Iain Rogers MADRID — Jose Mourinho has returned Real Madrid to the summit of world soccer, but the combative and controversial Portuguese's negative impact on the club's image risks leaving behind a damaging legacy should his project come off the rails. President Florentino Perez, the Spanish construction magnate who lured Mourinho from Inter Milan at huge expense in 2010, has gambled everything on the former Porto and Chelsea manager in his obsessive pursuit of sporting success and the 10th European crown that has eluded Real since 2002. However, an erratic start to its latest campaign suggests the La Liga club may not immediately be able to build on last term's success, when Real ended the three-year grip of arch-rivals Barcelona on the Spanish title and narrowly missed out on a place in the Champions League final. It is 13 points behind Barca in La Liga, is 2-1 down after the first leg of its King's Cup last-16 tie against Celta Vigo and faces a Champions League last-16 clash with 2008 winner Manchester United after finishing second in its group behind German champion Borussia Dortmund. Appointed sporting manager as well as first-team coach, an unusual step for a club in Spain where the power of Mourinho's counterparts is significantly more limited, he has ultimate responsibility for the development of the Real product, according to marketing experts. A successful marketing strategy primarily requires success on the pitch, but it should also promote an image of the club that is acceptable to existing fans and will encourage more to invest their time and money. Mourinho, who will be 50 next month, has partly succeeded on the first measure, and winning the Champions League would make that success more complete, but has failed on the second, the experts said. He has alienated a section of Real's more traditional supporters, who have whistled him at the club's giant Bernabeu arena, while gaining hero status among the “Ultras Sur”, a group known for their extreme right-wing views. If he decided to jump ship before his contract expires in 2016 without winning more silverware his successor would be taking on a poisoned chalice and Mourinho's stint at Real would be remembered for all the wrong reasons. Those included sneaking up behind Tito Vilanova, then assistant Barca coach, during a pitchside brawl and poking a finger into his eye, continual complaints about refereeing bias, ugly clashes with journalists and Real officials and dark hints that Barca get favorable treatment from UEFA. “From the point of view of sporting success, so far the objectives are being achieved,” Carlos Gracia de Castro, a board member of the Spanish Marketing Association, told Reuters. “He has been the architect, along with the man who hired him, of challenging, and winning titles from the best FC Barcelona team in history,” added Gracia de Castro, who is also a director general of Havas Sports and Entertainment, which lists Real sponsor Adidas among its clients. “That's now a fact but when he arrived it seemed like mission impossible,” he said. “In addition, the club's earnings continue to increase at double-digit rates despite the difficult economic situation. “Having said that, it's clear that his strong personality, his exaggerated claims and several episodes of unsporting behavior have distanced the club from their traditional chivalrous image and being ‘the club for all'. “These values are in the genes of the brand and it is always dangerous to play around with a brand's DNA.” Real, the world's wealthiest club by revenue, will always be measured against Barca, the second richest, where Mourinho was an assistant to Bobby Robson and Louis van Gaal in the late 1990s. Domingo Olivo de Miguel, director of business development at Havas Spain, said early indications suggested Vilanova was having a positive impact on the Catalan club's image. Mourinho, on the other hand, has made no secret of his desire to return to coach in England and has also been linked with big-spending French club Paris St. Germain. If he did leave under a cloud, the immediate impact on Real would be a painful economic one, equivalent to the tens of millions of euros it costs to sign a top player, Olivo de Miguel said. “In terms of the stability of the sporting and institutional project, it would also not be in the club's interest to see him leave in the short term,” he added. “Over the longer term, it would be advisable for the club to control the negative aspects of his management, let Mourinho finish his project and begin to put together alternative strategies for the future if Mourinho's management does not meet expectations.” Gracia de Castro concluded: “A hypothetical Mourinho exit would be traumatic above all for the stability of the sporting project, which is the foundation of everything. “It should be much easier to correct some of the most controversial aspects of his external image than find a new coach and start from scratch. “All brands need stability and continuity. Abrupt change is always damaging.” — Reuters
