When an email from Real Madrid popped into La Liga LocaâÂÂs overflowing inbox announcing a Florentino Pérez press conference for later that evening, even the slow-witted blog was able to work out what was going on.
But the initial suspicion that the Dear Leader was looking for more Words with Friends partners proved incorrect. As did the second suggestion - that all club employees would have to wear yellow for every minute of every day next season. It couldnâÂÂt be the blatantly obvious could it?
As it turned out, it was. Pérez was merely announcing the humdrum and somewhat predictable news that José Mourinho and Real Madrid would be parting ways at the end of the season. He also confirmed that the club's presidential elections would be held on June 16, should anyone else be rich enoug to stand against the current Real Madrid head honcho.
The key message from Pérez was that it definitely wasnâÂÂt a sacking, but a respectful farewell âÂÂby mutual consentâÂÂ, therefore not requiring any compensation. The reason cited for MourinhoâÂÂs departure three years into his six-year deal was simply the difficulty of the job in hand. âÂÂHe feels there is a level of pressure thatâÂÂs difficult to support and up to now he was able to do it,â explained the Madrid bigwig. What was missing from Pérez was a Loony Tunes mime and the mouthing of words âÂÂheâÂÂs lost itâ while at the podium.
The President admitted that an approach had been made to PSG for Carlo Ancelotti, but that it had been rebuffed, with no news as to what the next steps would be in finding a replacement for Mourinho.
Due the very unsurprising nature of the surprise announcement, the local media were already waiting to begin their goodbyes to the Special One, which mainly consisted of recalling when the manager was rude about Barcelona, Pep Guardiola, UEFA, referees, Manuel Preciado, Manuel Pellegrini, the club's youth team players, the club's youth team coach, Pepe, Iker Casillas, and so on and so on. âÂÂThe Special Endâ was MarcaâÂÂs headline on Tuesday. AS had begun their particular tribute the day before with a very entertaining feature detailing of all the scrapes Mourinho had found himself in over the past three years.
TuesdayâÂÂs edition was just as fierce, but in a surprising move it was quite critical of El Presidente himself, which is never normally a good idea. âÂÂFlorentino is good at looking for money and political influence but is a compulsive spender and frankly quite bad at sporting management,â wrote the paperâÂÂs brave editor, Alfredo Relaño.
Flags were at half mast in the Catalan capital, with their arch enemy only around for another fortnight. However, there are few punches pulled in the editorials reacting to the news of more managerial movements in Mordor. âÂÂDefeated and divorced,â wrote Josep Maria Casanovas in Sport, âÂÂThey were destined to end this way.âÂÂ
âÂÂIf Madrid were a multinational company that demanded results from their executives, they would immediately fire Florentino Pérez as the person most responsible for the disaster of the past three years,â continues the columnist, getting into his groove. âÂÂThe Flo/Mou partnership brought the club to one of its lowest points in terms of image, the sporting results have been disappointing and the economic debt has continued to grow.âÂÂ
The feeling that Florentino has failed is just as strong over in the pages of Mundo Deportivo. The paperâÂÂs Director, Santi Nolla, writes that âÂÂMouâÂÂs goodbye is the end of an era in Madrid, not a footballing era as nothing that noteworthy has been achieved, but in terms of tension, the press conferences, the attacks and the bad image,âÂÂ
Real Madrid must now hope that MourinhoâÂÂs goodbye is a swift, no fuss and no nonsense affair, ideally with the Madrid manager seen but never heard over the final two weeks. While the end of an era is being spoken about in Spain, it is important to remember that until Mourinho boards the plane to London, anything can still happen at Real Madrid.
