San Pedro Sula, Honduras.
Talk with Reynaldo Tilguath It is knowing that you will always say what you think, without pleasing anyone, without filters and, above all, with a lot of reality about what you think about current events. honduran soccer from which he has taken a break to enjoy his family.
For now he works as a ‘taxi driver’, but for his family, while he alternated directing a Major League team in a friend’s Choluteca, to distract himself and entertain himself with what his life has been: soccer.
La Prensa sought the reaction of the Chinese, former coach of the Olancho FC and of Genesis. He gave his point of view on what is happening in the tournament, the candidates to be champion what happened to his son and also his abrupt departure from the foals.
Tilguath He defends the Honduran coaches union, arguing that they prepare, but that they do it without focus, like the last online update that he took with Conmebol. Take advantage of the time while you are without equipment to come back with new ideas. Regarding his frontal style, he is clear: “I prefer the truth without hypocrisy.”
— THE INTERVIEW —
—What is Professor Reinaldo Tilguath doing now in a sabbatical tournament? I imagine that enjoying the family…
Yes, enjoy because sometimes there is no time to share with them. We have to take advantage, we are acting as a taxi driver, going to bring my daughter to school and sometimes I go to bring my wife. Here we are enjoying.
—Tilguath, I have always been curious about the origin of your last name. It’s quite rare here in Honduras. Where from?
My mother was born in San Marcos de Colón, the frozen part of Choluteca, that’s where our last name comes from. I think it has a story, but it hasn’t been told to me well (laughs).
—Reynaldo, under what terms did you leave Olancho? We know that there were differences with the owner.
I went well with them, with Don Samuel, with the lawyer. I tell people and players that sometimes you have to go out, they make decisions and I make mine. It means going well, because we don’t know the twists and turns of life, maybe it will appear there again.
—I remember that you once said that you had the same character with Samuel García, so it was better to step aside…
Yes there were differences, but Don Samuel is a great person, I can’t speak badly of someone who treated me well. We clashed in board meetings, but we tried not to clash too much. But I spoke little with him, I did it more with the graduate, but he is a good manager.
—And aside, I think that Olancho FC is a model team to follow because we don’t hear about debt issues or controversies around it.
Of the five big teams, in economic terms there are Olimpia, Motagua, Marathón, Real España and here comes the Pedagogical University and the National Police, which do not have that economic issue.
—What would be the problem with the colts?
Sometimes you want to be a champion, regardless of whether you make it to the Police or UPN. I prepare for that, with a large or small squad. But when it becomes an obsession, the results do not happen and they change coaches every year. If the project is moving forward, it must be continued and not cut off. Olancho is like that, there is an obsession with being a champion, but I think it is not in a hurry, it must be in the time that God gives the opportunity.
—What happened to the agreement you had with Victoria, was everything already finalized as we understood?
We were talking with Javier Cruz and the sports director, about the possibility of going there. Many people told me that it was owed to many players, and one thinks more about family and commitments. But it was decided by teacher Hernán Medina. I wasn’t desperate to coach, there were other opportunities, but I’m one of the people who doesn’t like to offer my job if there’s a coach in office. I have ethics in that.
— I think he has done a good job in the National League, but he is not directing in the League, what has happened?
Look, the tournament is very atypical. Once he told me about Choloma before finishing the first round, but I told them to support Chato Padilla in the two upcoming games and if not, call me. I told them that I didn’t believe they would be relegated because of those who were fighting relegation they were the ones who played the best. They tied with Marathón, beat UPN and rose. Remember that they played Wednesday-Sunday. My idea of the game is different, it is more likely that they will not get results with me because my idea is different. In the end it did not materialize.
— Yes, but at the networks and press level there is no talk of Reynaldo Tilguath. Do you think it doesn’t have good press?
It’s not that I don’t have good press, but that I don’t like to talk when there is a compatriot there. Some journalists commit you to giving answers. I respect the work of the coaches. A team called me and said, “Teacher, we’ll sit down after the game,” and boom, they win. I don’t insist like others. When I was in Olancho, there were coaches who offered themselves to managers and called. Milton Flores (president of Génesis) told me that they were calling him and I told him that when the results did not come, I would be the first to leave.
— Being direct sometimes brings a lot of problems, do you think that has been your sin in the National League?
Capable may be one, but as long as I can do the right thing, I will do it. I don’t lend myself to things that aren’t. I always tell the truth, without any desire to offend because I am not the owner of the truth. The journalist criticizes and I always give interviews, not at conferences. He sees football one way, I another. I have not had strong disagreements with journalists, but I prefer the truth without hypocrisy.
— Right now in Olimpia there is a coach with Eduardo Espinel, but the information says that starting in June they will look for a new coach. Would Reynaldo Tilguath run for Olimpia?
