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Real’s Ramos unlikely to stay despite successful spell
Quite a few sceptical eyebrows were raised when Real Madrid gave Bernd Schuster the boot back in December and brought in Juande Ramos.
After an impressive spell at Sevilla, Ramos had faltered badly at Tottenham and it seemed the Real board were taking a big gamble in bringing him back to Spain with a contract until the end of the season.
When the affable La Manchan took charge, 100 days ago today, the champions had lost two on the trot and were down in fifth place, nine points behind leaders Barcelona.
Although his first league match ended in a 2-0 defeat at the Nou Camp, Real subsequently went on a 10-match winning run that ended on March 7 with the 1-1 home draw to city rivals Atletico.
Barca’s recent wobble has seen their lead cut from 12 points to six and Real fans are not giving up hope of a third consecutive Primera Liga title.
So has Ramos done enough to convince the men in suits that he should stay on next season?
Vlog on the pitch – Can Real really catch Barca?
A few weeks ago the La Liga title looked a done deal but Juande Ramos has steadied the ship and Real Madrid now find themselves four points behind Barcelona with the two teams still to play each other at the Bernabeu on May 3.
Can Real complete an unlikely comeback?
Vlogonthepitch host Owen Wyatt and Kevin Fylan discuss.
Hi Gonzalo. I think that’s true: if they catch them it will ranks as one of the great comebacks. They’ve already done fantastically well to get this close but as you say (or hint) it’s really down to Barcelona. If they recapture theif form from the first half of the season there will be no stopping them.
Real show signs of improvement, but can Barca be caught?
Has new Real Madrid coach Juande Ramos picked up where he left off at struggling Tottenham Hotspur?
You might very well think so after a glance at the 2-0 scoreline from Saturday’s “Clasico” at the Nou Camp.
But the battling display by a much-depleted Real, in which they held their arch rivals at bay until the 83rd minute and created one or two chances to steal the three points, provided Ramos with several positives.
Not least was the performance of the defensive line, with Iker Casillas playing like one of the world’s best goalkeepers again while Fabio Cannavaro and even Christoph Metzelder flung themselves into impeccably-timed, last-ditch challenges.
The desire and fight that was not always evident under Bernd Schuster appears to have returned.
As Ramos pointed out on Monday, things will surely improve for the champions once key players like Pepe, Gabriel Heinze and Wesley Sneijder are fit again. A couple of new signings in January should also provide impetus while Klaas Jan Huntelaar will be eager to get going.
Real Madrid will bounce back as they always do, but it will be too late. Barcelona is captialising on pts now when it counts. They will play strong and consistent all year long and will be too far ahead for anyone to catch. Barcelona wins La Liga this year in my opinion.
Real fans glad to see back of Schuster, welcome Ramos
Chatting with Real Madrid fans outside the Bernabeu ahead of their Champions League match against Zenit St Petersburg on Wednesday, the overwhelming attitude expressed was one of relief that the club was rid of Bernd Schuster.
Tuesday’s surprise appointment of Juande Ramos to replace the moody German has raised hopes that a change in management will give the team a boost and help them get their faltering season back on track.
Jose-Maria, an architectural engineer and lifelong Real supporter from Albacete, said Schuster’s claim at the weekend that it was impossible to win at Barcelona was unacceptable and he had to go.
“You just can’t say things like that and expect to get away with it, it was very damaging,” he said, beating his gloved hands together against the cold.
With an eye on Saturday’s Primera Liga match against leaders and arch rivals Barcelona, he said there was not much former Sevilla and Tottenham Hotspur coach Ramos could do in less than a week but his arrival would help change the mentality of the players for the better.
“Schuster was too serious. He was not relaxed with the players or the press and he had no empathy with the fans,” he said. “The players did not defend him and they accepted that it was time for a change.”
Schuster has wanted to leave for some wees now, if his public statements are anything to go by, but has not had the courage to just come out and say so (or perhaps he had his eye on a nice big payoff).
