Santiago Solari Appointed Real Madrid Head Coach Until 2021

[Panna King]

1 man for the Job! 

 

[SirBalon]

The one thing I love about the Spanish sports press is how they manage to dig out information that you'd think was impossible to do especially when they manage it with clubs like Real Madrid or Barcelona.  The level of dedicated investigative journalism that goes beyond the mere opinionated stuff we mostly get in the UK's sports press is incredible... I've never respected much those that write the opinion columns in English newspapers because for that I have my personal opinion which is worth just as much or anyone else I know personally that is a football fanatic.  Opinions are just that and they're worth listening to passively and in a debating scenario which is what we have here and not so much where I feel I have to be forced to treat another football fan's opinion as some sort of prophetic gospel that can't be argued against which is what you get in newspaper opinion columns.

Give me NEWS! Give me information which is what I pay the press to do and not some guy's personal view on exactly the same thing that we both witnessed.

 

Where I'm going with this is all the investigated info coupled with the official facts offered by the club in question which is Real Madrid here...

Julen Lopetegui was a dead man walking since three weeks ago.  He hadn't been sacked because there were a minority (powerful one) that continued to validate him but he was sacked!  He was GOING TO BE SACKED NO MATTER WHAT!  In the very unlikely event that Real Madrid had've achieved a victory at the Camp Nou last night, that would only have delayed it a bit more, maybe one, two or three weeks more until the negative results started to occur once more because here it's not just a case of a lack of confidence.  Here there are many more underlying issues that haven't been addressed properly by the club or better said, by he who dictates from the highest office in the Santiago Bernabéu, Don Florentino Pérez.

Everyone knew he was going to be sacked even the players which didn't help much and overall what we all had was a walking corpse going from stadium to stadium in Spain and around Europe that had his death sentence already signed and sealed by the one all powerful being that convinced him to take the job in the first place...

Lets go back five months and the moments after the Champions League Final...

• Cristiano Ronaldo offers a few words that rock the football world giving off more than just an impression that his time is almost up at the club.
• Minutes later Gareth Bale is interviewed, the player that came off the bench to win Real Madrid's third Champions League in a row and slates his coach by complaining that he wasn't at all happy that he had been on the bench to begin with.
• Instead of happiness and elation in the dressing room after the final, it's all whispers and small groups pointing fingers at other groups and giving suspicious side glances.
• Florentino Pérez talks to Cristiano Ronaldo about his words in an attempt to make him understand that he didn't like that and that that wasn't the moment to go public.  Cristiano lets him know immediately in no uncertain terms that it was no threat and that there was nothing he was searching for other than to leave the club, his time was up at Real Madrid.

Three days later Real Madrid are already negotiating, better said, talking to Juventus because they're the only ones that have come in for Cristiano Ronaldo seriously... A day after Florentino Pérez gets a knock on the door from Gareth Bale's agent and tells him that he now has to make Bale the insignia of Real Madrid, the one that Cristiano Ronaldo has been all these years and that the performance in the final coming off the bench was proof that this should be the next move... "Let Cristiano go, you have your new head on the coin and its Bale.  He can now move freely and doesn't have to work for anyone else."

Florentino Pérez doesn't put any pressure at all on Cristiano Ronaldo not to move and Infact entertains every phone call personally from Juventus and a few other interested but not serious parties.  He makes Cristiano understand that he can indeed leave and that no force will be met to the contrary by the club at all.

One week after that and the technical team are all going on holiday with one more meeting pending with the president which is with his head coach Zinedine Zidane... In this meeting it was to be discussed all the moves that would be occurring in the summer by the club for players they were interested in acquiring and who if anyone should depart from Real Madrid.

In that meeting three possible purchases are put to Zidane and the French coach has to prioritise between Mbappé, Hazard and Kane (no Neymar is put to Zidane because that's Florentino's dream and he will work on that off his own accord)... Zidane prefers Mbappé although he knows as well as the club do that getting him off the hands of Paris Saint-Germain will be almost impossible but a power move for him could force the Neymar deal (if not that summer, then the following).

