COMMENT: Hold on, Real Madrid fans. Hold on. Just, put that pitchfork down, will ya.
Yes, Florentino Perez has let you down. But the man many Real fans see as their saviour wouldn't be in a position to succeed Rafa Benitez without the support of the president.
Zinedine Zidane's success with Castilla this season has been no overnight achievement. It's been a slow burn. Indeed, five years in the making. And Zizou's development as a coach capable of taking the top job is thanks to Florentino's foresight and long-term (yes, really!) strategy.
With a very young Castilla team, Zidane has surprised many of us this season. His charges are well placed for promotion, sitting second on the Segunda B table. It's been some turnaround after last season's disastrous campaign.
Zidane's Castilla had flopped. Their failure to return to the Segunda Division saw the club's C team dissolved and a squad full of hopeful kids dumped. Florentino had done it again. He'd chosen style over substance. The big name, without a shred of experience, chosen over a battle-hardened coach with record of earning promotions. It was a mess.
And we've learned this week that Zidane had his doubts too. Despite the failure to earn promotion, Florentino asked Zidane about succeeding the just sacked Carlo Ancelotti. But he declined, admitting to friends he didn't feel ready for such a responsibility.
That those same sources now say Zidane has made it clear he is willing to step in for Benitez is proof enough of what has been brewing below the first team these past four months.
Zidane's Castilla are scoring goals, winning games and playing attractive football. The team has improved. And, individually, the players have improved. The likes of Borja Mayoral and Marcos Llorente are now Real first teamers - thanks in no small part to the work of Zidane on the training pitch.
It's a cantera revival. There's been no big, experienced signings added to Zizou's squad. On the contrary, this is a very young team. Talented, with the likes of Martin Odegaard and son Enzo running around in midfield, but still very young. Zidane, just months into his second year as coach, has managed to mesh that elusive mix of youth development in a winning team.
He's been Castilla coach for less than 18 months. But Zizou has been on Real's staff for the past five years, learning every aspect of management.
It was the president, with the support of then coach Jose Mourinho, who convinced Zizou to return to the club in 2010. It was a move reminiscent of how Manchester City have brought on Patrick Vieira's coaching.
Like his fellow Frenchman, Zidane has spent these past five years learning the trade from the ground up.
Make no mistake, Florentino brought his No1 Galactico back to the club with the view to him being head coach. But his initial return didn't see him gracing the training pitch. Instead, Zidane took a job in the front office, working alongside GM Jose Angel Sanchez.
As Sanchez's No2, Zidane learned the ins-and-outs of the transfer market. How to manage scouting teams and also sat in on contract negotiations.
He spent two years in the job - a fantastic education for any would-be manager - before taking a place on the bench as Carlo Ancelotti's assistant manager. The pair spent two seasons together, winning the Champions League, and having lived in eachother's pockets, Ancelotti has no doubt Zidane is ready for the top job.
"He has all the qualities to be a fantastic coach -- charisma, personality, experience," the Italian said last week. "Does he have the ability to do it from today? I think so. I'm even certain of it."
And after that wobble last season, Zidane now feels the same way.
He won't push it. The Frenchman has no interest in undermining Benitez. But taking a step back from all the crisis talk this week, you can see Florentino's grand plan.
Benitez will see out the season at Real. As Zizou will with Castilla. But with talk a major spending spree in January, the question will be: who is Florentino buying for? Rafa or his five-year project?
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Source: tribalfootball.com