Schuster Sacked!

By: Corey | December 9th, 2008

Bernd Schuster has left Real Madrid by mutual consent according to Miguel Angel Arroyo and Pedja Mijatovic, and has been replaced on a 6 month contract by Juande Ramos. It is believed that Ramon Calderon was against the move, but the persistent attempts to undermine Schuster by Pedja Mijatovic have forced Schuster out. So by mutual consent really means that the most despised Pedja Mijatovic has pulled another power play and axed the coach. He is what he had to say:

“We talked about all of the difficulties that we had over the past months … and we decided to take this decision,” Mijatovic said. “He accepted it with great humility.”

Schuster was indeed in hot water, but it appeared that despite a bad run of form he would be spared in order to have some stability at the club and analyze his job at the end of the year. After the turbulent general assembly were Calderon’s budget was barely passed and their were cries for him to be thrown out of office, this comes as yet another ill-conceived move on the part of this administration. Firing Schuster may have been inevitable, but right now? We have two huge games coming up and a new trainer can hardly be expected to do much miracle work in the space of two weeks. As Schuster had said, Barcelona is “Demolishing teams” right now, and it looks like Calderon, Arroyo, Portugal and Mijatovic have thrown the squad to the wolves.

Then there is the appointment of Juande Ramos as coach on a 6 month contract. Ramos was unceremoniously sacked at Tottenham a few months back after a pathetic beginning to the season that has been rescued by the appointment of Good Ole ‘ Arry. Ramos before then had led Sevilla to two UEFA cup triumphs and a decent CL showing in their first season in the competition, although much of the ground work for that team was laid by Chapparro who had come before him and steadied the ship at Sevilla. Ramos is essentially the same coach as Schuster, with little communication to a majority of the squad, very strange tactical approached to games and a lack of motivational skills from the dugout.

How his appointment will help the team is really beyond me, but as has happened so many time in the past 6 years since Del Bosque has left us, we find ourselves with a new coach yet again, and no clear plan regarding anything right now. I hope Ramos does well for the remainder of the season, but I do not want him to remain the coach next year, I dont fancy him at all. We all know Julen Lopetgui is being groomed as a future coach for Real, while the Roberto Mancinis of the coaching world should be available come this summer still, so lets hope for the best here.

Francisco Moreno-Cariñena has also been named the new head of Real Madrid Castilla and the subsequent youth divisions after the resignation of Michel. This is a figure head role as we all well know now after Michel’s comments after his resignation, and I dont expect much out of this guy.

What are your thoughts on the firing of Schuster? And the hiring of Ramos? Should we have looked a little deeper and fired Mijatovic first? Does Calderon have to worry now that his fate is tied to the success of Ramos at the end of the season? Why does Real Madrid feel like a soap opera? Lets here what you have to say!

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Category: Team News

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Evo

The mere precence of a new coach can lift a team and make players play well to impress, let's see what happens now....
...i would love it if we beat them....
:D
REALaregoingtobeRocking???

i think schuster got the kick the moment he uttered those we can't defeat barca words. the timing is all wrong though. or maybe who knows ramos can do what harry redknapp has done over at tottenham.
there is a lot of season left. as much as we are a one trick pony with pipita being our saviour this season , so are barca. they got teamwork going for them, yes. but take messi away and the ship spring quite a lot of leaks.
john

First and most importantly: Shingi. I may just be digging into the semantics of your statement, but I personally didn't bite Capello's hand. In fact, there were quite a few people who stood up and decried the decision (Corey, Steve and myself included). There's a general feeling among Madridistas that Mijatovic and Calderon's time is coming to an end. And in the end, it's the socis and us that better represent Real Madrid than the people who buy their way into their positions, no matter how central to the immediate operation of the club they may be.

But I do take (very slight) issue with Steve's statement about winning by any means. One of the reasons that I've always loved Madrid is because they've put some of the most beautiful football in the world on display. Right now, I'm willing to settle for exciting (i.e. last second strikes to win, the magic of Madridismo), but I don't think Joga bonita should ever stop being one of the club's goals, and Capello never would have offered it.

Now, I don't think this was a well thought through move - the firing of Schuster/hiring of Juande. But Schuster made a statement equating to managerial suicide, and Calderon and Mij didn't hesitate. Juande's the obvious option, has a record of success in Spain, will be attempting to rescue his reputation, and was (for whatever reason) willing to sign on to a 6 month contract.

The irony is that Schuster, in the end, was fired for saying the upcoming El Clasico wasn't winnable, but the people who fired him just made a victory much more difficult. This is going to be a strange Spanish derby, to be sure.
losblancos

WTF???? I stayed from all the football websites after the Sevilla defeat to avoid the frustration and sadness. The first thing I check after I get up in the morning, I fuckin' couldn't belive my eyes!! WTF are those two idiots thinking? Before the biggest game??!!! We were just a coupla wins away from regaining the confidence! And on what basis have they given the job to Juande Ramos??!! I think Calderon and his bitches just watch football highlights and see who the best manager is!! It so looks like a hurried and hasty decision. Once again, the musical chair starts. Why the fuck can't we have a coach for more than 1 or 2 seasons??

