Managing Madrid

C/O Reuters

Everyone is piling on our beloved manager today! The Competition Committee has decided to suspend Mourinho for two games for his in-game comments (see below) to referee Paradas Romero, and for his unwise decision to say this after the match: 

 All we have to do is look at his statistics. It's his profile. I'm not saying whether he's a good or a bad ref, I'm not one to judge. That's what his superiors on the Referee Committee should do, but I do normally analyze a referee's statistics, and games are the consequences of his numbers!  

I mean, this referee, in less than 50 games in the first division, has given out more than 250 yellow cards, and 14 red cards. In this season alone, he's averaging more than 6 cards per game. In his last one, Zaragoza-Mallorca he gave out the most cards in the league. I'm not saying that he's a bad referee, but the sheer number of cards is a consequence of the way he is, his characteristics.

Well, this is all coming back to bite him in a big way: not only is the Competition Committee all over him, but so are various coaches. Today, Manuel Preciado, the manager of Sporting Club (our next opponent in the Liga), said: "Mourinho's a scoundrel! He's a bad colleague. This guy comes from another galaxy--I mean, who the hell does he think he is?" Harsh. Real Madrid issued this statement in response:

Real Madrid laments today's declarations from Manuel Preciado, manager of Sporting de Gijón, in which he puts down our manager José Mourinho.  

Real Madrid believes that competitiveness, rivalry, and criticism are compatible with good manners. Also, we believe that football is a territory of union and reunion, and not of confrontation.  

This institution would like to reaffirm our excellent existing relationship with Sporting de Gijón which is, and should always be, based on maximum respect between the executives, players, and fans. 

Seems reasonable to me. They aren't even calling for an apology!  But people keep piling it on: Pep Guardiola, (in)famous manager of Barcelona, was asked whether he would ever consider working with Mourinho. His response? "Work with Mourinho? Have you really thought about this question? [Laughing] **** no I would never work with him!"

Well, as everyone is piling on, I imagine Mourinho sitting in the back of the room, smiling and muttering "scoreboard!"