dmcdad: Maybe he is the next Pep. You never can tell until he us given the chance to prove his worth.
Agreed, club legend doesn't equal or guarantee one to be a good coach. But then, it's a gamble like the one we took with Pep back in 2008.
He is just being setup for failure. I pity him. His status will.not save him from those baby brained SB fans that lack patience when things are a little patchy for the team or any member of the team.
dmcdad: Same way Barça replaced Frank Rijkaard with Pep. You never can tell until...
Until the honey moon is over. By february the infatuation willclear from all them silly bernebau fans eyes. Pep was successful with the youth team. Correct me ifa wrong. so its not a like for like replacement based on reality but a 'they did it so lets do thesame' mentality i.e follow follow.
A40: Lol a senseless hiring and even more senseless firing. I don't know which kin igbo that Perez dey smoke. Ironically Benitez is still in the title race, still in the CL and wasn't at fault for the Copa Del Rey debacle. Crazy
the Germans have said it all. Zidane appointment is totally outta sentiments. it like the hiring of De Stefano, Valdano as coaches and we all knew how those tenures ended.
Most of the fans hailing his appointment fail to see that being a successful player is not automatically translated to successful coach. PEP did not win any Treble as a player last I checked.
I hope and pray he succeeds but dont expect him to at least not this season. Those drooling over Zizzou needs to ask where was Castilla when he took over and where are they today
sebod: I wouldn't know why the guy was not allowed to finish what he started. It was clear from the 1st day he would end up an error in recruitment. We Barca fans were all happy to see Rafa appointed as the head coach. Who sacks Carlo to appoint Rafa? Only Perez could do that. He has been the major problem of Madrid in recent time. He's a dictator that only cares about his own feelings albeit the fans don't help matters too. I wouldn't blame Rafa entirely for his failure as some of his super stars should share in the blame. How do we explain a super star that scores 4-5 goals against weaker teams only to vanish into the thin air when it matters most?. Big boys always rise to the occasion when it matters. But, Madrid's big boys only show up against the Malmos, Rayos of this world. Appointing Zidane means they want to try the Barca way, and I doubt if that would work as long as Perez still remains the all in all at the club. Anyhow it goes sha, na celebration galore at the camp because seeing them going from one misery to the other is our utmost joy.
Is total nonsense wanting to replace Rafa with Zidane. Being a club legend does not equal to success as a coach
ollah1: Real Madrid have sacked Rafa Benitez after holding a meeting over his future, according to multiple reports in Spain.
Cuatro and Onda Cero said that members of the club hierarchy were due to hold an emergency meeting to determine whether to sack Benitez on Monday, and both Marca and AS have reported that he has now been dismissed.
The two newspapers said Zinedine Zidane, currently in charge of the club's Castilla reserve side, is due to take over.
Former Valencia, Liverpool and Napoli boss Benitez has endured a difficult return to the Bernabeu, where he began his playing career with the reserve teams and later held several coaching roles.
He was named Carlo Ancelotti's replacement in June but there was speculation from the outset that several senior players did not welcome the appointment.
He came under more serious pressure with the 4-0 home defeat to Barcelona in the Clasico on Nov. 21, while the club's expulsion from the Copa del Rey after fielding an ineligible player has done little to calm tensions.
Madrid are currently third in La Liga, four points behind neighbours Atletico, after Sunday's 2-2 draw at Valencia.
Not a fan of Benitez in any way but would rather stick with him than a Zidane. Its crazy enough employing Benitez. Zidane replacing Benitez shows that Real Madrid does things out of emotion rather than rationality.
Zidane that led Castilla to relegation is replacing a Benitez who has seen it all.
otemanuduno: Who art thou O USBCABLE before the prophet? Why do you change the prophecy? Better not let me say that Real Madrid will lose the match today. If I say so it shall be so. I AM THE GREAT PROPHET!!!
Loosing todays match will not be at all surprising to any madidista.
1. Barcelona will win the la liga and the Champions League back to back for the first time. 2. Arsenal will lose Home and Away to Barcelona in the UCL. 3. Chelsea will qualify to Q/final ahead of PSG. 4. Man city will not qualify to quarter final despite an easy draw against Dynamo kyev. 5. Man utd will end their unwinning streak in their first match in January. 6. Chelsea's Hiddink will not lose a match in January. 7. Bayern Munich will win the Bundesliga. 8. Tottenham Hotspur will win the EPL. 9. Leicester City will make the Top 4. 10. Man utd and Chelsea will not make the top four. 11. Ighalo and Lukaku will end up the two highest goal scorers in the EPL. 12. Lionel Messi will win the world best. 13. Juventus will claim the Seria A title again. 14. PSG will win the French League. 15. Suarez will be the Highest Goal Scorer in La Liga. 16. Benitez will be sacked before the end of his tenure in Real Madrid. 17. Mourinho will take charge of Man utd but will not still make top four. 18. [s]Real Madrid will drop out at the Quarter Final of the UCL.[/s] Real Madrid will win the UCL
Krasid: To imagine that some Barca fans were saying Rakitic was better the other day.
