This is one of those seasons (21st February, 2017)

Rubén Baraja has been sacked. Surprise.

This has insane parallels to the 2003-04 season, where Rayo were relegated from La Liga the season before and ended up being relegated again. Then, and now, Rayo were in 16th place after 26 games, but then it was 31 points compared to 28 now.

Then, Julen Lopetegui (sacked 2nd November), Jorge D'Alessandro (sacked 15th February) and Txetxu Rojo were unable to save Rayo from a second successive relegation.

Now, José Ramón Sandoval (sacked 6th November), Rubén Baraja (sacked 20th February) and whoever comes in now (rumoured to be Rayo legend Míchel) might be unable to save Rayo from the same fate. All signs point in that direction though...

It's funny how history seems to repeat itself.

In other news, a bit of politics - Alberto Garzón, the leader of Izquierda Unida (United Left, a coalition of left-wing political parties), came to Vallekas to show support for the 10 fans who are being shoved with criminal complaints by Tebas due to what happened to Romul Zozulya. I need to point out that Podemos and the United Left formed a coalition for the elections called Unidos Podemos.

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Francisco Pérez Pérez - the actual oldest player to have played in Spain (1st November, 2017)

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Just how many players can you name who have the following descrption: He is a striker of great quality, and was a great promise of Spanish football, but his bad luck and some injuries denied him the opportunity to recover - he has never played more than one season in the same team. This is the story of a player - a technically and physically excellent striker - who made mistakes and suffered injuries very young and never really recovered. Born in Santa Eulàlia de Ronçana, Barcelona, Iván Peñaranda started his youth career at Granollers. His real formation, however, was in the lower categories of Barcelona, in which he stayed for seven years (1991-98). Playing alongside Xavi Hernández, Gabri and Carles Puyol. He was considered as one of the young players with a huge future within the club. In the summer of 1998, he angered Barcelona by using "change of residence" as an excuse to sign for Mallorca B (he would move there along with his family), where he would play alongs

Who is Raúl Martín Presa, the Mickey Mouse? Part 1. (20th August, 2017)

José María Ruiz-Mateos was the head and main shareholder of Nueva Rumasa - the company that owned Rayo and other companies - mainly specializing in dairy products. (He wasn't the president of Rayo though - his wife, Teresa Rivero, was Rayo's president). In early 2011, the directors announced a debt of over 700 million euros, that it was on the verge of bankruptcy and that staff wouldn't be paid. And the players were visibly angry about it - captain Míchel assured the press that the club would continue fighting on the pitch, but the day after the announcement was made, six key players didn’t attend training. Veteran midfielder José María Movilla spoke on radio station SER about the situation, about the fact that he had only received seven of the last eighteen months of pay, about the fact that there were a few players who couldn't even afford car repairs. When Rayo Vallecano were about to earn promotion to La Liga despite all the odds - the players not being paid,

The Pride of Vallekas

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