La Liga - Spanish unsure on Ramos appointment

Eurosport - Wed, 10 Dec 14:48:00 2008

Real Madrid's move to sack coach Bernd Schuster and bring in Juande Ramos sparked harsh criticism from the Spanish media, who also raised doubts about the former Tottenham Hotspur manager's credentials.

FOOTBALL Real Madrid Juande Ramos - 0

While some praised what they called Ramos's profound knowledge of the game and his modesty and patience, others said his disastrous stint in London was a bad omen.

Marca slammed Real president Ramon Calderon and sporting director Predrag Mijatovic, calling the club a "comedy" and "shameless".

"The Kafka-esque sacking of Schuster is nothing more than another blunder which joins a long list committed by the club managers, unable to come up with an action plan that is either cheap or effective or even halfway serious," it said.

"The president talks a lot and acts little, the sporting director cries a lot and signs few players, the players earn a lot but don't play much and the medical staff treat many but cure few."

El Mundo noted that Ramos lost the support of the English players at Tottenham because of his patchy command of the language, a handicap that may colour his relationship with Real's large Dutch contingent.

"As soon as he left, the team mysteriously started working," said the newspaper. "Juande now has his bum on the Real bench and only the gods know whether his resounding failure at Tottenham or his virtuous circle at Sevilla will be repeated."

Spurs suffered their worst start to a league season under Ramos, who arrived in London after winning five trophies in two years at Sevilla, including the UEFA Cup in 2006 and 2007.

The Sport newspaper was scathing about Ramos's abilities and said he owed the success he enjoyed at Sevilla mostly to his technical staff.

It said he was inheriting a team that was "unbalanced, had a full sick ward and contained various players in the twilight of their careers including Raul, Guti and Fabio Cannavaro".

"Taking over a team in mid-season and signing for only six months is not something a top coach would do," the paper said.

"But Juande has recognised that it's the only way he can get on to the Real bench, opportunistically diving into the pool without knowing whether the water is hot or cold."

However, Gus Poyet, Ramos's assistant at Spurs and a former Real Zaragoza player, was upbeat about the Spaniard's prospects and said he would focus on plugging the holes in defence.

"Real Madrid will never have a problem attacking," he wrote in El Mundo.

"Juande knows very well how to identify issues that need resolving, always putting the team before individuals."

The AS newspaper also had warm praise for Ramos.

"We have here a coach who is modest, speaks with a quiet voice and avoids egotism and the cameras," wrote columnist Enrico Ortega.

"He feels proud to have triumphed as a coach without ever having been an elite player."

Reuters

Comment 1 - 12 of 12

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  1. They must show more respect to coaches. I think that­ Schuster was 10 times better as Madrid coach than­ Ramos. pfuu... Real Madrid is so pitful. There is no­ moral values in this club, it's everything about­ money, money, money, mon...

    From iurisimo, on Thu 11 Dec 10:38AM

  2. long live rm and ramos can do bater in to win the cup

    From Azly, on Thu 11 Dec 9:29AM

  3. for the last two years when RM won the league twice no­ one critisized the managment.
    Schuster is a great coach­ when he have a full team, but not too good in crisis­ times, he was in panic in the last weeks.
    everyone is­ bound to fail or succeed somewhere.
    i think Juande­ Ramos personality will fit RM managment style and there­ may be a happy ending this year.... hope so
    Hala Madrid

    From Rabih, on Thu 11 Dec 7:36AM

  4. perhaps with Ramos factor Madrid wont get a beating by­ Barca but still they are gonna loose. Schuster quite­ right about that but i do agree one thing, the germans­ shouldnt have admitted those thing to the media as his­ job is already on the line.. but to be fair, he is n x­ Barca player despite also n x Madrid player (both­ Madrid).
    Barca gonna win 3-1..!

    From carlamms, on Thu 11 Dec 12:23AM

  5. Congrats ! 3-0 ! ramos Off a gd start ;)

    From kevii005, on Wed 10 Dec 9:45PM

  6. Congrats ! 3-0 ! ramos Off a gd start ;)

    From kevii005, on Wed 10 Dec 9:45PM

  7. And btw... El Classico is going to be Madrid's­ Comback !;)

    From kevii005, on Wed 10 Dec 7:15PM

  8. Its not Schuster's fault !becuase half of his main­ players are injured but it is his Fault at the same­ time cause he didnt have a plane B meaning he didnt­ have a second team in mind , thats why he got fired !­ but im in a Doubt whith Ramos , im not even at 50 %­ sure he'll make a gd Madrid coach. to be honest i­ would love Fabio Capello to come back . even tho he was­ an asswhole he was a great, AMAZING Coach .

    The only­ thing i have to say is that MAdrid we'll pass this­ Horrible Nigthmare and everything will come back to­ normal but we can say gd bye to La liga trophy and­ Champions league ,But you never know MAdrid will maybe­ make a huge Comback ,And Huntelaar may make a­ difference .

    Long Live La Liga, Long live Madrid .

    From kevii005, on Wed 10 Dec 7:12PM

  9. Are you people crazy??? what can a loosing coach bring­ to a losing team. schuster did nothing wrong. half of­ his starting line up was injured . it was just a phase.­ i find spanish clubs dont respect managers thats why­ the teams dont gel and grow ( always changing) not a­ schuster fan but he did well up to this patch and­ deserved more respect.they said ramos Engish killed him­ or lack of but they are 6 dutch and other­ nationalities on MADRID team. Madrid played very well­ against Sev... and as the team key players were playing­ again e.g (robben), you could see real playing well. Im­ afriad of what barca will do with us this weekend­ (sigh) I would have fired the medical staff and tell­ the president to relax. now look what they gone and­ done.

    From JEFF A, on Wed 10 Dec 6:10PM

  10. All the prophets of doom shud keep their mouths shut.­ ramos has the potentials he can do it.afterall,d coach­ that succeeded ramos at tottenham doesnt av an­ intimidating cv.wot is the big deal about him not­ performing at tottenham.his failure at tottenham shud­ not be used 2 judge him.why are the likes of sam­ alardyce stl roaming around the streets looking for­ jobs? who ever knew he could be disgraced at newcastle­ despite that he did well at bolton? in the game of­ football, there is no certainty but that doesnt remove­ the fact that the person in question is good.

    From shittu4soccer, on Wed 10 Dec 4:38PM

  11. ya, go n get the kicks from the Catalans..hahaha

    From carlamms, on Wed 10 Dec 4:07PM

  12. he will be fine if everyone speaks Spanish! it was all­ down to the language look at what he did in Sevilla.­ Good Luck Juande, go kick the catalans this weekend and­ you will be a God....

    From Is this the Bestway, on Wed 10 Dec 3:29PM
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