Elche 1-2 Real Sociedad

A last minute winner from comeback kid Gorka Elustundo ended Real Sociedad's season on a high and gave Coach Lillo a good end to his tenure after the bitter disappointment of failing to get promotion. Incredibly the win means that txuri urdin finished with more points away from home than at the Anoeta - something that will need to change next season for sure. Both sides struggled to find any fluency to their game in the first half as the stifling heat took its toll. Elche took the lead on 41 minutes through Santos and it was a weary looking Real side that trudged off the pitch.

The second half was only 2 minutes old when a lively Agirretxe scored at the second attempt to cap an impressive season from him. In the final half an hour the game opened up and both teams had chances to score the winner but it was if the script had been written for Elustundo to score the winner after enduring a nightmare season through injury. On 89 minutes he scored and looked delighted with it. All the players rushed to congradulate him and rightly so as he not only completed a full 90 minutes he looked very assured throughout the 90 minutes and will be a huge player for Real next season if he can stay fit.

Elche: Willy Caballero, Oscar Rubio, Zubiaurre, Olmo, Amaya, Acciari, Usero Santos (Fernando Niño, 90 mins), Dani Benítez, Miguel (Saul, 79 mins), Rubén Pérez (Wakasa, 60 mins)

Real Sociedad: Ramirez, Gerardo, Carlos Martínez, Mikel González (Ansotegi, 80 mins), Castillo, Ros, Elustondo, Moha (Alain Eizmendi, 68 mins), Xabi Prieto, Marcos and Agirretxe (Viguera, 85 mins).

So another season is finished and ultimately its been a very poor one to say the least. Too many times (especially at home) the team looked, at best, average. Marcos and Prieto looked dangerous down the flanks but too often the final pass let them down. The injury to de Cerio certainly never helped matters and his replacement Necati wasn't the goal machine us fans expected him to be but he can't be faulted on his commitment to the cause, its just a shame he couldn't have scored more than one solitary goal and he would have been a fans favourite for sure. Boukary Dramé was a strange signing from Lillo for me cos i'm sure he must have seen him play before taking him on loan. I believe (and i could be wrong) he only started 1 game for the club all season which beggars belief in my eyes. I can only assume he was rubbish in training since i never actually seen him play!! I will be following the comings and goings with great interest during the summer as these will be key to our chances next season. With Abreu gone im particularly looking forward to seeing who Martín Lasarte brings in to get the goals next season. If readers of this site hear or see any tranfer rumours over the next couple of months please feel free to post them as i will no doubt miss some of them!!

I would like to end this post by revealing who i think has been player of the seson - Sebastián Abreu! With 11 goals in 18 games he gets my vote with his all action displays and key goals. His magnificent hat-trick against league leaders Xerez was outstanding and the highlight of the season for me. If anyone doesn't agree with this choice then again, please post a comment. Martín Lasarte was officially presented to the media and fans today and i personally have high hopes for him next season. I hope he can get us out this league at the 3rd time of asking and get us back with the big boys where we belong!

Colombian Jonathan Estrada To Sign

Its yet to be officially confirmed but Millonarios left sided midfielder Jonathan Estrada will be heading to San Sebastian at the weekend to sign a season loan deal to join the club next season with an option to make the deal permanent after that. With Martín Lasarte not due to take the reigns until July 1st its clear he is already working in the background as he was coach of Estrada at Millonarios in 2007. At 26 years old he is a powerful midfielder who, in his two years with Millonarios, managed 7 goals in 79 games. He has been capped for Columbia at Under-17, Under-20 and Under-23 level. The last Columbian to play for Real Sociedad was John Viáfara (2005-2006) during a loan spell from Portsmouth. The video below gives a glimpse of what to expect!

Real Sociedad 1-1 Levante

Real Sociedad were unable to give the home fans the victory they wanted as they bid farewell to coach Lillo and the players who were playing in their final tie at Anoeta before they move to pastures new. It turned out to be a very entertaining game with plenty of chances for both sides (see highlights below). Levante took the lead after Xisco Nadal took advantage of slack play before running into the box and squaring for Rubén to tap into an empty net. The Real Sociedad equaliser came from Abreu with a cool finish after being set up from Estrada. Zubikarai was given a straight red card after running from his box to clear but caught Rubén as well as the ball so their was never any doubt the referee was going to send him off. Toño Ramírez replaced him in goal and would go on to pull off some stunning saves and do his reputation no harm at all.

