New Boss at the Bernabeu
Ramos was quickly installed after the sacking of the German coach Bernd Schuster. Schuster had won the league title during his only full season in charge at Real but their disappointing start to this campaign (nine point behind league leaders Barcelona; in fifth place; dumped out of the Spanish Cup by Real Union) has seen Schuster given the boot. Its also believed that club president Ramon Calderon and sporting director Predrag Mijatovic were disappointed with the Germans press dealings, as he largely came across as aggressive and closed, aswell as rumours he had lost support in the dressing room.
Ramos is seen as the man who will be able to get the best out of the players at his disposal, as he did during his time as manager at Sevilla (When his side became the first to win successive UEFA cups.) The men in charge at the Bernabeu believe that as Ramos is a better coach than Schuster, he will be able to get the same set of players who won La Liga last year back into the title race. Moreover, as Real haven’t won the big trophy on the European stage for six years, since their victory over Bayer Leverkusen at Hampden Park in 2002, they were keen to bring in a coach who had experience in european competition, and Ramos was the best available candidate at such short notice.
His first game will come against Zenit St. Petersburg in the Champions League tonight, Real having already qualified from the group, before he is thrown into the deep end against league leaders Barcelona on Saturday evening in the fixture known as ‘El Clasico’.
Ramos spoke yesterday on his shock appointment saying: “This club must only think about one thing: victory. I know my job and I hope I do not disappoint.”
