Rafa Watch

[Shaggy]

Perez hadn't even spoken to him by phone. Mind blowing. So they sacked Rafa through the media, and without a shred of contact with the man they'd sacked, they have a press conference unveiling the new fella. It's unbelievable.

[Phoenix07]

Sacking Rafa and introducing Zidane in that fashion at the same time wasn't very classy.

[G]

They didn't even meet with Rafa to tell him before they binned him in front of the world's media. **** stain of a club.

[cannotmakeit]

Ronaldo has stopped scoing, Hames is looking more ordinary every day and Benzema is still their only key striker but getting slower. Isco will never be a starter as he's just not a big enough name. Now to top it off they potentially have the worst manager, caretaker or otherwise, that could be at the helm.

Is there any real chance of them dropping out of CL places? Please tell me there is.

no chance, except for Barca and the other Madrid the rest of la liga is piss poor.

[Mike]

Says a lot about Madrid that Perez wanted Rodriguez playing so that it meets their "latin american strategy"

[BigChief]

Ronaldo has stopped scoing, Hames is looking more ordinary every day and Benzema is still their only key striker but getting slower. Isco will never be a starter as he's just not a big enough name. Now to top it off they potentially have the worst manager, caretaker or otherwise, that could be at the helm.

Is there any real chance of them dropping out of CL places? Please tell me there is.

[gratziani]

Play Hames please from the president, what a stupid ****ing club

Zizou will be great to see him plant a chest headbutt on Ronaldo

[Rich]

Oh and what the hell is Zizou doing parading his whole family at the press conference?! Bizizouarre.

[Fierce]

Gutted for him, but it was always a poisoned chalice

[Chazza]

Gareth Bale is considering his future at Real Madrid after the Spanish club confirmed the dismissal of Rafael Benítez, their coach, and appointed Zinédine Zidane as his replacement last night.

Bale is believed to be intensely disappointed by the departure of the former Liverpool manager only seven months after he took charge at the Bernabéu. The world’s most expensive player had previously informed Real’s all-powerful president, Florentino Pérez, that he had a good working relationship with the 55-year-old and that he felt the team, four points behind Atletico, their city rivals, at the top of La Liga, were moving in the right direction.

Quite how deep the 26-year-old’s discontent runs will be of particular interest to Manchester United, his long-term suitors. As revealed by The Times last month, the Old Trafford club have spent weeks trying to establish a framework for a deal in case Bale becomes available, most probably this summer. Any move, though, would still face significant roadblocks: as well as his £300,000-a-week wages, United would have to find sufficient funds to meet Pérez’s asking price. Given his unwillingness to sell, that could start as high as £150 million.

The Real president took to the podium at the Bernabéu just before 8pm local time last night to confirm Benítez’s exit, the 11th time that he has sacked a coach since he first took the reins at the club in 2000. It was, he said, “a difficult decision, particularly for me”, to part company with Benítez, a lifelong Real fan and both a player and a youth coach in the Spanish capital.
Pérez had not spoken to Benítez to inform him that his services were no longer required before he appeared on stage with Zidane.

The 43-year-old Frenchman — wearing a powder-blue blazer, surrounded by his family and promising to give “everything in my heart” to help the club to “win something at the end of the season” — spent a season as assistant to Carlo Ancelotti before taking charge of Castilla, Real’s B team, in 2014.
“We have the best club in the world and the best fans in the world,” Zidane said in a brief, halting statement. “I will try to do my very best for this team so that we win something at the end of the season. It is an important day for me, one of a lot of emotion, more than when I signed as a player, but that is normal. What I can say is that I will give all of the heart I have for this club.”

Pérez was quick to praise his new coach’s qualities, insisting his “knowledge of what it is to be out there, in front of the Real Madrid first team”, will help him to deal with what he admitted is a “complicated post”.

“This is your stadium and your club, and you have our complete confidence and support,” Pérez told Zidane. “Madridismo is at your side. As president, I am proud to have you with me, because for you, the word impossible does not exist.”

He was substantially less forthcoming on why he and the club’s board — who met in an emergency session yesterday afternoon — had decided to act now, referring only to Benítez as a “great professional and a magnificent person”.
That was not enough to save him. He had been under pressure ever since Real lost 4-0 to Barcelona in El Clasico in November and, despite winning their previous two games 10-2 and 3-1, seeing his team held to a 2-2 draw by Gary Neville’s Valencia on Sunday night delivered the final blow.

Benítez had been reassured by José Ángel Sánchez, Real’s director general, in the immediate aftermath of that draw that he retained the full support of the club’s board. The same message was delivered yesterday morning. Only when Pérez called a press conference did Benítez know his fate was sealed, despite a number of senior players informing the president by text that they were happy with Benítez’s approach.

Pérez’s concerns, though, were growing, particularly in regard to James Rodriguez, the Colombia playmaker. Before November’s Clasico, Pérez suggested to Benítez that “nobody would blame him” if they lost to Barcelona with Rodriguez in the side. The coach duly picked the Colombian and Real duly lost.

Then, Pérez was good to his word, calling the squad together to inform them that from that point on Benítez had absolute autonomy over team selection and that nobody was an automatic choice. Though relations with many members of the squad have been strained at times this season, Pérez’s intervention seemed to work. Those in the dressing room noted an improvement in morale.

Benítez was warned again last week, though, that Rodriguez — signed for £57 million and a crucial part of Real’s marketing strategy in Latin America — should be considered a key player. His decision to choose Mateo Kovacic, the Croatia midfielder, against Valencia brought him into direct conflict with Pérez. Failing to win that game meant it was a battle he was destined to lose.

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/public/football/article4656565.ece

[Liverpel]

Swansea?

That was my first thought. His family are still in or near Liverpool, aren't they?

[Tribute]

Gutted for Rafa. Decent record and still gets the bullet. Spineless from Madrid board and president.

[Chazza]

Not that contracts mean anything at Madrid

[ame]https://twitter.com/SkySportsNewsHQ/status/684126900407656448[/ame]

[Exiled_red]

I feel sorry for Rafa, I was expecting something like this to happen but not so soon

I dislike them as a club but wanted Rafa to do well there because it was his dream job.

[TheElephantMan]

Feel really sorry for Rafa, but he'll bounce back. He's still a top quality coach and a decent job will emerge as a result of the usual manager merry-go-round over the next few months. If we didn't have Klopp I'd be yearning for his return.