Colón: six months into Alonso's reign, Cartier exclusive on Radio Gol | OneFootball

José Alonso Cartier spoke with ADN Gol six months after taking office as president of Colón, enjoying the current form of the first team in Primera Nacional, and also highlighted the club’s current institutional situation.

“I think that, in terms of ideals and personal ambitions, you always want the most, especially when you live in that somewhat competitive world with yourself, trying to overcome barriers and keep moving forward.”

And well, of course, being in the situation Colón is in today from a sporting standpoint gives us a lot of peace of mind and allows us to dream a little that we can achieve even more, and that dream is what keeps guiding us toward where we want to go. So there is real satisfaction, but even more satisfying is having built an interactive human group, both in the professional staff that supports us today and also within the squad. There is an interesting cohesion; nothing is achieved without cohesion, if there are confrontations, if there is harshness, if there are responsibilities that are not shared. So all of that is also what binds things together, what gives peace of mind, right? That’s what one thinks, even though there are always setbacks, as in football, right? You fall and get back up. What you have to keep is the perspective of where you are going, and whether the train you’re on is moving toward a good destination and whether the people in the carriage are accompanying you and enjoying the moment.”

“I think that’s a big part of the satisfaction, and I agree, as you say, that one imagines wanting to be there, but today it’s a reality and we have to take great care of it, like crystal, that’s how it is.”

“As for meetings, for example, with Diego or with Ezequiel, we are always in constant communication about everything, we talk about everything and openly about what each of us thinks. So when you ask me, ‘And what do you see as wrong?’ No, no, no, it would be improper and disrespectful to say something publicly about the coaches. To make public something that is private.

To make public something that is private. Because you know that in Argentina we are all coaches, we are all players, we are all executives, at a café table, eating with friends, that’s just how it is. And the only real thing in football is when we all agree on one thing: listening. When everyone gets on the same page, then yes, because that’s where reality is. Otherwise it would just be a bit of what I think.”

What I liked most is that I like to act quickly and decisively, and to do that you have to be analytical and know where you’re headed. What I liked most is that things responded, to some extent, to my idea of doing things quickly and with concrete solutions.

“Not getting into prospective analysis of what I’m going to do, what business I’m going to do—no, no, no—making quick decisions, and I think it showed, I think it showed because we came into a club that, honestly, from an administrative and economic point of view, was devastated, and we had to take on commitments, as I just said, from the economic side, because Colón had to get out of that mess, that difficult situation it was in. And I think that’s what I value most, because it’s the idiosyncrasy I have for handling life, and well, in that respect I humbly believe we did well with that change. And as for the other question, what hurt me the most was facing economic situations that were left to us after our management had been heavily criticized, when that was not the case, because when we left Colón, Colón was in a good situation, it had no bank debt, no tax debt, no bounced checks, all the players were paid properly, there were no lawsuits from players, no lawsuits from coaches. In other words, we found a completely different picture from the one that had been left at that time. So that hurt me, it hurt me a lot, because we are all Colón people, we all make mistakes. Sometimes silence doesn’t mean approval, but rather respect, and above all respect for the institution. Colón needs shared energy, in good times and bad, as we all say at the stadium. That shared energy is what will allow the club to grow. If we start distorting things and tearing each other apart, I think at some point you said it, that it becomes self-mutilating, or don’t you think… Yes, it’s self-destructive, it’s self-destructive. I remember that phrase, I took it from what you said, and you are absolutely right. Colón, sometimes when confusion sets in—confusion because of results, because of this or that—that distribution of blame begins, that kind of search as if poking around to see what it can uncover, instead of thinking that the club has to move forward because there are always problems, always things, situations, but we have to help. I think that today I see the people’s support as very positive. I truly congratulate, thank, and have nothing but recognition for what the Colón member-fans have always been, because they have responded as they always do, with that unbreakable passion that makes them unique nationwide and that they have also shown internationally. That helps a lot, and also, of course, their economic support by being members and keeping up their dues despite the economic difficulties that exist today. So I think that’s also what I liked most: the speed of being able to solve problems. And what hurt me most is that sometimes we found ourselves in complex situations, and you have to respect the club’s identity, even though there had at times been some charitable activity.”

