Villarreal President Fernando Roig has admitted he needed to make important changes at Villarreal last season.
The Yellow Submarine won promotion to La Primera on Sunday with a 1-0 win over Almeria, and Roig [pictured, left] is adamant things had to change at El Madrigal if the club was to return to the top flight at the first attempt.
Having suffered a tragedy before the start of the season, when the recently-appointed Manuel Preciado died of a heart attack, Roig sacked his replacement Julio Velazquez in January, replacing him with Marcelino Garcia Toral.
“We’ve had a very difficult year but we are now stronger. I had to make some important changes halfway through and things have gone very well since then.
“We have a very good Coach now and we are going to enjoy this,” Roig told reporters in the aftermath of Villarreal’s victory celebrations.
“We have got new challenges ahead. We have economic stability and the fans have shown that we have great support.”
In turn, he made it clear that it was an honour to return to the top division after so much effort was expended this season.
“We had to go down to come back up so we’ll enjoy this win. We are now going to work with our young players. They are the future. At least that’s what we think at Villarreal.”
