January - New Year, New Hope!
The New Year often brings with it a new sense of optimism and for Real Valladolid, it was something to cling on to as they looked to begin a surge back into playoff contention. On and off the field, it would prove to be a big month.
With the transfer window open, rumours began to swirl around the clubs key players, notably Roberto Soldado and a bid to take him to China. However it would be his antics on the pitch that wrote the first headline of the month as his late winner would secure the team a 2-1 home win against Mallorca.
That would be that though, as just days later Penitez would confirm his departure from the club after just 6 months, as a €20,000,000 deal would see him become the latest acquisition by the big spending Chinese at Jiangsu.
Fortunately a replacement was already in the pipeline and days before a home game with Girona, young Portuguese frontman Jose Gomes inked a deal to leave Benfica for just under €5,000,000. He would have an instant impact, coming on as a sub and scoring with 2 minutes to earn Valladolid a precious point against the playoff chasing Girona side.
Further deals made by Valladolid would see the enigmatic Dolly Menga leave to join Boavista, whilst hardman Alex Perez secured a move to Avellino in Serie B. But it would be the surprise €9,000,000 deal to sign Croatian veteran Vedran Corluka that sparked the most interest.
Corluka was listed by Fiorentina and with money to burn, would be enticed by Valladolid in an expensive deal. Corluka's addition would be swiftly followed by the teenager Sanchon who joined from Girona, whilst a further deal to try and bring Zahibo in from Gimnastic remained on the table.
For all the excitement of the transfer window, it would be the turnaround in their on field fortunes that took all the acclaim. A thrilling 2-2 draw with Lugo kept the mini unbeaten run going, before back to back away wins (including a pair of clean sheets) would give the team hope of a successful second half of the season.
A 1-0 win at Huesca thanks to a wild own goal got things going, before a comfortable 2-0 win at Mirandes and a 2nd goal for Jose Gomes added the cherry onto the January cake.
With the transfer window closing, February brings Elche, Cordoba and Getafe to the Jose Zorrilla. Whilst trips to UCAM Murcia and Leganes will test the teams resolve.
January Results
(H) 2-1 Mallorca (Juan Villar), (Soldado)
(H) 1-1 Girona (Jose Gomes)
(H) 2-2 Lugo (Joaquin), (Drazic)
(A) 1-0 Huesca (OG)
(A) 2-0 Mirandes (Juan Villar), (Jose Gomes)