JOSÉ CASTRO: "MENDILIBAR HAS JUST ARRIVED, BUT HE KNOWS WHAT WE NEED"

It is tradition for Sevilla FC to partake in a floral offering every morning on Easter Monday to the Brotherhood of San Benito, as it is for the president to speak to the media at the exit of the Parish. He recognised that the victory in Cádiz was a breath of fresh air for the side: "These three points in the Nuevo Mirandilla have made us optimistic because they are a club in a similar position to us in the league, and had not lost at home since September. We are sure that it will be the the start of us climbing up the table with the new coach, who has just arrived and we have to give him time, but he knows what we need. There is also something else that is very important, that our players keep on coming back from injury and we have more options for selection."

On the style of play, José Castro acknowledged that "I prefer playing in the opposition's half as supposed to ours, of course this is what one would prefer, but every coach has their own way of playing which is fair enough. Whatever style of football you play is great if you win the game, but that being said, constantly playing in a risky manner does not make sense, especially if you are where we are in the league. We have already seen that what he has done is to not play it risky at the back, and make the most of the players we have in attack. Playing in the opposition's half makes us all feel more relaxed. It's logical that this is how we feel, with each player being comfortable in his position. In football everything is created and can be improved, but you have got to do what is logical. Maybe we don't currently have the squad to play in the Champions League, but it's also not a squad that should be in the position we are now. There are seasons like this, it happens to all teams, but I hope that from now, with everything in place and ready, we are going to climb up the table and be in a more comfortable position." 

"We have already seen that Mendilibar does not play it risky at the back and makes the most of the players we have in attack"

That said, we have now got to turn our attention to Celta Vigo and keep on picking up points: "What we envision is winning three games in a row and being able to relax a bit. What comes after that, who knows. We don't make predictions on the fly because with the way football is I could say something today and tomorrow things have completely changed. We are confident and optimistic with this coach because we can see how important things are being dealt with, and we will speak more when we have won a string of games. 

He also spoke about the partial closure to some of the North Stand for this Friday: "It seems appalling to me because in other stadiums worse things happen and no action is taken. But we are not too stressed because we have done all that we can. We have gone to the Supreme Court and there is not much more we can do. It is very strange that many of the season ticket holders in this section who have been there for six years, are not now. It's an outrage, but we are used to being treated differently when it comes to sanctions."

Asked about comparisons with the 'Negreira Case', Castro recognised that "what we hope is that it will come back into the public eye because it is very serious and it is not me who says that, but the President of UEFA. I remind you that we were the first to say that this case needed to be looked at by the highest authorities, because we cannot all be working so hard in Spanish football to see it lose credibility because one side does things that it shouldn't." 

To end, he spoke about the negotiations regarding Sampaoli's exit: "There are talks because it does not work how it used to. When you want to sign a coach, you have to make sure that you have paid off the one who they are replacing. I am sure that we will come to an agreement that works well for both parties".