So here comes the moment when Zidane gets extremely upset and hands in his resignation there and then in a shocking turn of events.  Zidane cuts the conversation short and tells Florentino Pérez that the important part of this conversation isn't who should come and talk so much about that but who should go... Florentino wants to progress with the way the meeting was going but Zidane threatens to get up off his chair and leave the meeting when the president gives in and asks what his issues were.  Zinedine Zidane tells Florentino Pérez that he wants Gareth Bale out!  He doesn't fit into the future rebuilding of the team and that he only brings the technical team masses of problems from his consistent injuries, his lack of work rate in tracking back and that he has all the stats available from the technical staff to show that the team is extremely unbalanced when he plays and that they have to resort to unorganised epic football.

Florentino Pérez is bemused and informs Zidane that it was Bale who had won them their third Champions League in a row (emphasis on...) coming off the bench (with that telling Zidane in no uncertain terms that not playing Bale from the start almost cost them the European crown). Zidane is now furious and states that unless Bale is sold he will hand in his resignation there and then.  Various directors leave the room with what's going on and only José Ángel Sánchez stays in the room with Florentino, Zidane and Zidane's three assistants... Zidane orders one of his assistants to hand him over a folder full of paper and Zidane throws it across the table towards the president where he says... "This is two season's worth of work on one player... On Gareth Bale.  We have the same work on all of our players as you do in every club but look at this if you're able to understand it anyway."  Florentino Pérez is now upset too and slides the folder into the centre of the table and states that Bale is going nowhere and that Infact the team will be built around him like it had been previously built around Cristiano Ronaldo.  He informs him that the club will be selling Cristiano Ronaldo and that he must prioritise one of the names that has been put on offer and that's it.

Zidane takes his mobile phone from his pocket and calls in the Real Madrid press officer who duly comes in almost instantly as his office is only down the hall.  He then says in front of everyone in the room (the directors that had departed earlier have now returned) and says "I resign... There is no way back and I now want to book a slot for a press conference so as to announce my goodbye to the fans and the club".  Florentino Pérez says to take a couple of days off to think about this and that the meeting will continue then.  But Zidane is adamant and says he won't change his mind...

Zinedine Zidane quit the club and those were the exact reasons.

The press conference was held and amongst 15 minutes of talking to the world's press from Zidane and the president that day of the public announcement that the coach was leaving, we dissect two quotes that are extremely important and tell us a lot on where one bunch of people were pulling and where another (one person) was pushing...

Zinedine Zidane:

"We have had some glorious times in Europe these past three years but my greatest achievement and the one I'm most proud off from a football perspective is our La Liga title.  That truly showed the hard work and the success we managed to achieve and the difficulty we work against day to day.  That is the one great moment I select from my three years as head coach."

"Why am I leaving?  There comes a time when you just sense that you have to say stop.  Give new people a chance... We have worked extremely hard and I feel that winning will be more difficult than it already has been.  I don't see or visualise too many victories in the near future. Restructuring is necessary and a new direction... I am proud to have coached this great bunch of players but my time has ended at Real Madrid as head coach."

 

We move to the World Cup and what is now known as one of the most infamous moments of club versus country betrayals ever witnessed in Spain.  Two days before the World Cup is due to commence Florentino Pérez contacts the Spain coach Julen Lopetegui to tell him that Real Madrid CF are interested in acquiring his services for starting from the very next season.  Lopetegui can't believe it and can't refuse so he agrees and sets a time to sign the deal.  Lopetegui never tells or mentions anything to the president of the RFEF José Luis Rubiales and instead Florentino Pérez rings him up and says that he has struck a deal with the national team coach for next season after the World Cup campaign is over.  Rubiales is shocked but is left without no other words other than "Ok, we'll talk about this but DON'T announce anything now, not now, not two days before or during the World Cup.  Wait until it ends please."  Apparently Florentino Pérez doesn't confirm or unconfirm whether or not he'll announce it.  He just says he has to hang up the phone and that they'll talk about it very soon.  3 hours later Real Madrid CF announce the appointment of Julen Lopetegui as head coach of Real Madrid for the following 3 years with an optional extra year if both parties are in agreement. RFEF technical director Fernando Hierro goes to Spain's training ground and in front of the players and the observing press calls Lopetegui a traitor pointing at his face almost touching it.  Hours later Rubiales sacks Lopetegui.

