ROCKY ROAD FOR ADAMS
Sorry start to Tony’s Spanish mission
THE Rocky theme Eye of the Tiger blasted out at Granada’s Los Carmenes stadium just before Tony Adams strolled out to watch his players warm-up.
That was about as far as the fight against looming relegation went as they delivered an insipid display.
Adams picked a team of 11 different nationalities and then suffered on the sidelines as they were well beaten by a team who fielded their reserves because they are in Europa League action next week.
There was little reaction from most of the players, or from the supporters who sang for the board to resign. It was just the start Adams was not hoping for. He plans to register Kieran Richardson and Nigel Reo- Coker this week, and he will need them on the pitch as soon as possible on this evidence.
Adams, who had promised to kick his players up the backside, was defiant, saying: ‘I thought we defended well apart from the three goals.’ He added: ‘I think I got a reaction from some of the players and it’s important for me as the leader to make sure they do not throw the towel in.
‘I thought we were very much in the game before the second goal but we are giving away sloppy goals and you get punished.
‘It’s going to be hard to change the mentality in the next few weeks. But I still have a couple of tricks up my sleeve to bring this group together.’
Results elsewhere had gone well for him. The other two teams in the bottom three had lost and fourth from bottom Leganes had been beaten 1- 0 thanks to a 92nd-minute goal, meaning a win would move his team to within four points of safety.
His decision to play two strikers was positive and they almost combined to score after two minutes when Ezequiel Ponce let a cross from the left run through to Artem Kravets, whose shot was blocked.
An early goal would have lifted everyone. It was hardly a cauldron before kick-off. Adams was out on the pitch in club top and tracksuit bottoms half an hour before kickoff. As he observed his players warming up there was even a hamstring stretch or two as the stadium filled very slowly.
Supporters behind the south goal that Granada would attack in the first half eventually came with their flags and two drums. They had also brought a 10ft banner that read ‘Go now — the board resign’. They had even taken the trouble to translate it into Chinese, the language of the DDMC Football Club Management Company president, Jing Lizhang. Adams is their man, so it was hardly a welcome to the job.
‘I don’t expect supporters to be happy with the situation,’ Adams added. ‘I am not, and the owner is not. Short term we want to stay up but long term we want to build a club.
‘It’s the best league in the world and you can’t make mistakes because you get punished. We are going to build a club, it is just going to take a bit of time.’ The first goal came after 23 minutes when Guillermo Ochoa came charging out of his goal to head the ball clear. Claudio Beauvue was quickest to it and steered it to Fulham loanee Jozabed Sanchez, who scored.
There was some improvement in the second half and Uche thumped a shot against the bar.
But just as Granada looked at their best Marcelo Diaz had a free-kick on the edge of the area, only half the defensive wall jumped and it was 2-0. Beauvue then volleyed in a third.
Adams’ team were well beaten and are now seven points from safety with six games left.