Badajoz looks to the playoff in Patxi’s return

Immersed in an institutional gibberish even more tricky than then, the return of Patxi Salinas with Bilbao Athletic brings this week the unfortunate memory of Premium Sport passing through the New Nursery. The sale of Badajoz is still not finalized with the signing of Joaquín Parra and throughout this process the chilling shadow left by Matías Navarro’s express company has always been very present in the retina of the black and white fan, who continues to watch with suspicion the landing of Lanuspe SL. Both merchants have similarities in terms of their composition, which is why they make the subscriber distrust by not repeating history. Past and present intersect this Saturday, coinciding with the presence of the Basque coach on the visiting bench.

The New Nursery looks to the playoff in the return of Patxi Salinas four years later. The stands try to focus all their senses on what is happening on the pitch, aware of the opportunity that presents itself in this hectic final stretch of the championship with the team one point away from the promotion phase. He doesn’t want anything to divert attention from that objective despite the fact that the problems remain unsolved, as they insist on highlighting players and coaches in each appearance before the media. So with Premium the squad did not get paid either and the club was doomed to a pre-bankruptcy of creditors until Joaquín Parra burst in. Nothing was ever known about the partners behind it, despite the message of transparency and closeness that Navarro preached. A line of action similar to that of the current managers, who also hide behind the anonymity of the partners who accompany Luis Oliver and Joaquín Zulategui. The black and white club still has pending lawsuits with Premium for non-compliance.

The Basque coach was announced in May 2018 as the big bet of the management group that had started the transformation of the club into SAD. It was the only rabbit of his from the hat of a project called to excite the city. But he got a frog because he barely lasted nine games. His time at Badajoz was short-lived and he could be remembered as Patxi the Brief. In fact, he has been the coach who has lasted the fewest games taking on the team since the start of the season in Second B in the two versions of Badajoz. The worst record until that month of October 2018 was held by Gómez Trigo in the first ten days of 1978-79 and ten by Torres Mestre (18) in 2011-12. But he also left another negative record for history because never before in more than a hundred years of football in the city had he started the league without winning at home in the first five games. Mehdi Nafti took over and from the promotion zone due to the permanence that took the team took him to the promotion playoff, the first of the three consecutive that he has played.

Now he returns to the New Nursery at the head of the reborn Bilbao Athletic. Patxi Salinas was at Basconia and took charge of the subsidiary on the eve of the last game of 2021. He replaced Imanol de la Sota on the bench, making the jump from the third rojiblanco subsidiary where he was serving his third season. The Basque coach has managed to change the trend by adding 28 points in 17 games and only one defeat (in Talavera, 4-0) in the last eleven with seven wins (Zamora, Valladolid Promesas, Extremadura, Unionistas, DUX, Tudelano and SD Logroñés ) and three draws (Rayo Majadahonda, Deportivo and Real Unión). With five points above relegation, Bilbao Athletic looks to Badajoz for definitive salvation.