Scenes that seemed to be taken from a parody. On the penultimate day of the season, Real Vallodolid were down to bottom side Villarreal B, with fans chanting for the manager’s resignation. Two stoppage time goals took them downtrodden to delighted, as the win secured their promotion back to La Liga at the first attempt.
Coach Paulo Pezzolano has had a rocky relationship with the fans from the start, and having justified himself, decided to take have some fun with it. From the balcony of the city hall in Valladolid, he grabbed the microphone and started chanting ‘Pezzolano, resign’ mocking those against him.
This caused further turbulence at La Pucela, and Pezzolano had admitted that he regrets the way he went about things.
“The mistake, in my image and me as a coach, of having distanced myself from the fans when I could have assumed many more things and talked about all this at the time. But if I spoke all this at the time, someone was going to be attacked, someone was going to feel the pressure, even the players could feel it.”
“So, another path would have been much easier for me. I assume responsibilities, they are right, I’m leaving, I’m somewhere else… but I believe that we took the right path and today the results demonstrate it. So the distancing, all that shielding that I sought to make the players strong and give 100% on the field until the 100th minute, I think it was very positive, but it was very negative for me, without a doubt. And all this brought us to where this club is and deserves, so I am proud, because I put the club and the city above myself.”
These were the bizarre scenes on Monday as Real Valladolid manager Paulo Pezzolano led the crowds gathered at the City Hall in chants for his resignation.
La #Pucela won promotion back to La Liga on Sunday.pic.twitter.com/TjtQediutn
— Football España (@footballespana_) May 28, 2024
Pezzolano’s job security was believed to be up in the air even before his balcony stunt, but the Uruguayan assured Relevo that he would be in the dugout next season. Thus far, Ronaldo Nazario has not said anything different.
“We already have everything programmed. We return to the city on the 8th and on the 9th we start the medical evaluations. We are going to have between four and six friendlies, we already have the dates, and the players are already on vacation but they have their work for the holidays. It will be a demanding preseason and they will have to be prepared. And thinking about the players who come, [we’ll] talk first to see if they are capable of withstanding the demands we have to have to achieve the goal again. We are working on everything.”
The former Cruzeiro manager could not save Valladolid from relegation in the final stretches of the previous season, but to his credit, in a team that had lost plenty of quality, Pezzolano has brought them back up at the first time of asking. Nevertheless the uncertainty continues, with owner Ronaldo Nazario considering selling the club.