The rest is present history on the start to this current campaign and we are all aware of it all.

But if you want more proof of iron rod dictatorship, a one man band, a chaotic tenure of total and utter havoc.  There has been in fighting since this campaign commenced within the dressing room.  Luka Modrić telling th club he wants to leave, Marcelo telling the club he wants to depart, young players feeling out of touch and a club captain (Sergio Ramos) making public quotes to journalists that destabilise everything.

Heres the latest one from last night on the rumour of Antonio Conte possibly being selected as head coach to replace Julen Lopetegui.

"Conte? At this club you have to earn respect, it's not just something that's offered on a plate.  Results?  I've won Champions Leagues with three different coaches, I won't name names, where none have ruled with a whip. We don't need to be disciplined."

The three coaches are Vicente del Bosque, Carlo Ancelotti and Zinedine Zidane.  All coaches known for their mellow attitude and the total contrary to people like Rafa Benítez who the players ousted and Antonio Conte who many of them don't want.

So now I end this with Real Madrid's official announcement of the dismissal of club head coach Julen Lopetegui and the lack of respect shown.  A club is entitled to sack who they want for sure, but respect should always be maintained!

Club announcement:

"The club has come to a unanimous agreement that Julen Lopetegui's services are not required anymore.  At this club we always offer the best tools to succeed and this present squad contains 5 nominees for the Ballon d'Or which should be the envy of any coach.  For this reason we do not comprehend the run of terrible results that have never occurred in this club's history and can't be accepted. We wish him all the success in his career."

No naming and questioning his talents as a coach by assuming success is a given.  A simple paragraph like this one has a lot that can be read into it and not just that because that is not the required method of a club the size of Real Madrid CF or the stature and ethics it should be purporting. 

[Dave]

I'm guessing he didnt wait for his P45.

[Harry]

Fantastic post @SirBalon! Epic read. Seems the Real Madrid dressing room is more dysfunctional than the trump white house! 

[CaaC (John)+]

A good read that @SirBalon, it woke me up on a cold Scottish morning.  

[CaaC (John)+]

Real Madrid: Santiago Solari replaces Julen Lopetegui - but who will be long-term successor?

By Andy West

Spanish football writer

8 hours ago | European Football

 

The inevitable has happened.

After a dreadful start to a season in which they have lost four of their first 10 La Liga games and dropped to ninth in the table, Real Madrid have sacked Julen Lopetegui.

The identity of the man replacing him is something of a surprise, especially to outsiders. Santiago Solari is a relatively unknown figure even in Spain.

However, Real's announcement of Solari's appointment made it clear he is only a temporary measure, and there is a widespread assumption that a better-known figure will be recruited before long.

So what is going on at Real Madrid?

Is Solari the new Zidane?

Lopetegui's fate was inevitable even before Sunday's humiliating 5-1 El Clasico loss to Barcelona, and the widespread expectation in the wake of that defeat was that former Chelsea boss Antonio Conte would be the new boss at the Bernabeu.

However, Conte has not agreed terms with Real president Florentino Perez, and with Lopetegui's position clearly untenable the club have been forced to take a short-term emergency measure by promoting B team coach Solari.

In many ways, there are strong similarities between the path trodden by Solari and his former team-mate Zinedine Zidane before the Frenchman's appointment as manager in 2014.