You know what is most frustrating in all this? (aside from the fact that Mijatovic is still there) We were just a couple of signings away from being a strong team at the end of last season. Calderon and his bitches screwed it up in the transfer market, and Schuster has to pay the price for that. I haven't been fond of schuster very much, but it's freakin unfair.

I can't show my face to any of my friends. Oh, well.
Taytey

i agree that it's not good timing.

i don't know we'll be better or not under Ramos, but Schuster is a scapegoat that is one thing i know for sure.
Chris

Wow. Not surprised by the announcement (we all saw it coming), but really by the timing. Why would they let him go before the biggest match of the season? If he wins, he stays on until the side lay an (another) egg, and if they lose, you fire him because they lost to their biggest rival. A real head-scratcher.
Steve

shingi, i agree with you a fair bit - the players clearly have to take the blame on this, and if there wasn't such a demand for Madrid to do well year in and year out, i'd do the Florida Marlins-style fire sale and just clear out all the deadwood.

i wasn't in favour of letting Capello go - for me, a win is a win is a win. Who cares how you do it, the fact that you do is enough. Look at Arsenal. Everyone wishes they could play like Arsenal, but not at the expense of actual success. Schuster rode the coattails of Capello's work last year, and it's finally come back on him.

The supporters will have Calderon's head at the next election, and Mijatovic will follow him out, I would bet money on it. Until then though, I'm afraid we're stuck with these 3 stooges (well, 2 of them now).
Cesar1976

Dhaw

I totally agree with you, I for one think that we're not that club anymore, but that's what the top brass keep saying, when we all know it's not true...
shingi

why? Schuster wasn't the one who just watched strikers shoot/head the ball into the goal instead of marking them. And it certainly isn't his fault that his players have been made of glass this season.

I don't understand why you guys expect to win just because of the badge on your jersey. Maybe it was Rijkaard's fault that Barca just fell apart (although too much success can kill motivation). But if a team that had Zidane, Beckham, Figo, Roberto Carlos, Casillas, Raul, Robinho won 0 silverware over the course of three years, its not just the coach - there's something fundamentally wrong with player and man management. Case in point? The firing of Capello after he had won the Primera for you guys. Why? He wasn't entertaining enough. WTF? After not winning a trophy for several years, you bite the hand that finally feeds you? Then Schuster wins another one for you, and his squad falls apart due to injury, and so he gets fired too?

I'd hate to be a merengues fan - wtf goes through Calderon's head? He must be the kind of leader that just demands things from people, with no consideration of the necessary process
Julien G.

Schuster should have been sacked 3 weeks ago, but juande is a great coach...
Dhaw

Cesar,
the title of being the best team in the world has been taken away from Real Madrid past 4 seasons.

Madrid has shown some amazing consistency @ becoming a laughing stock and getting kicked out of CL in the last 3 seasons and giving below par performances day in and day out.

Might sound absurd , but this is what extra money does to a club. Fucks them in and out if the wrong ppl are at the helm.
agiamba

I've never seen a big team axe its' manager mid-season and go on to have a silverware-laden season.

Seemed a bit premature to sack Schuster.
Dhaw

Pedja Mijatovic has done it again.
Management = Clowns @ Real Madrid.
Pathetic !!!
Huntelaar

The season is far from over. Trailing by just 9 points, a winning against Barcelona will close the gap. But a coach cannot concede defeat prior to the game being played, let alone lose all hope for this year. Schuster did not show leadership. The team seems to be in shambles at the present time, but all is not lost.
Never, ever give up!
Hawk

Wow, this is odd. This is like Barca last season. The club plays like crap, stars stop shining, coach stops trying. Except for the little difference that Ramos is no Pep. And Laporta is not AS stupid as Claderon.
OhYes

The guy basically quit a while ago. Oh well. There's still a lot to fix at real madrid; I doubt this will change much.
Evo

I really liked him, but I think he had given up and was playing for the sacking payoff.
You simply don't say "we can't win" a week before el classico - it's a obvious way to get yourself out of the club.
Perhaps his enthusisam has falter becsaue of all the trouble with the signings - and for that we do need to blame Calderon and Mijatovic.
Cesar1976

What a terrible time to do this, with the clasico just around the corner!!!

Schuster wasn't the problem, MIJATOVIC AND CALDERON ARE!!!, I really hope we get rid of those two clowns as soon as possible, before they embarras us even more with their inabilities to run our beloved club...

This is just another bad decision on the part of Calderon and Mijatovic, and I for one hope we don't end up winning anything, if that means getting rid of those two idiots

Sad, sad, sad day for all madridistas, not because Schuster was sacked, I think he made it really easy for them, but because we've just became a laughingstock once again, and all that talk of us being the best team in the world, blah, blah, is just talk, we clearly don't have capable people running our team, and that shows in the poor planning and decision making of the past year

Man, this indeed is going to be a very looooooooooong season

Take care everybody...