zorilla but the media have been slow to pick up on the anger and discontent at one of footballs biggest legends. If the owner was not a “football” person and a multi-millionaire from another country it’s hard to think he would have gotten away with as much as Ronaldo.
The club is in a mess institutionally and sporting wise with bad decision after bad decision. In the summer the club signed Juma Bah, while their scouting department deserve praise for such a find the way the club has handled him has been shambolic. After just one B team game he was promoted but rather than sorting his contract out the club didn’t make any moves leaving him on a youth team contract. While financially it saved money as he cost just €2500 a month it meant that his buyout clause was just €5million for an 18 year old playing in La Liga.
Clubs soon became aware and Man City paid the player the money to buyout his contract. Real Valladolid released a statement criticising the player and agent while making almost no acknowledgement of the fact they had left themselves open to this happening.
On Saturday, with Real Madrid in town the biggest protest yet was put in with posters saying Ronaldo go home and yellow vests worn. Ronaldo stated he would stay away from the game due to the protests but he has been to just one game all season. The game saw Real Madrid striker Kylian Mbappe score a hat-trick to leave El Pucela further in the mire.
It looks like a third relegation in five seasons for a side who have spent 47 seasons in the top flight, they will likely have enough due to the financial disparity to again be contenders in Segunda but where and how does this cycle end?
Ronaldo was one of the best to ever play the game but take a trip to Valladolid and ask fans what they think of him as an owner and the answer would be very different.