They played together for Real during the early years of Perez's presidency, with Argentine winger Solari making 148 appearances for Los Blancos between 2000 and 2005, albeit often from the bench.

Solari then departed for Inter Milan before finishing his playing career in his native South America, but he was lured back to the Bernabeu as youth-team coach in 2013 and graduated to become manager of the club's B team - Real Madrid Castilla - in 2016, shortly after Zidane left that role to take over the first team.

So now he is taking the exact same step as Zidane: a trusted confidante of Perez who played for the club in the early 2000s and later took charge of Castilla, before being elevated to the senior squad during a mid-season crisis.

Does all this mean Solari is the next Zidane? In short, no.

Only a stop-gap for two weeks

The similarities between Solari and Zidane - unfortunately for the Argentine - only go so far.

For starters, Zidane had long been earmarked as first-team manager by Perez, with the Frenchman spending the 2013-14 season serving as an assistant coach to Carlo Ancelotti to prepare him for the bigger role at a later date.

Zidane was also, of course, an undisputed legend - an untouchable icon who was fondly remembered as one of the greatest players in Real's history, as well as a fine ambassador for the club with a charismatic personality that ensured instant and unquestioning respect from everyone around him.

Solari is different. He was by no means a star turn during his playing days at the Bernabeu, and he is regarded by fans as "just another" former player rather than an all-time great.

Unlike Zidane, he has never worked with Real's first team - or any other first team - in a coaching capacity, and he has overseen mediocre results during his time with the B team, finishing 8th and 11th in the third-tier Segunda B division during his two seasons in charge.

And although Solari is trusted by Perez, he is also something of an outsider. He played for cross-town rivals Atletico before joining Real, and has regularly expressed his strong admiration for Barcelona forward Lionel Messi - with whom he shares a hometown, Rosario in Argentina.

While Solari occupied the relatively low-profile position as B team coach, the fact that he had frequently hailed Messi as by far the best player in the world didn't really matter.

But combined with his relative lack of status and total inexperience in senior management, it adds up to make him a less-than-convincing candidate for the role of Real Madrid manager on a long-term basis.

When will a permanent replacement be appointed?

Real have made no attempt to disguise the fact that Solari is only a short-term measure, announcing that he is "provisionally" in charge in a statement which also came down surprisingly hard on Lopetegui, lamenting the "great disproportion between the quality of the squad" and "the results obtained so far".

So how long will he be at the helm?

The key factor is next month's international break, which will give Perez a couple of weeks to secure the long-term replacement for Lopetegui before a busy period of fixtures which includes the remainder of the Champions League group stage, four La Liga games and the Fifa Club World Cup before Christmas.

Another important factor in the timing of Perez's next move is a Spanish federation regulation (Article 60, in case you were wondering) stating that provisional managers can only be in charge for two weeks, after which a permanent replacement must be named.

Before then, Solari's task is to guide his team through four games - Wednesday's Copa del Rey first-leg trip to third-tier Melilla, league games against Real Valladolid and Celta Vigo, and a Champions League fixture at Czech side Viktoria Plzen.

(Incidentally, Melilla is a Spanish enclave in North Africa, bordering Morocco - which provides a great trivia quiz question for the future: which Real Madrid manager's first competitive game took place in Africa?)

Those four fixtures may appear to be perfectly straightforward - but they are exactly the kind of games Real have been losing in recent weeks. Shortly before Sunday's Clasico debacle they had lost three in a row to Levante, Alaves and CSKA Moscow.

So nothing can be taken for granted, and the main priorities for Solari are to steady the ship, be sensible, restore the fragile confidence of the squad and just keep things ticking over before the permanent manager is named.

The chances of that man being Solari are very slim.

Who will be the long-term replacement?

In the aftermath of the thrashing by Barcelona, the widespread expectation was that Conte would be named as the new Real Madrid manager.

But the former Chelsea boss is playing hardball, with Marca reporting on Monday that he is demanding a long-term contract, plus the signing of a new striker and a new central defender - presumably to play in his favoured three-man back line.

