Beast
The Observer
Indeed
Why Jose Is Right Man For Madrid...
It wasn't just the pain of the disastrously early exits from the Copa del Rey and the Champions League that sees Manuel Pellegrini completing just half of his two-year contract with Real Madrid - although that certainly didn't help his case.
Nor was it the failure to bring the Primera title back to the Bernabeu. After all, the eventual 96-point haul and 102 goals scored by Madrid should have been more than enough to win la Liga.
What really cooked Pellegrini's goose was the Chilean's truly-uninspiring performance in April's 2-0 defeat to Barcelona on Madrid's home turf - a performance that left his role at the club all-but untenable.
While his stage-struck side spent much of the clash trying to break Barcelona rather than beat them, Pellegrini was rooted to the bench instead of taking the lead in the technical area.
His Catalan counterpart Pep Guardiola was waving and cajoling, shouting and screaming. The Barcelona boss knew full well that these pitch-side fist pumps are for the benefit of the fans and cameras. Footballers never listen to anything the manager says once the game gets going.
But that didn't matter.
And that's because it was Guardiola who looked like he was the real boss of the Bernabeu. Pellegrini was just another dumb tourist trying out the seats on the stadium tour.
This image of total impotence from Pellegrini was unacceptable at a club trying to claw its way back to being the best in Europe and spending an awful lot of money in the process.
Whilst Real Madrid fans may respect the laid-back ways of the avuncular coach, what they were desperate for as their manager on that disastrous night was a leader with the biggest pair of cojones ever seen, someone who would stand up to Barcelona and then smack them down.
They wanted a manager who would tease and taunt their rivals, a psychological genius to scratch away at their easily-exposed insecurities. They wanted Barcelona's Bogeyman. They wanted José Mourinho.
And now they've got him.
For the most part, Real Madrid's regular managerial firings have been for fairly baffling reasons - especially in the cases of the last three coaches who won the title.
Vicente del Bosque was too quiet, Bernd Schuster was too loud and Fabio Capello was too boring, making the two Bernabeu presidents responsible for their dismissals sound more like Goldilocks rather than serious decision-making bosses.
It is easier to understand why Pellegrini has been jettisoned after just one season in charge, especially bearing in mind that he was never really wanted by his boss in the first place.
When Florentino Pérez took control of the club last summer, Rafa Benítez and Arsene Wenger were the two managers that the new president's heart most desired, with the Frenchman reportedly having meetings with the Bernabeu boss to discuss the possibility of a move.
Having failed to lure either of the Premier League pair to the Spanish capital and with Mourinho still in love with the Italian league, Madrid's sporting director Jorge Valdano brought in the distinctly lo-fi Manuel Pellegrini from Villarreal - a studious, subdued character in stark contrast to the surround-sound cacophony of Cristiano Ronaldo.
It was Valdano who then had to talk Pérez down from firing Pellegrini in October after an embarrassing defeat in the Copa del Rey to lowly Alcorcón. And he had to repeat the feat with yet another knock-out failure in the Champions League, this time to Lyon.
That stumble now looks even more costly for Pellegrini, considering that Madrid would only have needed to have found a way past Bordeaux and Bayern to reach a final that was being held in their own stadium.
But everything eventually came up roses for Real Madrid on Saturday night with Inter Milan's comfortable victory over the German champions.
Throughout the week, the hype over the Special One's super powers had been building and building in Spain, with Marca its cheerleader-in-chief.
The Inter boss even made the most remarkable of decisions by giving a full interview with the paper where he happily answered all questions over his managerial future, despite the Champions League final being just days away.
"I want to manage Real Madrid one hundred percent," claimed Mourinho, who said that were he to leave Inter - something that he will now be doing - then he would do so "with a clear conscience".
The former Chelsea boss also used the interview to ease the doubts of those still sceptical that he will be unable to work alongside a sporting director and all-powerful club president.
'Not a problem' was Mourinho's message with the argument that "it is just a question of knowing who is who and who does what" and the observation that he worked very successfully alongside Marco Branca - someone who plays a similar role as Valdano at Inter.
'The perfect coach doesn't exist but it can be said that the Portuguese manager is the nearest to it and what Madrid need after a terrible spell under Pellegrini,' was Marca's conclusion after their cosy chat.
With the Sunday Times writing that a four-year deal was struck between Madrid and Mourinho last Friday, there can only have been two questions being asked in any interview that took place: can the Portuguese coach win the Champions League for Madrid and most importantly of all, can Mourinho beat Barcelona - the twin obsessions of all Madridista minds.
The answer to the first is that the soon-to-be Madrid boss has now won the tournament twice with two different clubs. The response to the last question is yes. Repeatedly.
Of course, there is the danger of dour, defensive football at the Bernabeu that the locals simply will not support and a repeat of the abuse suffered by Fabio Capello.
There could be clashes over signings and sales and Real Madrid's peculiar transfer policy - a policy that offloaded Arjen Robben and Wesley Sneijder and is trying to force top scorer Gonzalo Higuaín from the club.
And there will almost certainly be ugly spats with Spain's sports press, who will be at their brilliantly bombastic best at the twice-weekly sparring sessions with Madrid's new manager - something that was a fairly dull affair under the impossible-to-provoke Pellegrini.
But all that will be forgiven and forgotten if Mourinho brings down Barcelona and makes Pep Guardiola look like yesterday's news.
What Madrid really want from their coach is someone who is the undisputed boss of the Bernabeu. And after watching Mourinho's masterly display on Saturday night, few can have any doubts that that's exactly what they've got.
