Hey, it's more important now that we are gonna play the winners next season!

The way the playoffs work is explained in some detail here:

Estadios de Fútbol en España: Promotion Play-offs - Segunda B

Winning your regional group of the Segunda B (there are four of them) is a good thing, as then you only have to win one round of playoffs to go up. This year it's our friends from Mirandés who play Atletico Baleares from Mallorca, while the other yellow submarine (Cadiz) take on Real Madrid's second team, Real Madrid Castilla. The winners of those matches (over two legs) are automatically promoted to the Segunda. I expect Mirandés to make it this time; the other matchup might be tight but I think both of the clubs involved will ultimately win through anyway.

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News around the league first: Marcos Senna is being honored today in Vila-real for his ten years with the club. They will become eleven years, as even at age 36 our beloved capitán was one of, if not the, best player we had this year, and Sr. Roig announced he will return next year.

And recapping yesterday's press conference, here are a couple of reports, one from a national paper, one from a fans' site:

"Pondré mi patrimonio para saldar compromisos del Villarreal" | Deportes | EL PAÍS

Comienza el nuevo proyecto del Villarreal " El Borde del Área

In other news, Villarreal's purchase of DeGuzman resulted in a profit at Real Mallorca:

Real Mallorca : Real Mallorca announce profits of €7.2m

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Here's a brief look at the history of teams relegated from the Primera and how quickly they made it back to the top flight, if they did.

2004-05: Levante: won promotion back immediately; Numancia--promoted in third year; Albacete--have not returned

2005-06: Alaves--have not returned; Cadiz--have not returned; Malaga--promoted in second year

2006-07: Celta Vigo--have not returned; Real Sociedad--returned in second year (finished fourth in 2007-08); Nastic--have not returned

2007-08: Real Zaragoza--won promotion back immediately; Murcia--have not returned; Levante--won promotion back in second year

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We already know there's no TV for this one; we do have the starting lineup for Villarreal B as:

Mariño, Toño, Kiko, Truyols, Pere, Moi, Gerard Bordas, Manu Trigueros, Llorente, Toribio and Juanito.

So no place for Porcar, returning from suspension, Juanito gets a chance up front instead of Joselu, and the back four doesn't have Lejeune in it. Endavant!!

Sr. Roig addressed the press inside a crowded newsroom in Vila-real today. He confirmed that Villarreal will have a new coach--didn't say whom--and that we would not be cutting the cantera budget.

Interestingly, he said Malaga has STILL not paid the final installment for Santi's sale, and we will take action (unspecified) if need be if it's not received this month. Since Malaga has qualified for the Champions League, UEFA could refuse them a license if they have not settled this, so we have some pull here. (Recall that other clubs denounced Malaga to UEFA a couple of months ago also; no idea if they have seen any money).

Sr. Roig didn't give specifics, but he said we are not going to conduct a fire sale and our goal is going to be to return to the Primera next year, with "Rossi helping us to get there in the last months of the season". Obviously our goal is a quick return to the Primera, so the cuts to the budget will not be as large as some had feared.

I don't know which players attended; word was of those who were there only Marcos Senna and Diego Lopez were cheered, the others there were booed and apparently Camuñas came in for particular opprobrium, along with Nilmar who had to be escorted out. Interesting. Sr. Lotina also made an appearance and read his remarks.

BTW, within MINUTES of Sr. Roig concluding his comments, a Juve blog tweeted Juventus is signing Rossi (for €5m now, €10m payable over 4 years, with a unilateral recission clause in case he's reinjured). Sounds unlikely! But typical of the sort of thing we'll be hearing this summer....

As if being relegated wasn't bad enough, now we have the surreal spectacle of the B team playing out the string. This home match against Huesca is the first of five matches that mean nothing as far as the B team in toto is concerned, because they have already been sent down to the Segunda B through no fault of their own.

Huesca does not have a whole lot to play for either. Our demise means only the bottom three teams in the table drop down, so our visitors begin the match 11 points clear of Alcoyano with only 15 points yet to be claimed--and unlike in the Primera, there don't appear to be any "miraculous" shenanigans going on to rescue the bottom feeders.

With Jaume Costa able to return to the B team for this match, and Lucas Porcar having served his suspension for his red card against Las Palmas, Coach Velásquez has a full team to choose from.

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This wasnt a normal podcast. All of us tried to put our bravest face despite the acute disappointment of the relegation.

We focused on the future. The things the team needs to do to get back to Primera, the tough decisions on coaching staff and personnel.

This one is slightly longer than usual and probably the hardest one to record.

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Endavant Villarreal