Despite guiding Spanish giants Real Madrid to their first La Liga title in four arduous years, Fabio Capello has been "boned" (sacked) with two more years left to run on his contract.
Real Madrid's sporting director Predrag Mijatovic thanked Capello for his hard work but added that the sacking for inevitable given that the board did not feel he was the right man to lead "The Whites" into the future.
"We have taken the decision not to continue with Fabio Capello next season,' said Real Madrid sporting director Predrag Mijatovic.
'It was a difficult decision, but it was a unanimous decision based on an exhaustive report I made to the board.
'We don't think Fabio Capello is the right person to lead Real Madrid into the future given what we want this club to achieve.'
'Now we have time to think over who will be the next coach of the club."
The Italian football manager is widely regarded as one of the best coaches in professional football with the distinction of winning the domestic league title with every team he has managed, including two with Real Madrid - the first trophy coming during his first tenure at the club in 1997.
Although he managed to restore discipline in a side brimming with egos thus delivering their first league trophy in four years, he incurred the wrath of the ever-demanding Madrid fans by deploying conservative tactics that suffocated the style of attacking play the fans were accustomed to.
Beckham was unceremoniously dumped by Capello after signing for LA Galaxy
He also came under-fire for refusing to play ex-England skipper David Beckham after the midfielder signed a lucrative contract to play in MLS soccer in the US. He was later forced to make an embarrassing U-turn on this decision and it paid dividends for the club as a resurgent Beckham helped inspire his team-mates to a historic 30th La Liga triumph.
Former Real Madrid player Bernd Schuster is favourite to take over the reigns at the club. Also rumoured to interest the Spanish giants is Arsenal's French manager Arsene Wenger.
Thierry Henry proudly displays his new Barcelona shirt
France striker Thierry Henry completed his move to Spanish giants FC Barcelona for a fee of £16.1m from English Premier League side Arsenal over-night.
Henry, who turns 30 in August, passed a medical on Monday afternoon (GMT) before being unveiled in front of 30,000 fans at the Nou Camp after signing a four-year deal with the Catalan outfit.
Henry won't be wearing this away kit now!
The mega-bucks four-year deal which includes a staggering £84million buy-out clause in the Frenchman’s contract should see the pacy forward end his career in Spain.
Henry leaves Arsenal as the top scorer in the club's history with 226 goals in 364 appearances.
The following video is of Henry's presentation at the Camp Nou:
In the following two video clips, Henry says goodbye to his beloved Gunners fans:
Arsenal's talismanic captain and France striker Thierry Henry is set to leave his beloved Gunners for Spanish giants Barcelona in a reported fee of around £16 million.
At the time of this post, Henry is in Barcelona to undergo a medical and is set to be officially unveiled as a Barcelona FC player on Monday afternoon (GMT).
The move will come as a huge blow to Arsenal - the club will be losing their talismanic captain, a hugely talented striker and a club icon who epitomises the beautiful flowing football under Arsene Wenger's reign.
Click here for more details as Henry seals his move to Barcelona.
The 2006-07 La Liga season ended in a thrilling climax with Real Madrid coming back from a goal down to beat Real Mallorca 3-1 thus sealing the Spanish title for the 30th time in the club's illustrious history.
The gong gave departing players David Beckham and Roberto Carlos a fitting farewell to their tenure at the Bernabeu.
David Beckham and co. celebrates (BBC Sport)
For the first hour, Madrid was on the back-foot after going a goal down on the 17th minute courtesy of Mallorca defender Fernando Varela but the introduction of on-loan Arsenal winger Jose Reyes Antonio for the injured David Beckham proved to be a masterstroke from Real's Italian manager Fabio Capello.
The Spanish winger equalised for Madrid after just two minutes but that wasn't enough as Barcelona were well in command of their game against relegated Nastic.
Twelve minutes later, Real were ahead when Mahamadou Diarra's powerful header deflected off Mallorca midfielder Angelos Basinas and Reyes made sure of victory with his second goal on the 83rd minute - a brilliant curling shot from just outside the box.
The fans at the Bernabeu were in delirium after that as were the players and management staff after the final whistle.
The Spanish giants showed great determination and motivation to clinch their first La Liga title in four years. Having endured a barren few years with their last trophy won back in 2003, the "Whites" looked far from ending that drought in the first half of the season.