So far, Perez is unwilling to accept those terms and the next couple of weeks could well become a battle of attrition between two strong-minded men who do not like giving up any ground.

Conte remains the most likely option, but the strong negotiating stance the Italian is taking at the moment does not necessarily bode well for his future relationship with Perez or the Real players.

There is a serious concern that Conte will prove to be too much of his own man. Demanding to do things his way or the highway would not go down well with a squad who expect to be treated as respected equals - as they were by Zidane - rather than being strictly disciplined by an authoritarian coach like Conte.

So perhaps the talks will break down for good, and Perez will have to look elsewhere.

The club's former player and sporting director Jorge Valdano has already pinpointed Belgium coach Roberto Martinez as the ideal appointment, telling Spanish radio station Onda Cero: "Conte has prestige because he has won in various countries, but Roberto would adapt to this team."

If Conte doesn't budge Martinez would be a perfectly reasonable solution.

But in the coming days we can also expect to see the (probably scurrilous) suggestion of a much more dramatic move: would Perez wait for a potential Jose Mourinho departure from Manchester United and take the opportunity to give the Portuguese a second spell in charge?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/46024734

[SirBalon]

8 minutes ago, CaaC - John said:

Real Madrid: Santiago Solari replaces Julen Lopetegui - but who will be long-term successor?

By Andy West

Spanish football writer

8 hours ago | European Football

The inevitable has happened.

After a dreadful start to a season in which they have lost four of their first 10 La Liga games and dropped to ninth in the table, Real Madrid have sacked Julen Lopetegui.

The identity of the man replacing him is something of a surprise, especially to outsiders. Santiago Solari is a relatively unknown figure even in Spain.

However, Real's announcement of Solari's appointment made it clear he is only a temporary measure, and there is a widespread assumption that a better-known figure will be recruited before long.

So what is going on at Real Madrid?

Is Solari the new Zidane?

Lopetegui's fate was inevitable even before Sunday's humiliating 5-1 El Clasico loss to Barcelona, and the widespread expectation in the wake of that defeat was that former Chelsea boss Antonio Conte would be the new boss at the Bernabeu.

However, Conte has not agreed terms with Real president Florentino Perez, and with Lopetegui's position clearly untenable the club have been forced to take a short-term emergency measure by promoting B team coach Solari.

In many ways, there are strong similarities between the path trodden by Solari and his former team-mate Zinedine Zidane before the Frenchman's appointment as manager in 2014.

They played together for Real during the early years of Perez's presidency, with Argentine winger Solari making 148 appearances for Los Blancos between 2000 and 2005, albeit often from the bench.

Solari then departed for Inter Milan before finishing his playing career in his native South America, but he was lured back to the Bernabeu as youth-team coach in 2013 and graduated to become manager of the club's B team - Real Madrid Castilla - in 2016, shortly after Zidane left that role to take over the first team.

So now he is taking the exact same step as Zidane: a trusted confidante of Perez who played for the club in the early 2000s and later took charge of Castilla, before being elevated to the senior squad during a mid-season crisis.

Does all this mean Solari is the next Zidane? In short, no.

Only a stop-gap for two weeks

The similarities between Solari and Zidane - unfortunately for the Argentine - only go so far.

For starters, Zidane had long been earmarked as first-team manager by Perez, with the Frenchman spending the 2013-14 season serving as an assistant coach to Carlo Ancelotti to prepare him for the bigger role at a later date.

Zidane was also, of course, an undisputed legend - an untouchable icon who was fondly remembered as one of the greatest players in Real's history, as well as a fine ambassador for the club with a charismatic personality that ensured instant and unquestioning respect from everyone around him.

Solari is different. He was by no means a star turn during his playing days at the Bernabeu, and he is regarded by fans as "just another" former player rather than an all-time great.

