OH MY GOD

Forgive me for I am still in a state of shock…even until now, I cannot believe the reality that Real Betis – MY REAL BETIS – have been relegated. How am I to accept this, that the first season I adopt them as my team that I have to see them suffer in the most ridiculous manner?How can you even wrap your head around to understand that your team failed to preserve their status by virtue not of a point, not of a victory but of a single goal? It was my intention the morning after to come here to talk about the new future of Betis, a club that looks towards building a team rather than a collection of highly priced individuals, a team that was younger - maybe not as talented but a team that was proud of the Betis shirt and was willing to fight to the end. I was going to talk about the players already coming in (Inaki Goitia, Bruno, Iriney), players about to come (Karim Haggui) and players probably leaving (Juanito, Mark Gonzalez, Edu, Pavone etc.) but all that has now gone out of the window.

Instead I am left with the reality that I will not be able to watch Betis on TV next season, and will only be able to get snippets of news from the wires who don’t really pay any attention to the lower divisions anyway. It is like how after a glorious shoot-out, you are left with the job of crying over the dead bodies of your loved ones, to bury those you know and to retreat to a corner to nurse your wounds that you know will not be healed – not for a while yet.

If this is going to be my last post, then allow me the opportunity to lament and to cry - after all what else can I do when the thin line between survival and despair is one single goal? The hubris and irony of the situation kills me – really…

How can it not when you support a team that arguably hits the woodwork the most times in a single season? Nobody bothers to count these statistics but I am willing to bet my bottom dollar that Betis will come out on top. It really is incredible that for the amount of chances the team creates, there is no one that can consistently put the ball into the net.

How can it be that the best strikers you have in your team plays less than 10 games together due to various injuries and ailments? Would things have been different if Oliveria, Edu and Sergio Garcia get to complete the season together?

How can a team assembled at a cost of £25million not field a decent defense? More crucially, how can 4 accomplished internationals or internationals-to-be not even know how to communicate and work together? If they can’t, shouldn’t the coach get some who can?

How can a team know only one way to play tactically and that’s all out attack? How difficult is it to tell the players to fall back and pack the defense to protect a lead?

Finally, and this is something that I have tried not to talk about all season long for I always believe that you should focus on things that you can control rather than talk about things that you can’t and find an easy excuse. For too long, the club has been mismanaged and there is a poisonous atmosphere that pervades the whole place. It is undeniable that what the society is, will always be reflected in the behaviours of its people. And if Betis is a microcosym of all that is important, then the performances of the players and the reactions of the fans in recent weeks should give a clear indication of the rot that has set in and the shit that has been going on in the background.

Most of all, I feel for the fans. From shouting our support and love, to having seen our expectations crushed, to being dragged through the quagmire of despair and abject sadness – how else can you expect them to react then to riot, to vent our anger in the most primative manner we know how? It is only the greatest of love that can catalyse the vilest of anger…

But then what is left after the anger?

For all Betis fans out there, it has been one hell of a ride…regrets I have had more than a few but that does not matter because in the end, this is where I found true love – love that bleeds green-and-white…

Goodbye

 

Category: Real Betis Team News

Tags: Real Betis Team News

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