Real Madrid president Florentino Perez feels pressure after Iker Casillas' exit - 7M sport

Real Madrid president Florentino Perez feels pressure after Iker Casillas' exit



Posted Wednesday, July 15, 2015 by ESPN

Real Madrid president Florentino Perez feels pressure after Iker Casillas' exit

It's fair to say that the last few months have not been the best for Real Madrid president Florentino Perez. The 68-year-old's popularity has wavered at the best of times during his controversial 12-year stint -- 2000-06 and 2009-present -- but his stock has never been as low as it is now.

The criticisms have been numerous since Madrid finished last season without a major trophy. Perez's decision to sack Carlo Ancelotti was unpopular enough but to replace him with Rafael Benitez, a man who guided Napoli to fifth place in Serie A last season, opened the floodgates.

Madrid's PR machine eventually got fans onside with "home grown" Benitez but the departure of club icon Iker Casillas has been a PR disaster. The handling of Sergio Ramos's contract has seen the blame split between the player, perceived as greedy by some, and Perez, who some saw as being frugal, but Casillas' unceremonious departure from the Spanish capital over the weekend has left the president at a low ebb.

If a picture paints a thousand words then one in Spanish daily AS on Monday was a perfect case in point. With Casillas on stage bidding farewell to the gathered press, along with those fans who were eventually let into the Santiago Bernabeu, Perez stood to his right with his arms folded and a grimace on his face.

Madrid's home is known for great theatre but rarely does it come off the pitch, at least not like this. Casillas had held a farewell press conference on Sunday lunchtime, reading a statement in the Bernabeu press room, but the biggest talking point was that he did it alone.

Comments from his parents in El Mundo on the same morning did not help matters, with revelations that their son had been "vilified" and that Perez had been looking to get rid of the goalkeeper for the last five years.

Twenty-four hours later Madrid held another hastily arranged press conference to say goodbye to a goalkeeper who had spent 25 years at the club and won everything. Perez said it had always been the plan but the sceptics were numerous. It was awkward, sad and whatever the intentions, it was not the right way for a club legend to depart.

Meanwhile, there was no notice that fans would be allowed in and with hundreds gathering outside, the gates were eventually opened. It all seemed like an attempt by the club and Perez to heighten spirits and save some face after what had come before but all it did was make things a lot worse.

"Perez resign", shouted the fans. "Don't sell Ramos!". The day was meant to be a celebration and thanks to the club's captain, its icon, but instead it was all about Perez.

He took questions but they were all about the club's poor handling of the situation. Perez, as he was when announcing Ancelotti's departure just two months before, looked uncertain, awkward and under pressure.

Part of his tactics were to blame those fans who directed whistles at the 34-year-old but with no Casillas next season the bulk of those whistles will be aimed at him. When Madrid kick-off their home Liga campaign vs. newly-promoted Real Betis on the weekend of Aug. 30, Perez will learn about that whistling first-hand.

Perez has always claimed that he and the club act with integrity, selling Real Madrid as a club of gentlemen. Ancelotti matched that philosophy but there has been little evidence of it in recent months.

Granted, Casillas' time was up at Madrid and to move on was the right decision for all parties from a playing point of view but the manner in which he departed left a bad taste in the mouth.

Madrid got it wrong in that respect and not for the first time. Raul, the only player to have played more matches for the club than Casillas, was given a similarly cold and blunt exit when he left for Schalke in 2010 while and Vicente Del Bosque and Fernando Hierro also hardly parted on good terms. Madrid, or Perez, have a difficult time in dealing with exiting legends.

It is said that Perez struggles with players who garner too much power but that contradicts the "Galactico" policy he has made so famous. The crème de la crème have arrived in the Spanish capital during his reign but over time relationships have diminished and power has been a problem. Cristiano Ronaldo experienced it first-hand over his contract disputes and Sergio Ramos, another club icon, is the latest to be affected.

While Perez can at least be defended for sticking to a policy regarding contracts when it comes to Ramos, the consensus believes the former Sevilla man deserves a deal relative to his standing in the squad.

Now, with the hits the club has taken with regards to Casillas, Madrid may well do everything in their power to ensure they don't suffer similar repercussions if Ramos departs.

The president is meant to represent the club members. Perez has been voted in by them, twice, but he has not represented them this summer. The choice to replace Ancelotti with Benitez was roundly criticised and the club's dealing with Casillas was a huge mess. Now questions are being asked and Perez will be grateful that the presidential elections this summer are in Barcelona rather than the capital.

That said, Perez isn't concerned about his own position at the club just yet. The buck is now stopping at him but even if the majority are against him, rather than with him, it will be difficult to vote him out.

In the last election, Perez was voted in unopposed in 2013. A year earlier, he had revised the rules regarding elections and they now suit him rather well.

Not only does any candidate now need to have been a club member for 20 years but they also need to put down a deposit of 15 per cent of the club's annual budget, which stood at around €80 million at the time of the last vote. That figure is set to rise to around €100 million for the next elections -- Perez is safe.

Nevertheless, though Perez tried to bat away accusations that the club's reputation has been tarnished, he is swimming against the tide. The impact on Casillas' family was such that his mother said in her El Mundo interview that she wished her son had finished her career at Barcelona "because they are gentlemen".

Summertime is usually a time for Perez to bring in a conveyor belt of the world's best footballers to wow the fans but all this off-season has done is leave a flood of tears from Madridistas at the departure of a club legend.

The signing of two former players, in Casemiro and Lucas Vazquez may have been at the request of Benitez but they have not caught the imagination, while the addition of Danilo seems like a luxury given how good Dani Carvajal has been at right-back since his return from Bayer Leverkusen.

The only way to counter the current mood wrapped around the 10-time European Champions is by winning and for Perez the new season cannot come soon enough. If he, Benitez and the team prove their doubters wrong and get their campaign off to a winning start then these problems will be put to bed.

If they don't, then the heat on the president will only intensify.



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