There were many, many, many, and many of them throw you off balance in the moment. Things are going well and suddenly an issue appears that upsets your working capital or your cash flow and leaves you reeling a bit, right? For example, the effort we made with Nacho Lago.

“That effort has many implications, but that’s not the point right now. I’m happy because Nacho is with us and represents us in the way he does, and he is a key person and a star both on and off the field. But I’m telling you about situations that sometimes hit you like a slap and you have to get back up again, still a little dizzy, straighten yourself out a bit, get up, and act as if nothing happened, because that’s part of the terrain, right? So those are the kinds of things—those sudden situations you have to resolve and that lead to economic imbalance, you understand? Because sometimes you have planned expenditures in order, and suddenly they put you in a somewhat uncomfortable situation. Do you understand or not?”

“What is relevant to say is that if Nacho had become a free agent, we would have had to take on a multimillion cost in foreign currency, which would practically have meant bankruptcy, right? And then everything we had done before would have been nothing, nothing, absolutely nothing.”

“So first we had to try to correct the injustice committed against him through absurd, deceitful, and false promises. And second, of course, take on the commitment of updating his contract as he deserves and has earned, so that he can feel duly rewarded for everything he has done at Colón. And then there was this rather difficult situation, which was practically disastrous, I would say.”

“No, no, no, now I understand you. No, no, no. We are talking with Platense, and the issue with Platense is fundamentally not what they owe us—of which they have paid us just a tiny bit from the transfer fee—but rather the issue of the player’s sale. And on that point we are in a clearly, absolutely legal process and pursuing the corresponding claims, as we should, right? Not just going out and saying anything. We are making the claim as we should, in a totally, let’s say, formal way—organic is the term, right? Organic. You make a claim in an orderly way, and that is the path. The other path is spectacle, going out in the press saying you didn’t do this or that; I don’t know where that gets you. I don’t do that. But I do have the arguments and I do have the supporting communication and all the necessary documentation to prove what I want to prove, and with that we move forward, as we did with Neris.”

“The explanation is very simple, guys. Neris had to report here on January 1 because his contract with City Torque ended on the 31st, and he did not show up. He appeared on the 26th. In between there were three formal telegrams from Colón telling him he had to report. He did not show up. He arrived here on the 26th, and by then the coach was already in preseason with the full squad. He said, ‘Look, you have to do separate work.’ That was completely logical. He hadn’t played for about a month and a half, two months. Besides that, the fitness coach gave him instructions, and that’s when he started saying he had grounds, that we mistreated him, that we kept him at the hotel—there at the hotel where he stayed until his situation was sorted out. Meanwhile the agent kept stirring things up, saying stupid things and acting irresponsibly, as that person always has, known in Uruguay for that trait, because I spoke with people from River in Uruguay and they spoke very badly of him, as did many Uruguayan executives I know. He was looking for his usual style, which is always to steal players away from clubs—that is always these people’s style. I mean the agent. So what happened? On the 16th he showed up with a notary and said he was in such-and-such condition, that they weren’t giving him this, that they treated him badly, that they told him this. He spent 15 days claiming salary. I don’t know what salary, if he had shown up on the 26th in an illegal way, not in the proper way he was supposed to. And then he left on February 16 without taking into account the federative rights. The federative rights, right? Beyond the financial side, those rights were still in force. Neri is under them; Neri is currently still under those operative rights. So what did they do? They went to Ecuador and registered him with Emelec. And what did we do? We claimed the federative rights, because this could not be done, and we sent a lot of documentation stating that in fact

we had spoken with Emelec in order to sell him, and there are statements from Emelec’s executives. How can a player who doesn’t report, leaves whenever he wants, and on top of that does not respect the federative rights be allowed to do that? We are facing a serious violation. Those are Colón’s arguments. And of course all the documentation was sent, and they were given, let’s say, the opportunity to respond by the 19th, which has already passed, and they did not respond, and now they were given 10 more days. And from the moment that news reached Ecuador, that is when you received the information about what was happening.”

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.