The former Real Madrid president has slammed the “whimsical” decision to sack the Champions League-winning coach
Former Real Madrid president Ramon Calderon has branded Florentino Perez’s decision to sack coach Carlo Ancelotti as predictably “whimsical”.
Ancelotti, who led the club to the Copa del Rey and long-awaited 10th European crown last season before claiming the Uefa Super Cup and Club World Cup, was handed his marching orders on Monday after failing to win another major trophy this campaign.
And Calderon, who led the club between 2006 and 2009, says current president Perez’s decision was all too foreseeable.
“We are used to the whimsical reactions of the president,” Calderon told talkSPORT.
“He was asked in the press conference what was the reason to sack him and the answer was very clear: ‘I don’t know’.
“It has been like that for the time he has been the president. There have been nine coaches in the 10 years he has been the president.”
In 2004, Perez infamously sacked Vicente del Bosque after he had led the club to two Champions League titles in three seasons, which began a 12-year wait for La Decima.
The likes of Carlos Queiroz, Jose Antonio Camacho and Manuel Pellegrini have since been pushed out of the door by the current president, who returned in 2009 after Calderon resigned following a vote-rigging scandal in which he denied any involvement.
Calderon went on to stress he believes Rafa Benitez will succeed at the Santiago Bernabeu should the Napoli boss take over as expected.
“I think 99 per cent Benitez will be the new coach,” he said.
“I think he is a good coach. He has proven that at other clubs. He is a man of the club. He was in charge of the youth teams [at Real Madrid].
“[His success] will depend what happens with the signings and what happens with players that are going to leave the club and the authority he has.”
