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Camacho Replaces Queiroz
Mon 24 May, 3:10 PM
President Florentino Perez spoke in bitter terms of "disorder and lack of authority" during the final weeks of Carlos Queiroz's reign at Real Madrid as he revealed that new coach Jose Antonio Camacho will have a hands-on role at the club next season.
There was no fond farewell for Queiroz, who was not present when Perez announced the coaching change, but instead strong words from the man whose presidency will go on the line at club elections this summer.
Madrid finished the season without a major trophy, despite the £24million arrival of England captain David Beckham.
A five-game losing run in the Primera Liga reached a shattering conclusion with Sunday's 4-1 annihilation by Real Sociedad, a result which means Madrid finished fourth and must go into the qualifying rounds of next season's Champions League.
Perez said: "What has happened over the last two months is hard to understand. We haven't had the order or the discipline in the club."
What made the outcome all the more extraordinary is that Madrid had led the Primera Liga by eight points at one stage in March.
They were preparing for a Champions League quarter-final against Monaco and gearing up to face Real Zaragoza in the Copa del Rey final, but both ties were lost, and Madrid's physical and mental strength was soon sapped.
"Maybe we were too ambitious," Perez added. "But it's hard to understand how the Real Madrid of the past two months has been so markedly different."
Asked whether the team might have had a more sturdy spine this year, had Claude Makelele been retained last summer, rather than sold on to Chelsea, Perez remarked: "It's not due to just selling Makelele.
"Real Madrid recently have been unrecognisable. We've seen how disorder and lack of authority has taken over."
By appointing Camacho, Perez might have made the decision which wins him the presidential election and keeps him in charge for a further four years.
A favourite son of the club, Camacho played more than 400 matches with Madrid between 1974 and 1989, before taking up a series of backroom coaching positions at the club.
After spells at Espanyol, Rayo Vallecano and Sevilla, he was later appointed head coach, in summer 1998, but gave up the job after 23 days following a row over control with the then president Lorenzo Sanz.
He went on to coach Spain at Euro 2000 and the 2002 World Cup, with the team reaching the quarter-finals on both occasions.
Perez has exercised great control over club affairs since beating Sanz in the 2000 presidential elections, but he insists that Camacho will not be a puppet-like figurehead.
"He will be very important in contracting new players," said Perez.
"He will be working with the directors of the club. We think that Camacho, thanks to him being a former player and a Madrid fan, was a very important recruit.
"He has the authority and the moral authority to carry things out."
The Madrid directors met on Monday morning to discuss the coaching situation.
"Camacho was a unanimous decision," Perez added. "He's always been in our hearts.
"We think this is the ideal moment."
Queiroz leaves the club midway through a two-year contract, signed last June when he was lured away from his role as assistant manager to Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United.
He will be particularly haunted by the Copa del Rey and Champions League defeats.
The Copa del Rey final on March 17 was the catalyst to the slide, as Madrid lost 3-2 to Real Zaragoza in a classic contest.
Madrid were shattered by the defeat, which emphasised their vulnerability in defence.
Zaragoza defender Gabriel Milito, who Madrid had decided against buying in the summer following a medical, was the star man.
The defence was a department which Queiroz was unable to strengthen during his time at the helm, and Madrid went on to lose to Monaco in the Champions League just three weeks later, surrendering a 4-2 first-leg advantage in the Principality.
Another Madrid cast-off - Monaco forward Fernando Morientes - proved the nemesis of his former colleagues with goals in both legs.
He was allowed to join Monaco on loan last summer, and that was to prove an expensive mistake.
Even though Real were still paying some of his wages the club did not negotiate a clause that would have stopped him playing against them.
Monday's move mirrors that of last season, when Madrid sacked coach Vicente del Bosque less than 24 hours after the final game of the season.
In Del Bosque's case, however, he had led Madrid to the Primera Liga title and the Champions League semi-finals.
For Queiroz, there was no trace of success for him to call up as evidence to support his claim for a second year in charge.
