Madlung Breathes New Life into Gijón

Free agent Alexander Madlung today signed a one year management deal with Sporting Gijon being released by Eintracht Frankfurt during the 2014/15 season. Madlung had been training to get his licenses for quite some time and completed them during the time he had between his last club and becoming manager of Sporting Gijon.

The thirty-three year old has had a senior career spanning fifteen years, in which he has never left Germany - while making over 150 appearances for Wolfsburg.

Fans of Gijon have voiced their concerns at the awarding of management to Madlung, who will be one of the younger managers in world football, and has no prior experience. Alexander defended his appointment through

"Yes, I am unproven. Yes, I do not know Spanish. But I am not here to learn Spanish, I am here to win trophies. I plan to bring a progressive, attacking football to Gijon and I hope I can win you all over."

With a host of friendlies coming up, fans are hoping to see that Madlung's appointment has been the right decision.

Alexander Madlung today shocked fans with the announcement of highly-rated forward Carlos Castro signing a new four year deal with the club.

The forward, who is twenty years old has been linked with Arsenal over the summer and many anticipated he would move in January for a small amount as his contract was running out.

Before Madlung's appointment, members of the supporters club were voicing their discontent at the club not tying Castro down to a new contract with banners outside the club's stadium. But have since applauded the move of the novice German manager.

Carlos Castro was unable to comment on the matter due to Madlung's stringent training rules during the pre-season, however club president Antonio Veiga Suárez had this to say on the matter

"We are very aware of the talent we have in Carlos and were working hard to fend off bigger clubs from Europe taking him off our hands. The fact we've tied him down to a new deal means an immense deal to this club and we hope we can develop his talent so he can become the star he is." [Translation supplied by Gijón English Supporters]

Good move to pen him down quickly! Good luck!

Thanks mate!

Sporting Gijón today announced the loan signing of Ghana youngster Thomas Partey from Atletico Madrid.

The midfielder, who has attracted attention from plaudits across Europe has joined on a year long loan which will allow Atletico to see his progression within the game and allow him to get some much needed game time.

Gijón have revealed they will be paying 55,000 euros a month for the services of young Thomas, who is only twenty-two. The amount paid will include his wages also.

This is the first signing new boss Alexander Madlung has made, but promises at a minimum one more, even with the excruciatingly small budget he has been given.

Thomas had this to say about his move:

"I need to play to reach my potential, and if the Atleti boss thinks I'm not currently good enough to get into the squad there, of course I will move to continue my progression and not let my talents halt or go to waste. I hope to impress everyone at Gijón and look forward to playing for the fans.

Time to Parteeeeeey

A poor pre-season has left Sporting Gijón looking bereft of confidence as they failed to win any of their four games. Alexander Madlung played various different players to try and find his best eleven, but it seems as if he failed to do so.

Alexander Madlung today announced his second signing for relegation candidates Sporting Gijón in the form of Northern Ireland forward Kyle Lafferty.

The twenty-eight year old has enjoyed a career that has seen him play in England, Scotland, Italy and Switzerland and now sees him moving to Spain.

Lafferty will join the red and white's on a year long loan worth 34,000 euros a month, which includes his wages.

Madlung announced this signing today amidst claims from pundits that due to their poor pre-season, Gijón will fall short from the off and struggle to gain points to secure their safety.

"Kyle joins what is a very young group of forwards. I brought him into the club because we lacked experience going forward and he's been able to perform everywhere he's been. Not only does he know how to finish, he knows how to assist his team mates too. I am excited to see him play. Madlung said during the press conference.

Good signing in Lafferty mate, hope he does well for your lot!

Kyle Lafferty has a fantastic international record, hopefully he can reproduce that for his new club!

Sporting Gijón started their campaign the same way they went about their pre-season, but nobody had expected them to beat Real Madrid. Kyle Lafferty scored on his debut against the giants. He continued his goal scoring into the next game with David Moyes' Real Sociadad, in which the sides battled out until Lafferty once again broke the deadlock.

But nobody, not even manager Alexander Madlung was expecting a 4-0 thrashing of Valencia, especially so early on in the season. Left winger Jony scored two, while Lafferty made it four in three for the Red and Whites.

Jack / Justice Thank you! As you can see he's doing well!

Amazing results to Sociedad and Valencia especially, fantastic month.

Who'd have thought Kyle Lafferty would shake things up in La Liga, eh?