A turn of fortunes in the second half of the season, the recall of David Beckham and a string of gutsy performances saw Madrid mount a full-blooded assault on the Spanish title culminating in the thrilling climax which saw Madrid and arch-rivals Barcelona finishing level on points - Real clinched the title by virtue of a better head-to-head record.
David Beckham and Roberto Carlos both played their last games for the club - they will be moving to MLS side LA Galaxy and Turkish giants Fenerbache respectively.
The former England captain said: “It was amazing to have my family here. They have been with me for four years in Spain and been through the ups and downs.
“It meant the world to have everyone here that supported me through my career.
"I couldn’t have dreamt it any better. It’s been about winning the title for the last six months and we’ve deserved it.
“It has been an incredible experience. All I remember now is the great things. Winning this puts everything else to bed.
“It feels just as good as winning the Premiership. The titles just keep getting better and better.
“Words can’t describe how great I feel. I just want to say thank you for all the support. This is the perfect ending and I will miss the Bernabeu.”
Messi and Maradona show their admiration for one another
Barcelona's Lionel Messi scored a wonder-goal against Getafe in the Copa del Rey which drew comparisons with fellow countryman Diego Maradona's famous goal against England in the quarter-finals of the 1986 World Cup.
Enjoy this piece of magic!
And this is what Maradona did in 1986 - the similarity is uncanny!!!
Real Madrid club president Ramon Calderon said on Tuesday that the club will try to sign Manchester United winger Cristiano Ronaldo and AC Milan's Brazilian midfielder Kaka for next season.
'I would love to see both Kaka and Cristiano Ronaldo play for Real Madrid next season, but it won't be easy. Any big club would have this sort of objective and Real Madrid is a big club.'
However, Ronaldo is currently under contract talks to extend his stay with the Red Devils and a move appears unlikely, not to mention the rumoured 80 million euros "buy-out" clause attached to his existing contract.
A move for Brazilian midfielder Kaka seems more likely, but Calderon's hot pursuit of the talented player since last year's presidential election campaign has yet to bear fruit.
Spanish arch-rivals Barcelona and Real Madrid shared the spoils in a thrilling three-all draw at the Camp Nou over the weekend.
The Spanish giants put their disappointing exits from the Champion's League in midweek to stage a wonderful spectacle for fans with Barca's hat-trick hero, Argentine Lionel Messi, shining brightly.
Real took the lead three times in the match but Messi was on hand on each occasion to produce some magic to save his team from defeat.
Dutch striker Ruud Van Nistelrooy bagged a double (one penalty) for the Whites in the first half before Sergio Ramos put them 3-2 up with a header midway through the second half.
With the match seemingly won, Messi thought otherwise and equalised with a sublime goal in the last minute of the game to earn his side a draw.
Real, missing a host of first-team regulars including David Beckham, Fabio Cannavaro etc. will feel unlucky for not winning a match they dominated for the most part but both teams will feel a boost in morale as we approach the business end of the domestic season.
David Beckham's return to the Real Madrid first-team has been cut short by a knee ligament injury that will rule him out for 4-6 weeks.
The former England captain has been in fine form since his return to the Madrid line-up and was on the verge of an England recall for the upcoming Euro 2008 qualifiers.
The 31-year-old midfielder was hurt playing for Real Madrid against Getafe in the Spanish League on Sunday. Beckham hurt his right knee after mis-hitting a cross and running into advertising hoardings behind the goal.
Not only will he miss the chance of a recall to the national team, he will also miss Wednesday's Champions League game against Bayern Munich, a crucial match against Barcelona next weekend and possibly a further three league games.
He will also miss an emotional return to Old Trafford on 13 March when he was set to play for a European All-Star XI against the current Manchester United side.
Beckham has said many times in the past that one of his biggest regrets was not being able to say goodbye to the United fans at Old Trafford after being sold to Real Madrid in the summer of 2003.
Reports coming out of Spain has said that Real Madrid boss Fabio Capello has handed in his resignation and will take charge of the Spanish giants for the last time in Wednesday's Champion's League clash with German rivals Bayern Munich.
Capello has come under fire following a series of poor results, which saw Madrid lose three out of four games either side of the La Liga winter break, before suffering an embarrassing home defeat to struggling Levante a fortnight ago.
He also vowed to banish David Beckham to the stands for the remainder of his time in Spain after the former England captain signed a lucrative deal to join US Major League Soccer outfit LA Galaxy next season.
