The Pride of Vallekas

My new series, called the Silly Season Accumulator, lists all the rumors that have ever been mentioned on the internet about Rayo. Yes - all of them. Just to show you how ridiculous this machine is - a machine that creates meaningless content masquerading as journalism. If that's harsh, that's because the irony is that more rumors gives me more material. And that material gets in the way of the stories that matter. Here's all the rumors for this week: Álex Bergantiños is a target for Sporting, Tenerife and Rayo. Rayo have been linked with him in the past - but Sporting are in a better position to sign him. Alberto García is a target for Rayo. The Getafe goalkeeper still has two years remaining on his contract. A few days later, and talks of a loan deal are said to be all but confirmed. Edit: Done deal! Goalkeeper Alejandro Remiro (Athletic Bilbao) has been linked with a move to Rayo, Huesca and Cultural Leonesa. Răzvan Raț has taken a week off, and is reportedly n...

A lot of what goes missing in football analysis is the fact that being a professional football is an actual job. Many who enter the profession think about the food they put on the table for their families. They think about the future since the job only pays well till the early thirties. They think about bigger and better clubs offering bigger and better opportunities. They think, constantly, about the next step in their careers. Understandably though, most fans don't see a player playing for their club as a job - as an honor, or as a responsibility, but certainly not as a job. One way professional football is harder, aside from the competition of course, is job security. One-year contracts are the norm for most teams. That, along with miserly termination clauses and relegation clauses that cut wages significantly means that Spanish football, and indeed football in many second tiers in the world, produce numerous journeymen who bounce around from club to club, with no clue w...

Gazzaniga Mejías Galán Quini Rat Á.Moreno Amaya Íñiguez Trashorras Baena Santi F.Beltrán Jordi Embarba Ebert Lass Manucho J.Guerra #RayoLugo pic.twitter.com/KtMhuO5rT4 — Rayo Vallecano (@RVMOficial) April 21, 2017 Compared to last week - Pablo Iñiguez, Răzvan Raț and Lass are back in the squad, and Míchel confirmed that Pablo would play. Not out of pity, out of necessity - Toño, Pablo Clavería and Dorado are out due to injuries and Zé Castro is out due to suspension. Plus, Miku, Cristaldo, Aguirre and Nacho are out too. It's a shame - a Venezuela international, a Boca Junior hot prospects, an ex-Toledo hot prospect and youth graduate and Rayo's second captain won't even grace the Vallekas bench, much less the pitch. Expect a bumpy game, with many cards. The referee for the game is Jorge Figueroa Vázquez, one of the toughest referees in the division. In the 17 games he has refereed this season he has dished out 75 yellow cards and ...

In light of the fact that Rayo B might return to the regional leagues, where Rayo B haven't played since 1988... They had topped their group - by 11 points, no less - but that was not enough. They had to play L'Hospitalet over two legs, they were at the  Municipal Feixa Llarga and 1-0 down, with only seconds to go. A free kick from the halfway line results in a corner on the left hand side. Confusion in the box. Calls for a penalty while the Rayo player run to take another corner from the other side of the pitch. Step forward, Borja García. The goalkeeper misses the cross, and it's an easy tap in - Sandoval's team are up into the Segunda B. In the 97th minute, Rayo B had made it. In other news, Javier Tebas confirmed that Rayo has an agreement with the NASL that a new franchise will be created within two years - reportedly in Omaha or Las Vegas, Betis' Rafael Salas apologized for his previous comments about Zozulya (which I talked about here ), and Sa...