FBS: I will repeat what I've said a million times. Ozil is the Mozart of football. The ball at his feet is like a violin, he plays it majestically. The ONLY player capable of making an assist without even touching the ball. One word - Maestro.
there was a day I was watching highlights of Real Madrid during the José days. I felt like kicking Perez in the balls for selling a majestic player like Mesut. sigh. Sadly Arsenal has no potent strikers(as other top sides) to make the best use of his talent and skillz.
At least four women have won seats in Saudi Arabia's municipal polls, the country's first-ever elections open to female voters and candidates, local reports said.
The female candidates were elected to three councils - two in Ihsaa governorate and one each in Tobouk and Mecca, as votes were still being counted on Sunday.
Salma bint Hizab al-Oteibi was elected to the council of Madrakah, a region in Mecca, the official SPA news agency reported, citing election commission president Osama al-Bar.
Saturday's municipal poll, which was hailed by many as historic, saw a turnout of about 25 percent, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Riyadh Saad al-Saadi reported.
The fact that this was only the third time that Saudi citizens voted in an election meant that there was still little experience with the electoral process, Saadi said. The first local election was in 2005, and the second in 2011. Women were excluded in both.
Women are banned from driving and must cover themselves in public in the conservative kingdom, which was the world's last country to give its women the right to vote.
The official results in the latest election were expected to be announced on Monday.
More than 900 women ran for seats. They were up against nearly 6,000 men competing for places on 284 councils whose powers are restricted to local affairs including responsibility for streets, public gardens and rubbish collection.
"I am happy for having voted for the first time in my life," a woman, who declined to give her name, told the DPA news agency after leaving a polling station in the capital Riyadh.
Another female voter, Najla Harir, said: "I exercised my electoral right. We are optimistic about a bright future for women in our homeland."
Hatoon al-Fassi, a Saudi womens' rights activist and writer, said in a tweet: "This is a new day. The day of the Saudi woman."
Fahda al-Rwali, a female voter, explained why the election was significant for her.
"As a woman, I need some services, some needs in my neighbourhood, like nurseries. I need social centres for youth and retirement, like this. So maybe the woman can concentrate more than the man on those needs."
Al Jazeera's Jamal Elshayyal, reporting from Riyadh after the polls closed, described the elections as "momentous".
"People here are hoping this is a significant step on the paths towards having a more inclusive society, not only for women but also for youth because the voting age has been reduced from 21 to 18," he said.
Landmark elections A strict separation of the sexes in public facilities meant that female candidates could not directly meet the majority of voters - men - during their campaigns.
Women also said voter registration had been hindered by bureaucratic obstacles, a lack of awareness of the process and its significance, and the fact that women could not drive themselves to sign up.
One-third of council seats are appointed by the municipal affairs ministry, leaving women optimistic that they will be assigned some of them.
'Not running to win'
Electioneering was low key, with rules preventing photographs of candidates applied to both men and women. But win or lose, the female contenders said they were already victorious.
"We have legal controls, which forbid the publication of women's photos - during elections and in all our work. And if women's photos are not allowed, it would only be right, fair and equal to ban photos of all candidates", Jadie al-Qahtani, the head of the election's executive committee, said.
"What's more important are the programmes of candidates from both sexes," he was quoted by the Okaz newspaper as saying.
Speaking to Al Jazeera hours before polls opened, several women said they felt excited and positive that women were participating, with the hope that society as a whole would benefit from more diversity in public affairs leadership. Female candidates campaign in Saudi Arabia
"Women here are doctors and engineers - it's not like women aren't there," Lama al-Sulaiman, a candidate in Jeddah, told Al Jazeera.
"The international media sometimes has narrow views; they only report the bad stories. We have them, we have weaknesses and every citizen goes through challenges - those shouldn't be belittled.
"But to think that 50 percent of the population is going through those challenges is also ridiculous."
Mona Abu Suliman, a media personality and consultant in Riyadh, said that even if women don't win many seats, just going through this process is important.
"Recognising women's votes in decision-making is a step towards equality," she said.
"There are people who see women voting and running in the election as another step towards Westernisation. They dislike seeing women in public-facing roles. But I don't think they are in the majority. The majority is either neutral or accepting."
barackohandso: As you've been winning it consistently over the last 10 years after spending billions right? Whatever makes you sleep well at night
If we keep bookmarking you guy's empty rants here, we'll run out of bookmarking space. Just few months ago your fellow madrid fan krasid was so sure of a treble and it's not even mid season yet but you guys are booted out of one competition already.