Tim Stannard
------------
I posted it here cause it's related to why Manu was dismissed
Why Jose Is Right Man For Madrid...
It wasn't just the pain of the disastrously early exits from the Copa del Rey and the Champions League that sees Manuel Pellegrini completing just half of his two-year contract with Real Madrid - although that certainly didn't help his case.
Nor was it the failure to bring the Primera title back to the Bernabeu. After all, the eventual 96-point haul and 102 goals scored by Madrid should have been more than enough to win la Liga.
What really cooked Pellegrini's goose was the Chilean's truly-uninspiring performance in April's 2-0 defeat to Barcelona on Madrid's home turf - a performance that left his role at the club all-but untenable.
While his stage-struck side spent much of the clash trying to break Barcelona rather than beat them, Pellegrini was rooted to the bench instead of taking the lead in the technical area.
His Catalan counterpart Pep Guardiola was waving and cajoling, shouting and screaming. The Barcelona boss knew full well that these pitch-side fist pumps are for the benefit of the fans and cameras. Footballers never listen to anything the manager says once the game gets going.
But that didn't matter.
And that's because it was Guardiola who looked like he was the real boss of the Bernabeu. Pellegrini was just another dumb tourist trying out the seats on the stadium tour.
This image of total impotence from Pellegrini was unacceptable at a club trying to claw its way back to being the best in Europe and spending an awful lot of money in the process.
Whilst Real Madrid fans may respect the laid-back ways of the avuncular coach, what they were desperate for as their manager on that disastrous night was a leader with the biggest pair of cojones ever seen, someone who would stand up to Barcelona and then smack them down.
They wanted a manager who would tease and taunt their rivals, a psychological genius to scratch away at their easily-exposed insecurities. They wanted Barcelona's Bogeyman. They wanted José Mourinho.
And now they've got him.
For the most part, Real Madrid's regular managerial firings have been for fairly baffling reasons - especially in the cases of the last three coaches who won the title.
Vicente del Bosque was too quiet, Bernd Schuster was too loud and Fabio Capello was too boring, making the two Bernabeu presidents responsible for their dismissals sound more like Goldilocks rather than serious decision-making bosses.
It is easier to understand why Pellegrini has been jettisoned after just one season in charge, especially bearing in mind that he was never really wanted by his boss in the first place.
When Florentino Pérez took control of the club last summer, Rafa Benítez and Arsene Wenger were the two managers that the new president's heart most desired, with the Frenchman reportedly having meetings with the Bernabeu boss to discuss the possibility of a move.
Having failed to lure either of the Premier League pair to the Spanish capital and with Mourinho still in love with the Italian league, Madrid's sporting director Jorge Valdano brought in the distinctly lo-fi Manuel Pellegrini from Villarreal - a studious, subdued character in stark contrast to the surround-sound cacophony of Cristiano Ronaldo.
It was Valdano who then had to talk Pérez down from firing Pellegrini in October after an embarrassing defeat in the Copa del Rey to lowly Alcorcón. And he had to repeat the feat with yet another knock-out failure in the Champions League, this time to Lyon.
That stumble now looks even more costly for Pellegrini, considering that Madrid would only have needed to have found a way past Bordeaux and Bayern to reach a final that was being held in their own stadium.
But everything eventually came up roses for Real Madrid on Saturday night with Inter Milan's comfortable victory over the German champions.
Throughout the week, the hype over the Special One's super powers had been building and building in Spain, with Marca its cheerleader-in-chief.
The Inter boss even made the most remarkable of decisions by giving a full interview with the paper where he happily answered all questions over his managerial future, despite the Champions League final being just days away.
"I want to manage Real Madrid one hundred percent," claimed Mourinho, who said that were he to leave Inter - something that he will now be doing - then he would do so "with a clear conscience".
The former Chelsea boss also used the interview to ease the doubts of those still sceptical that he will be unable to work alongside a sporting director and all-powerful club president.
'Not a problem' was Mourinho's message with the argument that "it is just a question of knowing who is who and who does what" and the observation that he worked very successfully alongside Marco Branca - someone who plays a similar role as Valdano at Inter.
'The perfect coach doesn't exist but it can be said that the Portuguese manager is the nearest to it and what Madrid need after a terrible spell under Pellegrini,' was Marca's conclusion after their cosy chat.
With the Sunday Times writing that a four-year deal was struck between Madrid and Mourinho last Friday, there can only have been two questions being asked in any interview that took place: can the Portuguese coach win the Champions League for Madrid and most importantly of all, can Mourinho beat Barcelona - the twin obsessions of all Madridista minds.
The answer to the first is that the soon-to-be Madrid boss has now won the tournament twice with two different clubs. The response to the last question is yes. Repeatedly.
Of course, there is the danger of dour, defensive football at the Bernabeu that the locals simply will not support and a repeat of the abuse suffered by Fabio Capello.
There could be clashes over signings and sales and Real Madrid's peculiar transfer policy - a policy that offloaded Arjen Robben and Wesley Sneijder and is trying to force top scorer Gonzalo Higuaín from the club.
And there will almost certainly be ugly spats with Spain's sports press, who will be at their brilliantly bombastic best at the twice-weekly sparring sessions with Madrid's new manager - something that was a fairly dull affair under the impossible-to-provoke Pellegrini.
But all that will be forgiven and forgotten if Mourinho brings down Barcelona and makes Pep Guardiola look like yesterday's news.
What Madrid really want from their coach is someone who is the undisputed boss of the Bernabeu. And after watching Mourinho's masterly display on Saturday night, few can have any doubts that that's exactly what they've got.
Tim Stannard
------------
I posted it here cause it's related to why Manu was dismissed