In the second half there were plenty chances for both teams and Abreu was guilty of missing two great chances to score and win the game. A particular highlight of the second half was the appearance of Elustundo who came on for the last 25 minutes. He received a rapturous applause form the home support after eight months out and its great to see him back! Abreu was also was brought off on 65 minutes and said his farewell after it was revealed he will be joining Greek side Aris Salonika next season. Abreu had became a fans favourite in his short time at the club but it was no secret he would be moving on escpecially since it was announced Lillo would be leaving. Two players who have yet to say they are leaving is Claudio Bravo and Xabi Prieto. Interest is reportedly high in both players with Real Madrid apparently leading the hunt for Bravo. The most likely to leave is Bravo but Prieto has come out to say it will take something very strange to make him leave and said he is focused on Real Sociedad. Whether this is the case during the summer remains to be seen but his love for the club is clear to see.

Real Sociedad: Zubikarai, Gerardo, Carlos Martínez, Labaka, Sarasola (Elustondo, 65 mins), Rivas, Ros (Ramirez, 39 mins), Estrada, Moha, Agirretxe and Abreu (Necati 65 mins).

Levante UD: Manu, Molinero, Ballesteros, Rhodes, Angel, Miguel Perez, Samuel, Larrea (Iborra, 60 mins), Pina (Rubén Sánchez, 63 mins), Reuben, Xisco Nadal.

Rayo Vallecano 4-1 Real Socoedad

Regular followers of Real Sociedad news will be familiar with the ritual of me taking a few days to update a match after Real Sociedad have suffered a defeat but the fact its now Thursday reflects the pain i felt after the thrashing Rayo dealt out. Things didn't look good after only 3 minutes when Amaya gave Rayo the lead. Things got worse on 13 minutes when Diamé doubled the lead. Real were looking like a very poor team and Lillo's 4-5-1 formation was looking like a very poor choice with Agirretxe looking lively but never looking like troubling the Rayo defence. Agirretxe did pull one back on 31 minutes as the midfield started to get more of the ball.

Any hope of a second half comeback was dashed on 48 minutes as Piti put the game out of reach and the misery was compounded on 76 minutes when Llorens killed the game. Viguera was given a run out for 20 mins as a substitute for Necati after a good season for Sans (Real Sociedad B) so at least that was promising. With promotion hopes now over we must now look forward to next season and hope for much better things. Whats for sure is with the likes of Real Betis and Recreativo joining us in Liga adelante it will be another battle. Rivas has come out in the last couple of days and said he wants the team to win the last two matches to give Lillo a good send off but with nothing to play for it remains to be seen if the Real Sociedad faithful will turn up in their droves to see the Levante game on Sunday. Lillo has revealed he was ofered a contract extension in February which came as a slight surprise to me considering we weren't exactly ripping up the league at that time!

Rayo Vallecano: Cobeño, Tena, Amaya, Llorens, Yuma (Albiol, 73 mins), Diamé, Michel, Jofre (Collantes, 57 mins), Piti, Pachón (Sáez, 77 mins), Rubén Reyes.

Real Sociedad: Zubikarai, Gerardo, Carlos Martínez, Labaka, Castillo, Rivas, Ros, Prieto, Marcos (Moha, 56 mins), Necati (Viguera, 70 mins)y Agirretxe (Estrada, 77 mins).

Lillo To Leave - Prieto Next?

At a press conference this afternoon it was confirmed by President Aperribay that Coach Lillo will leave the helm at the end of June and the man to replace him is Uruguyan Martin Lasarte. Aperribay thanked Lillo for the "great work" he had done for the team but ultimately his failure to get into the top 3 has cost him. Lasarte is a coach associated with putting his faith in youth and will take over the reigns on 1st July.

Big news in Spain at the moment (apart from the possible Kaka move to Real Madrid) is the talk that bitter rivals Athletic Bilbao may be set to put in a bid to sign Xabi Prieto. Its been reported Aperribay may struggle to keep the player who will of course be tempted by the prospect of swapping the Liga adelante for the Liga BBVA and of course european football. Only time will tell if they do come in with a bid but it will be bad news for Real Sociedad fans with striker Iñigo Diaz de Cerio already leaving to join them after his contract expires in the summer.

Real Sociedad 0-2 Cordoba

Real Sociedads hopes of promotion were ended at the weekend after losing 2-0 at home to Cordoba. Been too disgusted to update and the highlights are below for those that want to see the damage being done although it has been a poor season all round and drastic changes will need to be made in the summer as far as i'm concerned. Lillo isnt the man to lead the team and with the club being linked with current Swansea boss Roberto Martinez, (it will never happen) it needs a new man to come in and shake things up!