You have to be prepared regardless of the team. You leave the feeling aside, the professional comes in. If you look at Olimpia, playing little beats the teams. The problem is not Olimpia, it is the other teams that are not doing much. Or is it that the Olimpia players are very good, yesterday in the Olimpia-Marathón, this boy Edwin Lobo, being a right back, appears as a center back in a classic and played as if he had 200 games in the National League. He accelerated against Marathón and won, against Motagua he played better and won. If they talk about not continuing with the teacher, they will see resumes and if I am on the list, I will have to work much harder, because a large team demands championships.
—Do you think that the Honduran coach is not valued by the big clubs in the National League?
Look, that’s what criticizes some managers who only see outsiders, only foreigners. One realizes things that happen in teams, but it is not ethical to say so. Honduran coaches can handle large groups, but I think it is a lack of opportunity and belief in the national coach.
— Name me three coaches other than yourself who could lead the big four or even the national team, because many of us say that the national coach is not prepared.
Many criticize him, he has many antibodies, but Ramón Maradiaga can direct you to an Olimpia. Another good coach who has done good things with the U is teacher Salomón Názar; Another is Raúl Cáceres, with little he is putting Platense in there, there are several of us. Many say that we are not prepared. I was in training at the Conmebol soccer seminar online, updating ourselves. We would have liked to be there in Paraguay, but the expenses are many, I did it that way and we updated ourselves. You look at things and there you see that we haven’t even crawled in football.
— Tilguath, you believe that a coach who has become so deeply rooted in a team as a player, the doors are closed to him, like you and Nerlin Membreño, who I thought was going to have a prolific career as a coach.
Look, notice that one does not have to confuse professionalism with team. If you ask me and you will ask the players of the teams I have played, the one I want to beat the most is Olimpia, not because it has given me an extra prize, but because when you beat a great team, your aspirations already see you differently: ‘this team beat Olimpia, Motagua, Real España, Marathón’.
Sometimes people live on morbidity, but I have a good relationship with the people of Real España, I speak with Emilio Izaguirre from Motagua; On one occasion he asked me about Rodrigo De Olivera and I told him to keep his eyes closed and they also asked me about Olimpia and they didn’t even turn to look at him, and now look where Rodrigo is. In the end, when they see you work, they see that you are professional; I have no commitment to anyone, my commitment is to the team that hires me.
— Regarding the tournament fight, how does Reynaldo Tilguath envision it? Motagua leader, Olimpia is fighting little, Real España, Platense, Marathón at slow steps, how do you see the development in this final stage?
If we look closely, the most consistent teams have been Real España and Motagua. Olimpia did not do so well, but today she is between the two, and Motagua has been more consistent. The fight is going to be between those three: Olimpia, Motagua and Real España; I hope they don’t fall into the same group, because it would be complicated, and Olancho has done well, but the players from Olimpia, Motagua, Marathón and Real España are of another level.
—And the goals are already appearing in Olimpia, Jerry Bengtson already wrote to the Marathon…
The important players appear in those games, I don’t want you to score four goals against the Police, UPN or Juticalpa, but against the greats. The chances of playing in a final of the greats are against the same greats, so in the final instances Bengtson, Oliveira, Eddie Hernández, Messiniti, Rubilio appear. Of course, Olimpia has to make a generational change ahead, perhaps the next tournament they will not retain players and will replace them.
— You already know what it’s like to deal with the issue of relegation, how those moments are experienced, what you say to the players…
I always tell the players: think about not fighting relegation, it is calmer to think about being champion, because fighting relegation is more difficult, your thoughts fail you, you say ‘what if I’m wrong’ and you say ‘we don’t beat anyone and we lose category’ and here being relegated is the worst thing in the world for the player and coach, here they kill you. Yesterday Victoria invited two more teams to relegation, it is not only Choloma, it has already included the Police and Juticalpa FC.
—What about Caleb? Where is your child playing?
After he came to Comayagua, he decided not to continue playing, he is studying Business Administration and I told him to study. I was going to go to a team, but not a pagan one; Not all promotion clubs are responsible, I can tell you about Estrella Roja, Arsenal, Savio, Parrillas One and Leones that pay, those are the most teams that seek prominence when promoting, they are serious and aspire to the First Division. Here the clubs don’t pay and you end up fighting with the teams.
— Best three players that Reynaldo Tilguath has coached, who are they?
I’ll stick with Roberto Moreira, loyal, a hard-working guy who feels the shirt. Another one who I am happy to see well is Óscar Discua and look, he stayed in Motagua. Also the case of Alejandro Reyes, who we had in Génesis, stood out and went to Costa Rica, they are different players and I am happy to see them doing well.
— Whether in his time or in contemporary times, what footballer thought he was going to break it and stagnated?
I thought that Ramón Núñez was going to be one of the best, I looked at him and said that he was different, he went to Cruz Azul and didn’t pass, he reached a great team, he was different.
— Player who surprised Reynaldo Tilguath because of his conditions?
Walter Hernández, the left-hander.
— Three players with a great future in Honduras, young people from the National League who can make the leap or become selected.
Look, Roca, pay a lot of attention to this boy from Motagua, to the five of them, Carlos Palma; Mike Arana from Real España is very interesting, and finally Jefryn Macías.