Capello later softened his hard stance and recalled Beckham in a match against Real Sociedad where the Englishman duly delivered - scoring a trademark free-kick - and helped Real to their only win in the last four games.
Real Madrid board spokesman Miguel Angel Arroyo dismissed the report as a 'rumour' during a press conference at the Bernabeu stadium.
He said: 'It is a rumour. Fabio Capello has not presented his resignation either verbally, or in written form.'
Hardly the ideal preparation for a huge Champion's League fixture ahead then.
Beckham celebrates goal with Ruud Van Nistelrooy *Image taken from realmadrid.com*
Former England captain David Beckham made a triumphant return to the starting line-up for Real Madrid when he scored the first goal for his side with a trademark free-kick in his team's come from behind win against Real Sociedad.
Golden balls had been sidelined for a month by Real boss Fabio Capello following his announcement that he would join MLS side LA Galaxy at the end of the season, but was back in the team after a string of losses for the Spanish giants.
Eight minutes before halftime, Beckham cancelled out Sociedad's early lead with a trademark free kick before being mobbed by his ecstatic team-mates, many of which have championed his return after Capello had vowed to make Becks sit out the rest of the season before his switch to the US.
'A gift from Beckham to Capello,' was Spanish newspaper El Pais's description of the goal, while most papers were agreed that the victory had saved the manager Capello from the sack after a poor run of results.
Beck's former Manchester United team-mate Ruud Van Nistelrooy sealed the win for Real with a header in the second half.
What a way to return to the starting line-up and shut up a few critics along the way!
Real Madrid were embarrassingly knocked out of the Copa del Rey last night in a fiery clash with La Liga strugglers Real Betis on the away goals rule.
A young Madrid side lacking experience from the absence of David Beckham and Ronaldo due to 'technicalities" were made to pay for a number of wasted chances as Betis progressed through to the quarter-finals on the away goals rule.
The Whites started strongly and Brazilian forward Robinho punished some slack defending to put the home team ahead as early as the fifth minute but wasted chances came back to haunt them as Betis fashioned an equaliser in the 37th minute.
As a result, Real Madrid were dumped from the competition by virtue of the away goals rule.
With the controversy surrounding Beckham's move to the US and the imminent departure of Ronaldo, the last thing the Spanish giants needed was a humbling defeat against a side struggling in the Primera division of the Spanish League.
Real Madrid's Italian manager Fabio Capello has revealed that former England captain David Beckham has been suffering from "psychological difficulties" after being dropped from the England squad by new manager Steve McLaren.
To compound Becks' misery, he has also been left out of the Real Madrid first-team and has only managed 3 starts in the last 10 games for the Spanish club.
Capello said: "Those are moments which produce psychological difficulties. Now he's regaining all his composure."
Beckham's current contract at Real comes to an end at the end of the current season and he is delaying on signing a new deal with a question mark over his place in Capello's plans. Having effectively ruled himself out of a move back to the English Premier League because of his refusal to play for a team other than Manchester United, Beckham's likeliest destination should he leave Real is to the USA's MLS league or a possible move to Italy's Serie A.
Capello is keen on retaining the services of Beckham and is a big fan of the superstar's professional attitude: "I think Beckham is an outstanding professional. He always gives his best both in training and when he is playing."
He added: "The other day in the Champions League he played very well and now he seems to have become the Beckham we once knew."
Seems like there could be some light at the end of the tunnel for "Goldenballs".
The image of David Beckham is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 License*
Since relinquishing his England captaincy after the World Cup, Beckham has been dropped from the national team and more recently, has spent his past 4 games warming the bench for his club side Real Madrid.
And things don't seem to be getting any better for "Goldenballs" with wide-spread rumours of a contract wrangle with Real Madrid and "unfounded claims" from Real President Ramón Calderón that “as far as I know, he has decided to retire in two years”.
Beckham’s advisers expressed bewilderment at the statement. "This is a complete surprise to us. No-one has ever discussed a retirement date."
This could either be true, or just an attempt by the Spanish club to flush out the 31-year-old’s intentions over a new two-year contract. With Beckham's current contract expiring at the end of the season and his international career with England seemingly over, the Spanish giants believe Becks should be grateful he is still wanted after being axed by England boss Steve McClaren and losing his Real starting place (according to the Sun Sport).
Real director Pedrag Mijatovic has gone as far as revealing the midfield ace faces a drop in his £4million net salary: “Who is talking about paying him more — maybe he will stay earning less.”
