RCD Mallorca president and maximum shareholder Andy Kohlberg assessed our start to the season, the new coaching staff, signings and where the club is heading in an interview with club media. Find out what our president had to say below:
Question: How do you assess the season so far?
Answer: We are very excited about this season. A new coach and players, but our objective remains the same: first and foremost, to stay in LaLiga and also to be a club consistently in the top ten and to improve year after year. And another key factor is to develop our young players. We have several good players from the youth academy who are playing in the first team and we want them to be more and more. And fortunately, Jagoba Arrasate is very comfortable playing with young players and that really helps the whole team. We are very excited about that.
Q: First impressions of Jagoba?
A: We are very happy that he is here. We think he is the perfect coach for this moment. We are very satisfied and grateful for what Javier Aguirre did, but with the arrival of Jagoba, we have a new structure and a new style of play, and we are very excited about the prospects. And we believe, as I said, that he is a great coach for us now and in the future.
Q: Are the offensive signings that came in coach's choices?
A: Obviously all the decisions we make are in conjunction with Pablo Ortells and Jagoba Arrasate. We wanted more attacking wingers, with more pace and who were good on the ball. We believe that the changes we are making are consistent with what Jagoba wants in terms of the style of play. And we are very confident that it is the right approach. I think another thing we are doing is putting more emphasis on our young players and trying to bring in and develop players from our youth team to be first team players. And Jagoba fully supports that. He's very comfortable with the young players and we think that's great for the whole team.
Q: Incredible response from the fans once again, how do you feel?
A: I think we are doing well. When we arrived here in Mallorca, we had 7,000 season ticket holders and now we have 22,000. And I think from a social media perspective, we had I think 300,000 when we started and now we have nine million followers. So we've made a lot of progress thanks to our social media team and the marketing and branding team. It's going very well and I think the island and the world is supporting us in a record way. We are very happy.
Q: What are the new challenges ahead?
A: I think we have made a lot of progress, as I said, but we still have a lot more to do. We want to expand the stadium. We still have several areas to improve with a gymnasium, a sports performance centre and a medical clinic. On the south side, we plan to have a football park, for young people from all over the island to come and practice, and a climbing wall. We want to have birthday parties and children's events and corporate events in the stadium, as well as music and entertainment. We really want to turn the stadium into a hub for the whole city and the whole island of Mallorca. Instead of the football stadium being used 19 times a year, we want it to be used every day, several times a day for different events and parties and all kinds of things. So we really want to turn it into the centre of the city of Palma.
Q: A message for the fans?
A: We are very happy with the support of the fans. As I said: 22,000 season ticket holders and we see a lot more people wearing t-shirts around the island. We really want it to be a great place for young people to come. Visca Mallorca.
