There is a widening divergence from the sugar-coated press releases from Chivas about the club's bright future, its glorious past and soon-to-be-improved present and the doom and gloom of local media and an increasing number of Chivas fans.
It is fascinating to watch.
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And at the center of it all is one person: club owner Jorge Vergara. Perhaps no figure in the Mexican game can divide opinion so much as Vergara, but whatever people think, he's always worth listening to.
On Wednesday, he gave an intriguing, in-depth and often hostile interview to ESPNDeportes.com that offers an insight into many of the issues at the heart of the club at the moment, including whether he might sell it, Marco Fabian, Chivas paying more for players, vetoing journalists and his ten years in charge.
Here are 10 key quotes from Vergara:
1. On Marco Fabian almost moving to Qatar:
"I think he used his common sense and good judgment to decide that going to Qatar wasn't the best decision for his career. (Moving to Qatar) was an economic decision, not a soccer decision."
2. On the success achieved in his 10-plus years at Chivas:
"I sincerely don't think (the successes) over the last 10 years have been minimal. For you is it minimal what we have achieved in the youth system -- it's the best in the country, the best exporter of players -- the championship, the final of the (Copa) Libertadores, various semifinals and, of course, the stadium? Obviously there have been errors committed, but I think it's been positive."
3. On attendances at the Estadio Omnilife:
"I'm not satisfied, but I think the figures are different than those that the media carry. We're in fifth place in the league in attendance, so we're not that bad. We're not excellent like first place, but we're on the right path and the change of stadium is a natural process. If there are 18 places in the league, then fifth place isn't so negative. I agree it isn't as positive as we would like."
4. If the price increases when Chivas come calling for a player:
"I'll give the examples of (Luis) 'Lucho' Perez, Rafa Marquez Lugo and Aldo de Nigris. We paid 160 million pesos (almost $12 million USD) for all three and taking into account the age they are at, I think it's triple what they were worth, economically speaking. With De Nigris, obviously I don't regret the price at all, but we consider that others charge Chivas three times the value of the player on the market. The same with (Miguel) Sabah, who cost 20 million pesos ($1.5 million USD)."
5. On the poor start to the Apertura season:
"It has obviously been complicated, but it seems like we've now found the problem, so we can move forward. We found the reasons behind what was happening and why it was happening and, knowing that, we can apply solutions."
6. On the current project at Chivas and past mistakes:
"There are things you can't correct immediately, like lacking players, because we are in the middle of the season and it isn't possible. There were errors committed in the preseason that we are paying for during the season, but outside of that there are things we are correcting. I see that there's been a series of errors in assembling the squad in preseasons, ever since the Dutch took control and we're paying the price of the errors."
7. On fan support:
"Right now they are not happy, but when we have success they are happy... I receive more or less one thousand messages a week and I can tell you that 90 percent are in support and 10 percent against, so statistically I think we're winning."
8. On whether he's ever considered selling Chivas:
"No. Not at any moment. I don't have any reason to be fed up. I think that it is a game and you have to accept the rules of the game. The rules and components of the soccer business are difficult sometimes, it's not easy, but it's part of the game and you either get in it or stay away."
9. On vetoing certain journalists/media outlets:
"They aren't against media outlets, they are against journalists who lie. It's not a veto, it's a condition to tell the truth. We believe that we don't have to agree with everything they say, that's how it has been throughout the 10 years and will continue to be, as long as it is truthful. We are against those who, for me, are bad journalists who publish stories that are completely false.
The only media outlet that is banned is Record, based on the lies they said a couple of years ago that Angelica (Fuentes, (Vergara's wife and business partner) was responsible for the budget and for not signing players. It was a complete lie. That was the main reason. I respect the media, I respect the work of journalists but they should all work for the good of soccer.
Because (of the allegations of Record against Fuentes) there started to be death threats towards my wife, based on a lie."
10. On the bad press the club receives:
"I'll give you a simple example: If I fire coaches quickly, I'm impatient and if I wait on (former coach Benjamin) Galindo, I'm an imbecile because I waited too long. It is difficult to please everybody."