Unlike Zidane, he has never worked with Real's first team - or any other first team - in a coaching capacity, and he has overseen mediocre results during his time with the B team, finishing 8th and 11th in the third-tier Segunda B division during his two seasons in charge.

And although Solari is trusted by Perez, he is also something of an outsider. He played for cross-town rivals Atletico before joining Real, and has regularly expressed his strong admiration for Barcelona forward Lionel Messi - with whom he shares a hometown, Rosario in Argentina.

While Solari occupied the relatively low-profile position as B team coach, the fact that he had frequently hailed Messi as by far the best player in the world didn't really matter.

But combined with his relative lack of status and total inexperience in senior management, it adds up to make him a less-than-convincing candidate for the role of Real Madrid manager on a long-term basis.

When will a permanent replacement be appointed?

Real have made no attempt to disguise the fact that Solari is only a short-term measure, announcing that he is "provisionally" in charge in a statement which also came down surprisingly hard on Lopetegui, lamenting the "great disproportion between the quality of the squad" and "the results obtained so far".

So how long will he be at the helm?

The key factor is next month's international break, which will give Perez a couple of weeks to secure the long-term replacement for Lopetegui before a busy period of fixtures which includes the remainder of the Champions League group stage, four La Liga games and the Fifa Club World Cup before Christmas.

Another important factor in the timing of Perez's next move is a Spanish federation regulation (Article 60, in case you were wondering) stating that provisional managers can only be in charge for two weeks, after which a permanent replacement must be named.

Before then, Solari's task is to guide his team through four games - Wednesday's Copa del Rey first-leg trip to third-tier Melilla, league games against Real Valladolid and Celta Vigo, and a Champions League fixture at Czech side Viktoria Plzen.

(Incidentally, Melilla is a Spanish enclave in North Africa, bordering Morocco - which provides a great trivia quiz question for the future: which Real Madrid manager's first competitive game took place in Africa?)

Those four fixtures may appear to be perfectly straightforward - but they are exactly the kind of games Real have been losing in recent weeks. Shortly before Sunday's Clasico debacle they had lost three in a row to Levante, Alaves and CSKA Moscow.

So nothing can be taken for granted, and the main priorities for Solari are to steady the ship, be sensible, restore the fragile confidence of the squad and just keep things ticking over before the permanent manager is named.

The chances of that man being Solari are very slim.

Who will be the long-term replacement?

In the aftermath of the thrashing by Barcelona, the widespread expectation was that Conte would be named as the new Real Madrid manager.

But the former Chelsea boss is playing hardball, with Marca reporting on Monday that he is demanding a long-term contract, plus the signing of a new striker and a new central defender - presumably to play in his favoured three-man back line.

So far, Perez is unwilling to accept those terms and the next couple of weeks could well become a battle of attrition between two strong-minded men who do not like giving up any ground.

Conte remains the most likely option, but the strong negotiating stance the Italian is taking at the moment does not necessarily bode well for his future relationship with Perez or the Real players.

There is a serious concern that Conte will prove to be too much of his own man. Demanding to do things his way or the highway would not go down well with a squad who expect to be treated as respected equals - as they were by Zidane - rather than being strictly disciplined by an authoritarian coach like Conte.

So perhaps the talks will break down for good, and Perez will have to look elsewhere.

The club's former player and sporting director Jorge Valdano has already pinpointed Belgium coach Roberto Martinez as the ideal appointment, telling Spanish radio station Onda Cero: "Conte has prestige because he has won in various countries, but Roberto would adapt to this team."

If Conte doesn't budge Martinez would be a perfectly reasonable solution.

But in the coming days we can also expect to see the (probably scurrilous) suggestion of a much more dramatic move: would Perez wait for a potential Jose Mourinho departure from Manchester United and take the opportunity to give the Portuguese a second spell in charge?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/46024734

Solari isn't unknown at all in Spain... Everyone remembers him well as a player.  What's unknown are his coaching credentials at the top level since he took over Real's 'B' team RM Castilla.