So where's it all gone wrong for the most famous face in world football?
I honestly don't know. A lot's been said recently about his lack of pace, but there was never any there in the first place. I still believe he has a lot to offer for his club and country with his pin-point crosses and deadly free-kicks.
However, Beckham's biggest challenge is that he is now working under a new manager with new ideas at Real Madrid whilst England also has a new manager. If Fabio Capello's policy of injecting pace into the Real team persists, then Beckham will be spending most of his time as a substitute in the near future.
The same can be said for England and McLaren's insistence on injecting pace to the flanks. Some have argued that Beckham should still be in the squad as a super-sub and be brought on when a game can be won in the final 10-20 minutes from a set-piece.
Those arguing against such a move have said that Beckham lacks the pace to run at tiring defenders in the last 20 minutes of a game, which brings us back to the reason why he was dropped in the first place.
Expect to read more about David Beckham's contract-saga in due course.
*The image of David Beckham is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 License*
The past weekend saw La Liga kick off their new season with wins for Valencia, a Ronaldinho-less Barcelona (more on that later) etc. and a disappointing draw for giants Real Madrid.
The 'galacticos', featuring all four of their new signings were held for a goalless by visitors Villarreal.
Prior to the match, much was said about David Beckham possibly losing his starting place to the pacy right winger, Cicinho, of Brazil but it didn't happen and he played well during the match, curling a free-kick just wide and released his former Manchester United team-mate Van Nistelrooy who ran half the length of the pitch before blazing a shot across Viera's goal and wide.
Meanwhile, over at Barcelona, World player of the year Ronaldinho was left out of the team by boss Frank Rijkaard for missing training on Saturday.
Ronaldinho, 26, was the only star not to join training, invoking Rijkaard’s rule that if a player does not train 48 hours before a match he is axed.
The row could put Ronaldinho’s future in the balance as he has been left waiting for nearly a year for a new contract.
In the latest round of transfer news saw Dutch striker Ruud Van Nistelrooy join Spanish giants Real Madrid from Manchester United for a reported fee of around 15 million euros.
The 30-year-old, who had handed in a written transfer request, was unhappy at Old Trafford after a bust-up with manager Alex Ferguson. His scoring record with Manchester United was exemplary with 150 goals to his name plus the honour of being their all-time top scorer in European competitions.
He will join Real on a three-year contract and will once again link up with former team-mate David Beckham and will be one of three new faces at the Bernabeu.
I think this is a reasonable bargain for Real Madrid if you compare it with Chelsea's new recruit, Andriy Shevchenko, whom cost at least £30 million pounds. Both players are of similar age and are amongst the best strikers in the world.
Meanwhile, Liverpool have added another 'bad boy' to their team after the signing of Birmingham's Jermaine Pennant for £6.7million winger.
The 23 year old is a right winger and will solve the problem position on the right-side of midfield for manager Rafa Benitez.
Pennant comes with a chequered past having spent 30 days in jail for driving related charges and other off the field problems.
Both Pennant and Liverpool's other new 'bad boy' signing, Craig Bellamy are rumoured to be able to start an argument in an empty room, so it'll be interesting to see whether these two will prove to be a disruptive influence in the dressing room or not.
If these new signings back-fire for Benitez, it will be a case of "I told you so", but if it works out and both players are able to realise their full potential, it will be deemed as yet another masterstroke on Benitez's part.
Spanish football giants Real Madrid has taken advantage of Juventus' demise by signing Italy skipper and World Cup winner Fabio Cannavaro and team-mate Brazilian Emerson in a combined fee of around 20-25 million euros.
I think these two are great acquisitions for Real Madrid and their creaky defence with Cannavaro being a world-class defender and Emerson's preference for playing in front of the back four.
The transfer fee of 20-25 million is reasonable given the player's pedigree and age (Cannavaro is 32 and Emerson is 30) and they will be reunited with former Juventus boss Fabio Capello who jump-shipped to Real in the off-season.
Despite going trophy-less for the past three seasons, these signings prove that Real's ability to attract the world's best players have not diminished and they will look forward to wrestling back the La Liga crown from Barcelona.
I think Cannavaro's partnership with highly-rated but injury-prone defender Jonathan Woodgate will be formidable and with more possible signings yet to come in the form of Ruud Van Nistelrooy, Arjen Robben etc., things are looking bright for Real Madrid.
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