@Coldy: Thanks mate

@Walter:

Recently appointed Racing manager, Raul Gonzalez, talked to new Racinguista channel, Racing T.V. today, and gave an insight on the team's training tactics, future signings and more..

Raul, always focused as everyday, revealed his secret in his training tactic's by saying,"Throughout the season, we find ourselves with at least 50 matches per season, and knowing that we (Racing) have a squad that can easily can be dismantled, we focus on fitness." The manager continued,"Without 1 or 2 days of training on our fitness per week, we'd be out of the title race. If you look at the statistics, I usually make my subs in the 60th to the late 70th minutes. The most matches we've had in a month so far this season have been 7 matches, and we won all of them. Credits to the men behind the curtains doing this, which include our fitness coach, (Patricio Perez) and our physios." The former Real Madrid also commented on the influence that players have in the dressing room when he said,"This season, we have a lot of experienced players, which include Igor (Gabilondo), Francisco (Yeste), Enrique (Corrales) and Ivan (Bolado), who have played in all of the three tiers of Spanish football, and had a short spell in Russia, where the game is physical. All of those experiences are passed onto other players, and all of the players (above) have quickly integrated to the team because the players know that they used to play with the best players in the world, and they have learned from them."


The manager went on to discuss future transfers, after both trial players, Carles Vidal and Gorka Larrea left the club. He said,"Both players are great, and I gave them a chance 2 weeks in on their trial in a official match. They played against Huesca, a team also on the third-tier of Spanish football, which means that they play at our level. They couldn't cope with it. I saw Larrea giving easy passes to the opposition, and about Carles (Vidal).. he put us in a very uncomfortable position late into the match. Had he not received a red card, we could've pushed for the winner, but unfortunately, we were the ones who were pressed in the last minutes." The manager went on by saying,"We want to sign the best players for Racing and the way we play football, we'll be forced into making some signings and also getting rid of a few players that are mooching off the club's finances and are not playing. We must never have players like this on our club, especially with our rocky finances that we have now." Before he moved on to the possibility of getting to the Liga Adelante he finally said,"January is right around the corner. This means that we must act quickly to get the players we want, but first, we'll focus on giving contracts to those whose contract runs in the summer. To get all my players contracts extended before February 2nd is my objective, and if it's to be completed, you can fully expect me to stay at the club beyond the summer."

Neat update, will be interesting to see where you finish up. Great to see this revived.

Nice update Pauker!
Hopefully you can lead Racing to promotion

Will you get promoted?

YES[TE]!

@LFC: I hope I get top-spot, so the players get a final rest ahead of the play-offs (they play play-offs between the winner of each league, B1, B2, B3, B4, and the ones who won the play-offs in their leagues, so I'm crossing my fingers to get that rest.)

@Pompey: Thanks mate appreciate it!

@Neal: Nice pun :P, and I'm wishing for it

Salamanca A.C. 0-2 Racing Santander S.A.D.

Saturday 2nd November 2013 | El Hemantico | Att. 883

Segunda Division B1

Racing Santander XI: Mario, Francis, Juanpe, Soria, Echaide, Granero, Duran, Nieto, Gabilondo, Miguelez, Bolado

Racing Santander opened up the month against 11th placed Salamanca A.C. Throughout the match, Racing enjoyed large times of possessions, thanks to the tactic Raul Gonzalez employed. Igor Gabilondo, who has more than 8 goals this term already, showed a sign of things to come, as he cracked a shot to test the opposition's goalkeeper. However, there was controversy in the match, as two Racing goals were flagged offside, both in the 11th and 12th minute respectively.

As the match went on, and Racing pressed for their goal, they got it in the 35th minute, as Igor Gabilondo snatched at the chance when Salamanca's goalkeeper, Alejandro Rebollo, couldn't hold on to Miguelez's shot. Half-time came quickly, and Racing centre-back Juanpe was taken off as he was seen with a minor injury.

As the match went on, another controversial event occurred, as Salamanca's Herranz tackled Andreu inside the penalty area, with the whole away fans demanding the uncalled penalty. In the dying embers of the game, Salamanca conceded a late free-kick, where David Miguelez took a strong shot to the top-corner.

