There is no doubt that the two teams from Brodogradište – due to the weight of their stories, due to the fact that they have to produce results immediately and due to the fact that they are always under pressure – must have in their program the aspiration to achieve privileged positions in any championship in which they participate. They have an urgent obligation to be the protagonists, and excuses for shirking responsibility, which contradict what they are offering ahead of the tournament, should not serve as newspaper headlines.

These contradictions, or mirages, are almost always sponsored by the ceremony of leaders or technicians who glorify successes or mitigate failures, citing non-existent reasons. The newly christened directive offered to erase the immediate past and blamed the previous ruling regime for inheriting economic difficulties. Coach Ismael Rescalvo, who did not win a title during his long stay at the club, was also blamed for the sports fiasco, and Nassib Neme is satisfied.

José Pileggi, the new president, had a campaign of serious proposals, without smoke. His speech convinced the partners. Among his proposals was the formation of a football team composed of quality domestic and foreign players and the hiring of a coaching staff with experience and knowledge so that Emelec could finally continue football with characteristics similar to those of other electric teams that delighted the fans. However, Pileggi was close to saying that his desire is to surpass the level of Emelec Fernando Paternoster in the 60s or Gustavo Quinteros when he was a double champion in 2013-2014.

When it was announced that Miguel Rondelli would be the coach to forget Rescalvo’s frustrating time, there were first mixed reactions for the simple reason that the Argentine’s background did not guarantee the fulfillment of what the new leadership offered. It didn’t take us long to realize that Emelec is a football mess. Meanwhile, Rondelli was looking for baseless excuses to justify the bottom positions in the standings.

They filled the backpack with lies that became too heavy a burden. From a distance you could see the incompetence of the technicians. He lost his compass and dared to describe his critics as subjects “who talk nonsense and see ghosts where there are none.” Rondelli’s stage is complete. His consolation prize was winning the Clásico del Astillero and, as a medal of honour, putting his team-mate Fabián Bustos out of a job. Rondelli’s fleeting success, beating Barcelona away, will remain on his CV as the highlight of his professional career.

On leaving, he said that he had not resigned and that he had not been fired. As his mandate ended, Rondelli will be remembered as a coach who should never have come to Emelec. The epilogue had an unfortunate episode, as with the Argentine in charge of the team ahead of the Clásico, Pileggi’s board of directors had already agreed with his successor. I don’t know if Rondelli did it out of ingenuity or chivalry, but he managed the Copa Sudamericana and for a change he did it without pain or glory.

The institutional life of Emelec and the football team must continue. We hope that the current Board of Directors will make important sports changes, that the finances will be in line with its needs and that its president does not open conflict scenarios with journalists when he criticizes. Pileggi accuses. He claims that there are microphone mercenaries who speak 24 hours a day and for a few denars offered by third parties to make things go wrong for him in Emelec. Of course, he did not specify who pays and who gets paid.

It falls into the conceptual futility that the sociologist José Ingenieros perfectly explained in his book El hombre mediocre, published in 1913. We hope that in time the new director of Emelec, led by Pileggi, will gather the necessary experience to find the north that demands so much

In the store next door, Barcelona fans are also going through turbulent times. Football decline is evident. Just when we all thought that Fabián Bustos had found the right lineup, that the team had raised its sails and that with a good wind it was going in the right direction, especially in the Pro League, moment by moment he was lost again. It started with a loss of points against Libertad de Loja, as they allowed themselves a 2-2 draw after a comfortable 2-0 win.

Then came a 4-1 loss to El Nacional, in an embarrassing day for El Ídolo, who were already showing symptoms of football regression that made it telling that Bustos had lost him. Then Emelec defied the odds and ended a nine-match winless streak with a win over Barcelona, ​​a result that ended Toreador’s bid to win the first stage of the Pro League. Criticism against Bustos had begun three weeks earlier, when Carlos Alfaro Moreno publicly pointed out to the mistakes made in Loja and Quito. Clásico was the final straw.

The continuity of Bustos was questioned in the press and on social networks. The unusual refrain, which is rarely heard, “que se vaya todos”, was well interpreted by the leadership, which did not want to be involved in this request, and therefore hastened to accuse the culprit. As always happens in football, the coach was chosen. But Bustos, knowledgeable and experienced in our football, with a feeling and a gesture that qualifies his personality, preferred to retire. He resigned and many applauded him.

Bustos left like a gentleman, but leaves the door open for judging whether the evil in Barcelona has its roots in the coaching staff or other factors that did not allow the desired football content to develop. The defeat against Palmeiras in Sao Paulo showed that there are players who do not have the level and others who do not deserve to wear the Ídola shirt. In addition, the atmosphere in the yellow club has become rare. Many believe that every time Barcelona enters election season, internal imbalances begin. Many past tests confirm failure.

Alfaro Moreno, who knows the club well, must make great efforts to overcome the sporting, financial and political problems that have delayed the aspirations of the institution. I believe that both shipyard leaders understand that their obligation goes beyond the recognition they always believe they deserve. The best recognition is spontaneous and when there is a correct administration, which does not threaten institutionality, and consistent sports results.

Today, both Emelec and Barcelona are immersed in a situation that makes football in Guayas not look good. His managers must realize that Pichincha is imposing himself in national and international tournaments. Gone are the days when shipyard teams were the exclusive protagonists of Ecuadorian football. For now, it’s just history. (OR)