Real's new manager

[edcq]

05/24/2004. After a Real Madrid board meeting this morning, the club have decided to sack Carlos Queiroz and appoint Jose Antonio Camacho as the new coach.

President Florentino Perez announced the appointment at a press conference, while the signing of Walter Samuel on a five year contract was also confirmed.

Quieroz's sacking is no surprise after the dreadful end to the season endured by the Merengues. Last night's 4-1 defeat to Real Sociedad ensured the club finished in a lowly fourth place.

05/24/2004. Real Madrid president Florentino Perez explained the decision to appoint Jose Antonio Camacho as new coach following the sacking of Carlos Queiroz.

"He will be very important in contracting new players," said Perez, dismissing the notion that Camacho will be a mere puppet.

"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.

"Camacho was a unanimous decision. He's always been in our hearts.

"We think this is the ideal moment."

He also spoke of the current mess the club finds itself in: "What has happened over the last two months is hard to understand. We haven't had the order or the discipline in the club.

"Maybe we were too ambitious. But it's hard to understand how the Real Madrid of the past two months has been so markedly different.

"Real Madrid recently have been unrecognisable. We've seen how disorder and lack of authority has taken over."

Source: Soccerage.com

to me, it was unbelievably obvious that Queiroz was gonna get the boot after finishing 4th.

Edited May 24, 2004 by 17

[Sam]

I hope this means he will return to Manchester United because he was a good assistant manager.

[TheArsenal]

05/24/2004. After a Real Madrid board meeting this morning, the club have decided to sack Carlos Queiroz and appoint Jose Antonio

Stupid as it might sound, I got to this point and was praying the next word wasn't Reyes.

[Johnny Latino Heat]

I wanted Camacho to stay at Benfica. He did wonders for the club.

We Camacho over here.

[G-O-D]

Figo: 'Queiroz paid for others' mistakes'

Carlos Queiroz, sacked as Real Madrid coach on Monday, paid for decisions that had been made before his arrival, according to Real midfielder Luis Figo.

Luis Figo: Support for Queiroz (MikeEgerton/Empics)

'The coach did everything possible to win with what he was given by the club,' the Portuguese international told Spanish sports daily Marca on Tuesday.

Figo said decisions to organise an exhausting but money-spinning pre-season tour of Asia and offload several key players, plus Real's failure to strengthen the defence had made Queiroz's job especially difficult.

'He did everything he could and did it with the utmost professionalism and commitment,' Figo said.

Real president Florentino Perez accused Queiroz of lacking sufficient authority as coach and has replaced him with former Spain coach Jose Antonio Camacho. Real ended a humiliating season with a record run of five straight league defeats.

Queiroz, who warned Real that the squad was dangerously thin when he took over as coach in June, said he thought his dismissal had been unjustified.

'I'm disappointed with the decision that they have taken,' he told Marca. 'I believe that it was unjust but I have to accept it.

'All I can say is that serving Real Madrid has been an honour for me and I want to wish the club all the best in the future.'

Queiroz's predecessor Vicente del Bosque, who was discarded after leading Real to two league titles and two European Cups during his three and a half years at the helm, said he saw similarities between his departure from the club and that of Queiroz.

'It didn't surprise me,' he told Spanish radio station Onda Cero on Tuesday. 'They did the same with me but the only difference was that we had just won the league and were still celebrating the title.

'They were unjust, aggressive and insensitive and I'm not just talking about the decision not to renew my contract. The squad was thin then and it is even thinner now.'

Del Bosque said that Camacho, who played alongside him at Real, was the ideal person to take charge but warned that he would not have an easy job.

'Camacho now has a difficult task as the club expects a lot of him and he can't afford to fail but he is the best coach the club could appoint,' he said.

Unlike Queiroz, Camacho, who will be presented to the media on Tuesday, will have the benefit of a more balanced squad when he takes charge.

Last week Perez signed the first defender of his four-year presidency by recruiting Argentine centre-back Walter Samuel from AS Roma for 25 million euros ($30.19 million).

Perez confirmed on Monday he will be standing in this year's presidential election which is likely to take place on July 11

Source

I think Perez would not be liking Figo's comments. But I think Figo's right. Queiroz didn't had a say in the transfers, and he did the best with what he had, IMHO.

[Different Cloud]

The thing about not signing defenders is/was just fucking stupid.