Troubled Madrid look for fresh start

Just three games into the Primera Liga season and Real Madrid have a new coach with little experience at the top level, a squad of underachieving players and the problem of what to do with Jose Antonio Camacho.

Camacho’s resignation as coach was accepted by president Florentino Perez this morning although, according to Perez, he will remain at the club in an as yet undecided position.

The coaching role has gone to Mariano Garcia Remon, one of Camacho’s assistants, although he seemed less than enamoured to be placed in charge of a dressing room full of dominant multi-millionaires, whose lack of commitment in recent weeks undoubtedly led to Camacho’s decision to walk.

At his unveiling, Remon said: “It’s a sad day for me because it means the end of a job that was well done that hasn’t been rewarded on the pitch.

“I’m here for two reasons: that Camacho asked me and that Real Madrid and their president asked me.

“Only in that order would I have accepted the job. It’s not the way I wanted to arrive.”

Madrid have yet to clarify whether Remon has taken over on a temporary or full time basis but, either way, it is a tough role for a man whose previous coaching experience has come at Sporting Gijon, Salamanca and Numancia.

His first task is to get the players on side as well as a notoriously fickle Bernabeu crowd.

Remon takes charge for the game with Osasuna tomorrow night as Madrid look to bounce back from two defeats in the past week.

They went down 1-0 to Espanyol at the weekend – and finished the game in total disarray following the dismissals of Walter Samuel and Michel Salgado – but the real damage, in Camacho’s eyes, was done against Bayer Leverkusen last Wednesday night.

Madrid were thrashed 3-0 by the Germans in their Champions League encounter although the margin of defeat could have been a lot greater such was the visitors’ sluggish performance.

Suggestions that Camacho was unhappy with the attitude of the club’s so-called ‘galacticos’ also seemed to gather pace at the BayArena.

At 3-0 down, he hauled off Luis Figo and Ronaldo and then left out Raul and David Beckham for the trip to Espanyol three days later.

Camacho, who also spent a 23-day spell in charge of the club he served with such distinction as a player in the summer of 1998, hinted at a lack of support from the dressing room when announcing his departure.

He praised the club’s directors and president for their backing but made no mention of the players.

He said: “The performance of the team has not been good enough and I don’t think it will improve. I have a way of working which I don’t see reflected on the pitch. I saw this and I told the president I didn’t think I could change it in the near future and the best thing was for me to leave now.

“I have had the support of the directors and the president all the time but it hasn’t worked. As I see it, I can’t get the best out of the club – the best thing is to leave now.”

It is thought there was a clash of egos and Camacho’s renowned stubborn streak was always going to be the reason behind his downfall.

What he does now is not certain. Perez is adamant Camacho, who took over for a second time in May from the sacked Carlos Queiroz, will stay at the Bernabeu but the former Spain coach is a proud man and is unlikely to accept a role too far from the limelight.

Explaining the decision to appoint Remon, Perez insisted it was important for the club to try and retain a degree of continuity.

He said: “We (the Real Madrid board of directors) have decided to give our confidence as coach to a club man who is recognised as part of the Madrid culture, who will ensure the continuity of the work carried out.

“We want to give a message of confidence and calm and we will all work together to achieve our aim for this season.

“The directors strongly believe that great clubs should react with normality in the face of problems because the institution is always the most important thing.”