On the other hand, Calderón really couldn’t get rid of him until he had the AGM out of the way, no matter what Mijatovic says about its being his decision.
http://allinwhite.blogspot.com
Ramos replaces Schuster at Real – your views
The Bernabeu axe has fallen again with Bernd Schuster sacked as Real Madrid coach and Juande Ramos coming in to replace him.
The writing had been on the wall for the German after Real’s sticky start to the season. Sunday’s 4-3 home defeat by Sevilla was compounded by Schuster’s comments that winning would be impossible in next weekend’s match at Barcelona.
Ramos must think he is in dreamland having landed one of club soccer’s top jobs only a few weeks after being chased out of struggling Tottenham Hotspur.
What do you make of Real’s move? Did they have any choice or have they again acted rashly? And what about Ramos? Things fell apart at Spurs but he was previously very successful with Sevilla.
Madrid is passing through tough period which do come.arsenal ve had several of this season but ve not axed wenger,so i believe calderon gat it all wrong.
So what now for Tottenham?
A seismic weekend at Tottenham resulted in the ruthless cull of Juande Ramos and his coaching team and the sacking of director of football Damien Comolli.
Harry Redknapp was then hired as the club’s new manager just hours before the north London club claimed a first league victory of the season against Bolton.
However, their league position is still precarious (they are bottom, a point worse off than Newcastle) and there are many Spurs fans who are uncomfortable with the appointment
Not just because Redknapp has strong connections with West Ham United, but because his main attribute appears to be guiding average sides away from relegation.
Apart from last year’s FA Cup victory with Portsmouth, the 61-year-old Redknapp’s CV highlights are none too impressive.
Sure, he saved Portsmouth from relegation a few years ago and will probably have enough tricks up his sleeve to get Tottenham into mid-table by the end of the season.
A rather negative article which doesn’t reflect the majority of spurs fans opinion. The situation with Ramos could not have continued any further, especially if reports of the senior squad members coming forward with their own doubts are true. Harry is english and is probably more experienced than anyone within the english game to take this club on to great things. What is the point at looking at the negatives here? This is a positive change and possibly the only one Levy had to make, regardless of connections with West Ham or not. Who cares?
Vlog on the Pitch — Ramos on the ropes at Spurs
It’s not easy being a Spurs fan at the moment and if the team suffer another bad result against Hull City on Sunday it’s going to be an uncomfortable international break for Juande Ramos.
Owen Wyatt is joined by Vlog on the Pitch regular Jon Bramley and Mike Davidson to discuss the underlying reasons for the team’s disappointing start to the season. They also take a glance over to Germany, where a Hamburg side coached by Martin Jol — remember him? – are currently top of the league.
So what is the main problem? Is it a lack of quality in the squad? And if so, is that the fault of Ramos or other, more powerful, figures at the club? Is it really time to make a change ?
Give us your thoughts in the comments or feel free to give us a link to a Vlog of your own on the subject. If we like the video, we’ll find a home for it here.
My own feeling is that this is still too early in the season to condemn a manager, even if they have been looking like “a half-hearted express train leading off into nowhere land”, to quote Tottenham Hotspur Blog News. Ramos’s Sevilla were such a thrill to watch that surely it’s worth persevering a little longer, even though, as Owen says, perhaps Spurs could do with signing the coach’s old boss Monchi as well.
Thanks for your comments guys. I agree with you both on this. I think that any manager would struggle to pull things together having watched his best players leave without replacements lined up. I also saw the interview with Alan Sugar on the BBC and what stood out for me was the section when he talked about how Jol was putting thing in place to allow Spurs to develop into a top side players like Berbatov and Keane were key to this. Now they have gone and been replaced with the likes of Dos Santos who is by no means ready to do the business in the Premier League.
Anyway thanks for the comments!
Owen
One major problem with Real Madrid is patience, they are short of it, give Ramos a chance.