Once again, the goal is met for the fourth straight season, but not without suffering until the 38th date. Cádiz continues its process of establishment as part of the first division of Spanish football.
Sergio González, the yellow orchestra’s director, has fought against all odds in a more than rough scenario. The Catalonian manager and Cádiz CF’s president, Manuel Vizcaíno, have stayed afloat despite facing internal and external issues. Luckily, the uncountable refereeing “favors” that turned the journey to avoid relegation into an unpleasant roller-coaster remain a minor anecdote compared to the season’s happy ending.
Who would have said that a team who did not score a goal or earn a single point until the sixth date of the season would not get relegated? The main reason behind their stay is the strength and bond of the squad. Some would have deemed the season over a long before its conclusion, but not Cádiz.
Despite the clear limitations to their roster, they have managed to exploit their virtues in order to maintain a balance that, in addition to the emotional push their fans bring to the table, allowed the team to be the master of its own fate during the last stages of the season.
However, in a year determined by numbers due to their 43 points –that could be historic if the two points from the match versus Elche are awarded–, not everything has been positive. In fact, from a self-demanding point of view, the tension suffered throughout the season could have been majorly evaded.
It would be opportunistic to talk about a better result in the standings. Although, a proper configuration of the squad during the summer transfer market would have certainly help display a regularly competitive version of Cádiz CF and, especially, help improve the relationship between the fans and the front office.
The management job during the winter transfer window is what Cádiz fans ask from their team’s board come August. Simply a manifested willingness to help achieve the club’s set goals and help them grow in status little by little. The same way the ticket holders pray every season.
Players like Gonzalo Escalante, Sergi Guardiola or Chris Ramos have been a breath of fresh air for Sergio’s tactics and ideology. Nevertheless, that did not happen until January. At the same time, Brian Ocampo, Théo Bongonda; two dynamic profiles on their way back to the first division. But they arrived in September, not in form for the competition and with the season already underway.
That has been Cádiz’s main mistake. A wall they crash into every year at the same stage. Obviously, they will not lose their modest profile overnight in LaLiga.
Anyways, in their fourth season among the elite, they have a chance to take a leap (a qualitative one and perhaps also quantitative when it comes to the rosters extension) and get closer to cases of progressive success like Osasuna or, even closer, Mallorca and Rayo Vallecano.
For example, the revaluation of their key pieces. Players that have always performed to a high level like Conan Ledesma or Bongonda are now potential targets with a good reputation for other teams on the market.
The club may not need to sell them, but a solid offer for one of their stars would allow them to reinvest the fee into various positions. They would rather get a compensation than let their biggest assets walk for free.
In conclusion: fans, coaching staff and even the front office have expressed those be their thoughts.
In the hands of the latter, who as of now have achieved the bare minimum, is to start working from now to, at least, be in the position to plan for the 23/24 season as a first-division participant.
Cádiz remains on the first division of Spanish football and aims towards more ambitious goals.
Translated by Nuño Alonso.
Main image: @Cadiz_CF.
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