Fans vote Zizou over Jose as possible Rafa successor
RAFA BENITEZ will take charge of Real Madrid’s next game with the majority of the club’s supporters rejecting a return to former coach Jose Mourinho.
Club president Florentino Perez has tentatively sounded out supporters and directors and the feedback, along with two polls carried out by Marca, has convinced him to stick with Benitez.
Just over 64 000 supporters were asked by Marca who they wanted to take over if Benitez was sacked and 53 percent said they would want the promotion of current B-team coach Zinedine Zidane. Mourinho only polled 31 percent and current youth team academy director Victor Fernandez 16 percent. Supporters’ preference for Zidane over the sacked Chelsea coach followed another poll carried out immediately after the Portuguese left Stamford Bridge.
It revealed how Mourinho’s return would tear the club in two with 47 000 voting and 48 percent saying they were in favour of his return while 52 percent opposed his re-appointment.
These votes might not carry too much weight elsewhere but at Real, where fan power rules, they are of vital importance and Perez is understood to be increasingly convinced he should stick with former Liverpool manager Benitez.
There is no overwhelming support for Mourinho and the fans’ preference for Zidane is tempered by a feeling within the club that the French playing legend is still not prepared for the job after a season-and-a-half in charge of the club’s B-team.
As well as not having convinced supporters, the dressing-room has also failed to back Mourinho’s return. Pepe, Sergio Ramos and Cristiano Ronaldo were embroiled in the civil war that engulfed the club in his final season and would be against his return.
Gareth Bale, who scored four goals in the 10-2 win at the weekend over Rayo Vallecano, is also understood to prefer the continuation of Benitez.
Benitez spent Christmas in Liverpool with his family and was due back in Madrid yesterday to prepare for the club’s next game against Real Sociedad at home on December 30.
They then play Gary Neville’s Valencia on New Year’s Eve. An away game at Mestalla might normally be a dreaded fixture in the Madrid calendar but such is the poisonous atmosphere at the Santiago Bernabeu that the players will be glad to be playing anywhere away from home.
In the win over Rayo Vallecano at the weekend, supporters booed and whistled the players when the team fell behind. Ronaldo reacted angrily and is said to be at breaking point with the fickle fans who cut him no slack despite his status as the club’s all-time top goal-scorer. – Daily Mail