Pellegrini deserves Real crack at it

TEAMtalk feels Real Madrid's hierarchy need to buck their recent trend of sacking managers and give Manuel Pellegrini more time at the helm.

The powers at Real Madrid appear to be in the all-too familiar position of pondering whether to stick or twist after the club's latest Champions League failure proved the expensively-assembled hand they are holding is perhaps not as strong as they had hoped.

Madrid failed to get beyond the last 16 of the Champions League for the sixth successive year after losing 2-1 on aggregate to Lyon, and some of the subsequent inquests in the Spanish media have inevitably pointed to the possibility of coach Manuel Pellegrini being axed.

However, the big question is how Madrid, and in particular president Florentino Perez - who last summer returned to the club in a fanfare of big-money signings and bold promises of a "spectacular project" - will react.

Will they follow a well-trodden path and dispense with the services of Pellegrini either in the near future or at the end of the season, or will they do something that has been alien to them over the last seven years and give their coach time?

Madrid's reaction to failure in the recent past has often been swift and uncompromising.

Since the hugely-successful Vicente Del Bosque was jettisoned as coach immediately after winning the Primera Division title in 2003, Madrid have had nine different men sitting on the bench.

During that time, Madrid have won just two league titles and two Spanish Super Cups whilst suffering a host of disappointments - and the occasional embarrassment - in the Champions League and Copa del Rey.

They have also spent untold millions on new players with Perez's famed 'galacticos' policy from his first spell in charge from 2000-2006 - when Madrid bought an expensive big-name player each year - being rolled back out, dusted down and then super-charged last summer to the tune of 250million euros.

It was a massive gamble, especially considering the lack of on-field success the first time around, and whichever coach was tasked with fusing the likes of Ronaldo, Kaka, Karim Benzema and Xabi Alonso into a winning team was always going to be under intense pressure right from the start.

That man was Pellegrini, who had achieved wonders during five seasons at previous club Villarreal without actually winning anything, and he found himself staring down the barrels just two months into the new campaign.

A 4-1 aggregate defeat to third-tier Alcorcon in the Copa del Rey was described as one of the biggest humiliations in Madrid's illustrious history, and in the aftermath Pellegrini faced the first serious questions about his future.

Perez came out after that match and appealed for calm, insisting Pellegrini and his side needed time to gel, but Wednesday's Champions League exit will be a much tougher pill to swallow for everyone associated with Madrid.

With this season's final being held at their Bernabeu stadium, Madrid had high hopes of winning a record 10th European title on home soil.

It was not to be, though, and now there is only the Primera Division title left to play for.

Fortunately for Pellegrini, Madrid have looked in good form in La Liga of late and last weekend replaced Barcelona at the top of the standings with a thrilling 3-2 win over Sevilla - their 13th win out of 13 at home this season.

Winning the title was not enough to save Fabio Capello from the axe in the summer of 2007, though, nor Bernd Schuster, who left by mutual consent a few months into last season having helped Madrid defend their crown the previous campaign.

And if the media reaction to Madrid's latest Champions League failure is anything to go by, then Pellegrini could be a dead man walking whatever happens in the title race.

However, the comments from Madrid director general Jorge Valdano following Wednesday night's match suggest that may not be the case.

"We will respect him because we believe in his work, although we know that the coach of Madrid is always accompanied by controversy," Valdano said.

"He has a contract for next season and the plan is that he will continue being our coach.

"This project has only just started and this was a sad night because we had placed a lot of hope in this competition.

"We need to be more united than ever, to encourage the players and show our personality, to get over this situation and face the criticism that will come."

Pellegrini was also defiant, insisting he was not going to step down: "I'm not going to resign, I'm not going to quit the fight. This is a long-term project, not just a one-year one."

Whether all that means Pellegrini will still be in the post next season remains to be seen, but having gambled big and failed in the past, perhaps Madrid will now be looking at a different tactic and playing the hand they have got, which after all is not short of a few aces.