Camacho Replaces Queiroz
Mon 24 May, 3:10 PM
President Florentino Perez spoke in bitter terms of "disorder and lack of authority" during the final weeks of Carlos Queiroz's reign at Real Madrid as he revealed that new coach Jose Antonio Camacho will have a hands-on role at the club next season.
There was no fond farewell for Queiroz, who was not present when Perez announced the coaching change, but instead strong words from the man whose presidency will go on the line at club elections this summer.
Madrid finished the season without a major trophy, despite the £24million arrival of England captain David Beckham.
A five-game losing run in the Primera Liga reached a shattering conclusion with Sunday's 4-1 annihilation by Real Sociedad, a result which means Madrid finished fourth and must go into the qualifying rounds of next season's Champions League.
Perez said: "What has happened over the last two months is hard to understand. We haven't had the order or the discipline in the club."
What made the outcome all the more extraordinary is that Madrid had led the Primera Liga by eight points at one stage in March.
They were preparing for a Champions League quarter-final against Monaco and gearing up to face Real Zaragoza in the Copa del Rey final, but both ties were lost, and Madrid's physical and mental strength was soon sapped.
"Maybe we were too ambitious," Perez added. "But it's hard to understand how the Real Madrid of the past two months has been so markedly different."
Asked whether the team might have had a more sturdy spine this year, had Claude Makelele been retained last summer, rather than sold on to Chelsea, Perez remarked: "It's not due to just selling Makelele.
"Real Madrid recently have been unrecognisable. We've seen how disorder and lack of authority has taken over."
By appointing Camacho, Perez might have made the decision which wins him the presidential election and keeps him in charge for a further four years.
A favourite son of the club, Camacho played more than 400 matches with Madrid between 1974 and 1989, before taking up a series of backroom coaching positions at the club.
After spells at Espanyol, Rayo Vallecano and Sevilla, he was later appointed head coach, in summer 1998, but gave up the job after 23 days following a row over control with the then president Lorenzo Sanz.
He went on to coach Spain at Euro 2000 and the 2002 World Cup, with the team reaching the quarter-finals on both occasions.
Perez has exercised great control over club affairs since beating Sanz in the 2000 presidential elections, but he insists that Camacho will not be a puppet-like figurehead.
"He will be very important in contracting new players," said Perez.
"He will be working with the directors of the club. We think that Camacho, thanks to him being a former player and a Madrid fan, was a very important recruit.
"He has the authority and the moral authority to carry things out."
The Madrid directors met on Monday morning to discuss the coaching situation.
"Camacho was a unanimous decision," Perez added. "He's always been in our hearts.
"We think this is the ideal moment."
Queiroz leaves the club midway through a two-year contract, signed last June when he was lured away from his role as assistant manager to Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United.
He will be particularly haunted by the Copa del Rey and Champions League defeats.
The Copa del Rey final on March 17 was the catalyst to the slide, as Madrid lost 3-2 to Real Zaragoza in a classic contest.
Madrid were shattered by the defeat, which emphasised their vulnerability in defence.
Zaragoza defender Gabriel Milito, who Madrid had decided against buying in the summer following a medical, was the star man.
The defence was a department which Queiroz was unable to strengthen during his time at the helm, and Madrid went on to lose to Monaco in the Champions League just three weeks later, surrendering a 4-2 first-leg advantage in the Principality.
Another Madrid cast-off - Monaco forward Fernando Morientes - proved the nemesis of his former colleagues with goals in both legs.
He was allowed to join Monaco on loan last summer, and that was to prove an expensive mistake.
Even though Real were still paying some of his wages the club did not negotiate a clause that would have stopped him playing against them.
Monday's move mirrors that of last season, when Madrid sacked coach Vicente del Bosque less than 24 hours after the final game of the season.
In Del Bosque's case, however, he had led Madrid to the Primera Liga title and the Champions League semi-finals.
For Queiroz, there was no trace of success for him to call up as evidence to support his claim for a second year in charge.
