Real Madrid Sack Fabio Capello
Primera Liga Champions Dismiss their Coach after One Year in Charge
Real Madrid, the Primera Liga Champions have dismissed their coach, Fabio Capello, after completing only one year of his three year contract.
Fabio Capello discovered that in Spain winning the Primera Liga title wasn’t enough to retain his position as coach at Real Madrid. Eleven days after leading Real to their first championship in four years, he was sacked having completed only one year of the three year contract he agreed last summer.
Highly Contested Title Race
Real Madrid won a highly contested title race on the final day of the season, having come from behind to overhaul reigning Champions, Barcelona, and after finishing level on points, win by virtue of superior results in the two head to head contests between the two teams.
In mid March, having made an early exit from the Champions League and trailling in the title race it looked as if Real Madrid were set to have another season without any success but in those final weeks, Capello led a Real revival to the title.
David Beckham's Departure
Much of that success can be attributed to the return of David Beckham to the Real team. At the beginning of the year Beckham was struggling and Capello left him out of the team. Beckham, nearing the end of his contract at the Bernabeu, agreed to sign for LA Galaxy, at which point Capello announced that Beckham would never play for Real again.
It was a rather hasty remark and in the light of Beckham’s return to form which has also seen him reclaim his place in the England team, a very unwise one.
Champions but not Vintage Real Madrid
Although Real won the title, the sparkle and the vintage football associated with the club over many years was missing. It was this factor that led to Capello’s downfall as the club look for a manager who will bring a more exciting style of football to the club.
Capello's Managerial record
Capello joined Real from Juventus and was charged with winning the title. He achieved that goal but it wasn’t enough for him to retain his position. So for the second time Capello has lost his post at Real having won the title in his one season in charge. This also happened ten years ago in the title success of the 1996-97 season.
Spanish football shows no sentiment. In most countries, having won the League title, the manager/coach would be afforded ‘legend’ status and be guaranteed to retain his position at the club for some considerable time, but not in Spain and especially not at Real Madrid. In 2003 after winning their last title, Real sacked their coach, Vincente del Bosque and in 1998 after winning the Champions League, they dismissed Juup Heynckes.
Capello has an excellent record as a coach, having managed at Real Madrid (twice), Juventus, AC Milan and AS Roma and at each club he has taken them to a league title.
