Las Palmas GM explains key mistakes journalists make - 'They talk about their fears and their phobias'

The gap between the media and football clubs continues to grow, maybe towards a chasm, and is showing no sign of it being bridged. Gone are the days where managers and journalists would become drinking companions, and sometimes it feels as if the two are pitted against each other. Las Palmas’ General Manager Patricio Vinayo knows both sides of the conversation though.

Initially studying journalism at university and featuring in El Pais in Madrid, Vinayo would then return to his native Gran Canaria to work in the local media. In 2006, he joined his club Las Palmas as Communications Director, before moving into his current role as General Manager in 2009. Football España asked what the biggest mistakes the media make are, seen from inside a club.

“Beforehand I was speaking about this to a colleague. I obtained my degree in journalism, and then in Physical Education, but anything that you can learn from systematised education in the system has nothing to do with the actual experience. Once you are tackling these issues, or working in a football business, I imagine that all businesses have that same component, that’s because we suffer and enjoy in equal amounts at the same time when you’re working in a football club.”

“What’s the biggest we mistake we make? This is a discussion that centres on the dichotomy between the emotional and the rational, very often the emotional leads us to the other side of the border. When we talk about teams that we feel something for, or that we support, the emotional overtakes the rational. What they teach you when you’re learning about journalism, is to be objective, to try to be neutral and rational, this is something that is difficult, because when we talk about sport and football, there is a