Schuster Hangs On To Real Job

[Bazza]

Real Madrid coach Bernd Schuster will have the chance to steer the ailing Spanish giants back on course after being given a vote of confidence by sporting director Predrag Mijatovic tonight.

Media speculation in Spain suggested Schuster was on the verge of being fired following a dismal run of results that has seen Madrid lose four of their last eight competitive matches.

However, Mijatovic insisted at a press conference at the Madrid's Bernabeu stadium this evening that the club still had complete faith in Schuster and his players to turn things around.

"We have one of the best squads in the world and I am convinced that we can finish the year with a title," Mijatovic said.

"We have only played 11 games in the league and we are close to the top.

"We have total faith in our coach. We are all very happy with him. In recent games we have done as we have wished. Not only us, but him as well.

"We want to transmit calm and confidence to the fans."

Madrid's recent poor run has left the two-time reigning Primera Liga champions five points behind leaders Barcelona in the league, out of the cup and four points behind Juventus in their Champions League group.

Last week's Copa del Rey exit at the hands of Segunda Division B side Real Union was a low point of the season for Madrid who, despite winning the second leg 4-3, went out on the away goals rule.

In the wake of that embarrassment, Spanish media claimed Schuster could be sacked if Madrid lost this weekend's clash at Real Valladolid.

That was not the case despite Madrid going down 1-0 at the Estadio Jose Zorrilla, but Schuster will remain under the spotlight and the German will be more than aware that, unless he can return Madrid to winning ways quickly, he might yet find himself out of a job in the not too distant future.

This weekend Madrid host second-bottom Recreativo Huelva at the Bernabeu, before facing a testing and potentially critical run of fixtures against BATE Borisov and Zenit St Petersburg in the Champions League, as well as successive league matches against Getafe, Sevilla, Barcelona, Valencia and Villarreal.

Mijatovic admitted: "I don't want to think about what will happen if we don't win in front of our fans (against Recre).

"I don't want to be here again next week, I hope to be here at the end of the season.

"I'm sure there are coaches available but we are not looking at this possibility. This is not to say that further ahead we will not be obliged to do it, but we will look at that when we have to take decisions."

Schuster's situation has not been helped by a crippling injury list that has seen prolific forward Ruud van Nistelrooy ruled out for up to nine months, and has also left Arjen Robben, Pepe, Ruben de la Red, Christoph Metzelder and Mahamadou Diarra sidelined for varying periods of time.

That has put a tremendous strain on the champions' squad and exacerbated the frustrations they had in trying to bring in new faces this summer.

Not only did Madrid miss out on their number one transfer target in Cristiano Ronaldo but also came up empty-handed in their pursuit of a number of other players, while wantaway Brazilian winger Robinho left for Manchester City in ignominious fashion.

The upcoming January transfer market offers Madrid the chance to put those disappointments behind them and bring in reinforcements, and Mijatovic has confirmed they are looking to bring in a couple of new faces if possible.

"We will try and strengthen the team with a forward player. We don't know if it will be a front-line striker, a playmaker or a wide player," he said.

"We are working towards this, but we are not going to deny that there are difficulties.

"We wanted to sign a forward in the summer, we wanted Cristiano (Ronaldo) first and then (David) Villa, but although we couldn't get them we had confidence in the players that we had.

"Nobody could have predicted what has happened in the last few weeks though. For example Van Nistelrooy being out for nine months is not normal.

"Now we are obliged to look for a striker. We don't want to sign someone just for the sake of it, but to try and bring someone in who will help us until June and in the future. The demands of Real Madrid are very high.

"We are looking at some names and we will do everything possible to bring in one or two players to help us."