The club is in a total mess with the finger pointing from the powerful Madrid based press, national media and Real Madrid fans directed at the club president Florentino Pérez and to a slightly lesser extent the players themselves who many say have brought on a sense of anarchy and rebellion within the club.  What's for sure is that the players weren't against the now departed head coach Julen Lopetegui like the club want or are trying to insinuate... There is unrest, in fighting, clans and splinter groups undermining each other in that dressing room and the president doesn't listen to anyone and makes his own decisions.

[SirBalon]

Real Madrid are presently perfectly setup for a second Mourinho stint in charge as head coach.  The situation is the same if not worse than the last time he took over as the coach and with all the ingredients necessary to create that scenario he loves of the world against his own.  Florentino must be wishing hard for something to occur where he can get him back in the RM hot seat.

[Inverted]

Don't think Madrid's squad suits Mourinho. 

Loads of languid number-10 types, and not very much of the searing pace that made his last Madrid team work.

Plus Spanish teams have wisened up. Mourinho wouldn't have won the league over there if it wasn't for the fact that almost everyone tries to dominate the game, allowing Madrid to score easy counter-attacking wins even against minnows.

His gigantic failures against intelligent counter-attacking teams like Atleti and Dortmund show how badly his system would have failed had more teams refused to play into his hands.

[SirBalon]

43 minutes ago, Cannabis said:

Mourinho back would cause catastrophic danger.

I’m going into my local church to light a candle for this appointment to materialise. 

[RandoEFC+]

Roberto Martinez .

Real Madrid have a long running problem here if the players can turn around and decide they don't want Conte as manager. I don't think he's a good fit but that's too much player power, even worse than Chelsea in their worst years for it.

If this set of players will only motivate themselves to play for a 'one of the lads' manager like Zidane then they all need to be fucked off, sorry. Not acceptable at any football club under any circumstances or indeed any company in the world for employees of the company deciding whether or not they can be fucked doing their work that they're paid to do (regardless of whether it's £2,000 or £200,000 a month and we know which one of those it is at Real Madrid) based on whether or not they like their boss.

Poisoned.

[SirBalon]

Santiago Solari is right this minute conducting his first press conference as provisional first team coach of Real Madrid CF. 

[Harry]

1 hour ago, SirBalon said:

I’m going into my local church to light a candle for this appointment to materialise. 

My one critique of your awesome post earlier and it might not be on you rather the journalist your quoting from..... There is a pretty big gap in the story of what happened between Perez’s conversation with RFEF and the announcing of the Jullen as manager 3 hours later.

You paint a picture that Perez simply fucked over the RFEF and Spanish national team on the eve of the World Cup simply because he did not care, and because he does what he wants.. 

Personally I find it hard to believe it was that simple, and think that narrative would be counting a lot on readers to believe the worst of the man (which I’m sure most are more than happy to do).

34 minutes ago, RandoEFC said:

Roberto Martinez .

Real Madrid have a long running problem here if the players can turn around and decide they don't want Conte as manager. I don't think he's a good fit but that's too much player power, even worse than Chelsea in their worst years for it.

If this set of players will only motivate themselves to play for a 'one of the lads' manager like Zidane then they all need to be fucked off, sorry. Not acceptable at any football club under any circumstances or indeed any company in the world for employees of the company deciding whether or not they can be fucked doing their work that they're paid to do (regardless of whether it's £2,000 or £200,000 a month and we know which one of those it is at Real Madrid) based on whether or not they like their boss.

Poisoned.

Who are the voices in the dressing room though? Obviously Ramos is one. Marcelo though? Modric? It does seem lik Ramos could do with being put in his place by a new manager trying to make a point. But if they lack the balls to appoint Conte because of player disquiet they surely would only make it worse by going for Mourinho anyway. Putting aside whether or not he’d go back there.

[Cicero]

So the players allegedly don't want Conte, yet they want Mourinho? 