Subs On: Enrique Corrales, Ander Lafuente, Andreu.
Goals: Igor Gabilondo (35), David Miguelez (90+1)
Salamanca A.C. Goals: None
Man of the Match: David Miguelez (Racing) 8.6

Racing Santander S.A.D. 3-2 U.D. Logrones

Saturday 9th November 2013 | El Sardinero | Att. 13,383

Racing Santander XI: Mario, Francis, Juanpe, Soria, Echaide, Granero, Duran, Nieto, Gabilondo, Miguelez, Bolado

On a rainy Saturday, Racing hosted U.D. Logrones at El Sardinero, where they were thwarted early on by Logrones' goalkeeper, Mandaluniz. However, that wasn't going to stop Racing picking up maximum points at home again.

During the first 20 minutes, Racing were pressing Logrones hard, and forced Mandaluniz into amazing saves. However, Ruben Duran broke the deadlock in the 39th minute when Miguel Angel Nieto headed a ball to his feet after Gabilondo whipped in the ball. Logrones quickly responded, with a goal in the 44th minute. Javier Torres had a strike at goal and his strong shot was out of Mario's reach, where it rattled the post before going in.

After the restart, Racing were slow, something Racing fans are not familiar under the reign of Raul. They were duly punished when they conceded a free-kick outside the goalkeepers' area when Manolo Candelas executed the free-kick, leaving Racing goalkeeper no chance. Before the match hit the 80th minute mark, Racing captain and right-back Francis, had a shot after a nice play was duly executed by the Racing players.

As the final minutes came, it was Raul Gonzalez's voice that was heard throughout El Sardinero, demanding his players to push for a goal, as he had yet to taste anything but wins in his debut season. It was a heart-break for U.D. Logrones's fans, as substitute Inaki stroke the ball cleanly where Mandaluniz was left with no chance. Even though the game restarted, Racing kept pushing forward, with Ruben Duran hitting the post a minute later after Inaki's goal.

Sub On: Enrique Corrales, Inaki, Andreu
Racing Goals: Ruben Duran (35), Francis (79), Inaki (89)
U.D. Logrones's Goals: Javier Torres (44), Manolo Candelas (55)
Injuries: Borja Granero (74)
Man of the Match: Manolo Candelas (U.D. Logrones) 8.2

Burgos 2-4 Racing Santander S.A.D.

Sunday 17th November 2013 | El Plantio | Att. 4,165

Segunda Division B1

Racing Santander XI: Mario, Francis, Juanpe, Soria, Corrales, Duran, Granero, Lafuente, Nieto, Miguelez, Bolado

Burgos hosted Racing Santander in what was an entertaining match by both sides, as they saw 3 goals out of the 6, come in own goals.

Ruben Duran had the clearest chance to put Racing into the lead, but his free-kick sailed through the post. However, it was going to be Enrique Corrales, who is contesting the berth for the left-back role with Ion Echaide who opened the scoring with a well placed shot just outside the keepers' area in the 17th minute.

Not long after, Ruben Duran would double his club's lead after Borja Granero would swing in a short cross, before the midfielder maestro would score a beautiful goal with a left-footed volley in the 31st minute. Shortly after the 2nd period started, Francis tripled Racings's lead with a close-ranged finish in the 53rd minute. Ruben Duran agonizingly scored an own goal after nodding the ball into his own goal in the 59th minute.

Burgos fans were given a glimmer of hope when Mario, Racing's goalkeeper, scored a freak own goal, in the 68th minute. But, Enrique Corrales, who scored the first goal of the game, thrusted forward and whipped in a cross, where it hit Serrano's heel, and it diverted it into his own goal in the 92nd minute.

Sub On: Moussa Kone, Andreu, Inaki
Racing Santander Goals: Enrique Corrales (17), Ruben Duran (31), Francis (53), Jose Serrano (90+2 OG)
Burgos's Goals: Ruben Duran (59 OG), Mario (68 OG)
Man of the Match: Ruben Duran (Racing) 8.1

Racing Santander S.A.D. 4-1 Zamora

Saturday 23rd November 2013 | El Sardinero | Att. 13,410

Racing Santander XI: Mario, Francis, Juanpe, Soria, Corrales, Lafuente, Granero, Duran, Inaki, Miguelez, Bolado

Racing Santander hammered Zamora in a breezy evening in El Sardinero. The Racinguistas continued their rich vein of form with a complete 4-1 win.

Racing goalkeeper Mario suffered another howler this weekend, as another own-goal occurred today to open the scoring in the 11th minute. However, Ivan Bolado struck a clean left-footed shot to put Racing back on level terms in the 26th minute. The match went on, with a 1-1 staying over until the 80th minute, where Ivan Bolado struck again after a long ball by Mario, much to the delight of the home fans.

