The referee stops the game, jogs to the benches, puts his hand in his pocket, takes the yellow card and brandishes it in front of the Real Valladolid coach, Paulo Pezzolano. Thus up to seven times in 13 games, making the Uruguayan coach the most cautioned figure in the League in this first third of the championship. No one in First Division has seen so many yellow cards, not even field players and even less trainers. The injured party served a one-game suspension against Villarreal and has received two more in the following two games for his complaints to the referee. “I’m not worried, I have to see how to improve,” he said after a new warning against Athletic Club, received after annulling a direct expulsion of a Bilbao player at the request of the VAR.
This unusual statistic puts Pezzolano back in the spotlight beyond the strictly sporting aspect, since Pucela is in relegation positions despite drawing against the Basques and has found neither results nor sensations under the command of the Uruguayan. He maintains a tense relationship with the Nuevo José Zorrilla crowd, who insistently demanded his resignation last year in the Second Division, resulting in direct promotion to the Blanquivioleta. This season the anger has been directed towards Ronaldo Nazario’s box amid complaints about the low investment in the squad, unstructured and weakened in the last days of the market, and without so much choral reproach to the coach in the form of those chants of “Pezzolano resign !” which he himself shouted at the promotion celebration on the balcony of the town hall. On the other hand, the fans do defend the South American in terms of the multiple yellow cards, collected in the following games: the first, on matchday 2 against Leganés; then, against Real Sociedad, Sevilla, Rayo Vallecano and Alavés before, given this fifth warning, watching from the stands the match against Villarreal, which ended in defeat. After the punishment, same scenario against Osasuna and Athletic Club. This string means that in the last four games played from the bench he has received yellow cards. Adding to the referee’s zeal is the red card that Joaquín ‘Papa’ saw in Seville, one of his collaborators, who is no longer at Real Valladolid after recently signing for Uruguayan club Liverpool. Other members of his coaching staff have also received yellow cards. Up to 10 of the 44 yellow cards seen by the team have come due to protests against decisions by the authority on the field.
“In minute 45+2, Pezzolano Suárez coach, Paulo César, was reprimanded for the following reason: For protesting some decisions from the technical area,” Cordero Vega, judge on Athletic’s visit to Zorrilla, wrote in the minutes. Paulo Pezzolano responded with resignation, and biting his tongue, when he was asked after Saturday’s equalizer about this cardboard carousel: “I’m not worried about that. I have to see how to improve, but we were talking well with the lineman and the referee came to show me the yellow, I don’t know if it was ordered by the fourth official. I don’t mind. “I need the eleven players on the field.” The coach soon showed in Valladolid his hot character and intensity in his protests against the referees, as he was expelled on his second day as Pucelano coach, against Villarreal, shortly after arriving at the entity in the final stretch of the 2022/2023 season: That day he confronted his Castellón colleague, then Quique Setién, for a controversial goal by the yellows with a blanquivioleta on the ground. His vehement complaints to Iglesias Villanueva, with shouts face to face, earned him that first sanction. That day, at least, the Castilians won.
The Uruguayan was also punished, this time in the Second Division, with four days without leading his team. The sentence came late as a direct order from the Competition Committee for his words after a home defeat against Atlético de Madrid, with his team fighting for permanence, after an unreported handball by Saúl in the mattress area: “Let the VAR They haven’t seen that penalty, it’s incredible. If it is in the other area, they will charge it for sure.” The club endorsed its coach and issued a statement critical of such a penalty: “It is an absolutely disproportionate punishment, since it will mean that he will practically miss 10% of the competition.” […]”. Real Valladolid then launched a campaign called “Against everything and against everyone” to try to encourage its fans ahead of the final matches of the season, which experienced unusual episodes such as a goal disallowed by Escudero against Sevilla because the referee blew the whistle for half-time. when he was hitting the ball. Despite this emphasis against the referees, neither the game nor the goals came and the team ended up being relegated. In this new journey in First Division, after a year in Second without so much referee conflict, Pezzolano insists that he tries to control himself and his fuss and decibels have been significantly reduced, although he already has the seven yellow cards mentioned. The second most cautioned in First Division, the tough central defender of Alavés Aqbar, with six.