[SirBalon]

30 minutes ago, Harry said:

My one critique of your awesome post earlier and it might not be on you rather the journalist your quoting from..... There is a pretty big gap in the story of what happened between Perez’s conversation with RFEF and the announcing of the Jullen as manager 3 hours later.

You paint a picture that Perez simply fucked over the RFEF and Spanish national team on the eve of the World Cup simply because he did not care, and because he does what he wants.. 

I didn’t quote any journalist neither was it from any article I’ve read. It’s just me recounting all the known facts and leaks since the summer. 

[SirBalon]

24 minutes ago, Cicero said:

So the players allegedly don't want Conte, yet they want Mourinho? 

They want Mourinho even less but if he can be gotten Florentino wouldn’t give a damn what they think.

There are other issues as to why the appointment of Conte has found complications which is that he is apparently in dispute with Chelsea over money owed in his contract. 

[SirBalon]

The quote taken by most of the press from the various things said by Santiago Solari (provisional head coach) during his first press conference and relating to his first game in charge which will be against Melilla in the Copa del Rey;

”My method? Play with balls!”

Yep, that’s the only bit the press feel was of any importance during his 12 minute press conference. Seems he is in the wrong job and maybe another career in a very different industry may be apt. 

[CaaC (John)+]

It's only the SUN gossip guys  

Real Madrid want Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino, 46, to be their new manager by the end of next month. The Spanish giants sacked Julen Lopetegui on Monday after four and a half months in charge. (Sun)

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/gossip

[SirBalon]

52 minutes ago, CaaC - John said:

It's only the SUN gossip guys  

Real Madrid want Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino, 46, to be their new manager by the end of next month. The Spanish giants sacked Julen Lopetegui on Monday after four and a half months in charge. (Sun)

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/gossip

I read about this in the Spanish press too but from the serious journalists they’re saying that even though Real Madrid would love Pochettino and that he would want to go there, the deal with Spurs would be impossible right now without massive compensation. 

[Inverted]

How long is Poch's contract? So long as he's there I dare say Levy will make any interested club bleed for his signature.

[SirBalon]

8 minutes ago, Inverted said:

How long is Poch's contract? So long as he's there I dare say Levy will make any interested club bleed for his signature.

@Storts

[CaaC (John)+]

No disrespect to Pochettino but what has he achieved as a manager at Espanyol, Southampton and now Spurs? He has been at Spurs now for 4 years and every year I keep hearing in the media what a great, bright manager he is but he has never achieved anything yet.

A lot of the media keep going on or have that Perez wants him yet I would have thought that he (Perez) would have gone or will go for a high profile manager that has won things, I know Zidane was a gamble but a gamble that worked out in the end with 3 Championship Trophies. 

[Cicero]

3 minutes ago, CaaC - John said:

No disrespect to Pochettino but what has he achieved as a manager at Espanyol, Southampton and now Spurs? He has been at Spurs now for 4 years and every year I keep hearing in the media what a great, bright manager he is but he has never achieved anything yet.

A lot of the media keep going on or have that Perez wants him yet I would have thought that he (Perez) would have gone or will go for a high profile manager that has won things, I know Zidane was a gamble but a gamble that worked out in the end with 3 Championship Trophies. 

Because he is massively, massively, massively over achieving...

[CaaC (John)+]

3 minutes ago, Cicero said:

Because he is massively, massively, massively over achieving...

Trophy wise he has won nowt, maybe this new stadium they are building might help him out when Spurs eventually move there permanently but he is just another manager at a big club that has won nothing so far.  

[Cicero]

10 minutes ago, CaaC - John said:

Trophy wise he has won nowt, maybe this new stadium they are building might help him out when Spurs eventually move there permanently but he is just another manager at a big club that has won nothing so far.  

Such a boring rhetoric. Almost as bad as 'premier league proven'. 

Guardiola, Villanova, and Enrique all won nothing before managing Barca.