Not long after, Ander Lafuente ended any Zamora hopes to equalize and take a point back home, as he scored a close-range goal in the 85th minute, 5 minutes after Bolado had put his side into the lead. But, that was not going to be the last goal of the game, with Juanpe finishing off the game in the 88th minute after a corner whipped in by Ruben Duran.

Sub On: Ion Echaide
Racing Goals: Ivan Bolado (26,80) Ander Lafuente (85) Juanpe (88)
Zamora Goals: Mario (11 OG)
Man of the Match: Ander Lafuente (Racing) 9.0

Racing Santander S.A.D. 1-1 Real Oviedo

Saturday 30th November 2013 | El Sardinero | Att. 17,410

Racing Santander XI: Mario, Francis, Juanpe, Soria, Corrales, Lafuente, Granero, Duran, Nieto, Miguelez, Bolado

Racing Santander faced equally impressive Real Oviedo at home, who are second in the league, trailing by 5 points to their title rivals. However, it was a dull match before we would see the score-sheet adding two goals late on into the game.

Racing's 4-2-3-1 was quickly teared apart by Real Oviedo's balanced 4-4-2, which included the impressive Diego Cervero, who would break the home support's hearts. Raul, quickly, took note of this, and changed to the same formation, which improved their own game. As half-time came calling, Racing made alterations to the side, with 'super-sub' Inaki coming on, and returned to their initial 4-2-3-1.

Ivan Bolado hit a volley which sailed into the goal, but the line-man had raised his flag for an odd off-side call. It looked that the match was going to end in a blank score-sheet after Bolado's offside goal, but 'super-sub' Inaki scored what seemed to be the winner and another 3 points at El Sardinero for the Racing fans, but Diego Cervero cooly finished off Mario, who had no chance after his initial shot by

It was the first-time Raul had dropped points during the season, and everyone will be keeping an eye on the second round against Oviedo, who were great against unbeaten Racing.

Sub On: Inaki, Andreu
Racing Goals: Inaki (82)
Real Oviedo Goals: Diego Cervero (85)
Man of the Match: Mario (Racing) 7.8

Great month going unbeaten!
Good to see you top if the league as well with a nice 5 point lead

Great month ! You made good results, and you unbeatable. Good luck! And the best results.

New to the site, and sitting in work looking throught it, and come across this story, no better way to start reading the storys, start with the best they say !, c'mon the racin !

@Pompey: Thanks man, it was tough, but I got through!

@Bebero: Mario's own-goals were obviously glitches :s, sucked to see them almost lose my lead.

@dTennant: Thanks mate, and welcome to the site!

Sorry for the lack updates in these past week or so, I've been with a tight schedule, just playing a sole FM game this week. Do not be afraid, this story is still on its main course, getting Racing to the BBVA and get Sergio Canales

Raul Gonzalez has revealed that new deals have been offered to the 'Key Players' who have helped him keep the team's unbeaten run to 21 games, ahead of their home match against current Liga BBVA champions, Barcelona. Raul explained,"Over the course of the summer, we signed players on one-year rolling contracts, to ensure that we didn't add more years if the signing went into the wrong way. However, thanks to our surprise unbeaten run throughout these first 6 months, the board and I have decided that we're going to add at least a year into the contracts of those players that have showed their true passion for the club." Raul continued,"We've extended the contracts of 13 players, and we've seen that they truly love their football here, by taking pay cuts, in order to save the football club of the possibility to perish."


Miguel Angel Nieto, one of the 13 players who got his contract renewed, said,"It's been a great ride ever since I joined Racing, even if it had its lows. However, every member of the team has been enjoying their time here, playing under such a legend in football, and getting great results." Another player who got his contract renewed was Mario, who has only conceded 14 goals this season, as well as keeping 10 clean sheets. He said,"Under the management of Raul, I can easily say that this has been the best year between the sticks at Racing. The new staff he's brought have helped me, and my fellow team-mates, especially the defenders."


Talking ahead of facing Barcelona, Raul said,"We've got ourselves to the round of 32, which is an amazing accomplishment for our current team, and we got a great rival ahead of us. The sales of the tickets for the Barcelona match will be bargains and I call on the fans to help us get a foot into the Quarter-Final and give us a boost ahead of our trip at Camp Nou this month."

Nice job resigning your stars, they'll be key in your title chase!

@Madridista: Thanks mate, they've been playing great and praising them is getting old, so I handed them new contracts with lower money than they earned xD