Jose Mourinho “is a problem”, but the former Manchester United manager could be welcomed back to Real Madrid by Florentino Perez, accoriding to Ramon Calderon.
The Portuguese coach, who was once famed for forging a siege mentality within his players, finds himself back out of work after being shown the door at Old Trafford.
An inability to deliver positive results and regular reports of rifts within his Red Devils squad contributed to him being given the axe.
Former Madrid president Calderon is not surprised to have seen that decision taken, with Mourinho proving too problematic for another high-profile post.
He told Love Sport Radio: “I think [Mourinho] has been the main problem when he’s been in other clubs.
“When he was here, he was blaming everyone for the defeats. I think that is a grave mistake. It is a problem always.
“Also it makes a confrontation with the players and it’s been happening with Man United with [Paul] Pogba, with [Eric] Bailly.
“It was the same here, with Cristiano [Ronaldo], with Iker Casillas, with Sergio Ramos and I think that’s a problem, he’s always blowing his own trumpet and that for a coach, I think is a big mistake.
“And, we have the example of [Zinedine] Zidane. He did completely the opposite. Backstage, he has been more with the team and that’s the way in my point of view to train a great team of great players. You cannot be the protagonist.”
While questioning Mourinho’s methods, Calderon concedes that a second spell at the Santiago Bernabeu could be in the offing as Perez remains a big fan of a man who delivered a record-breaking La Liga title triumph in 2011-12.
“Everyone knows here it’s on the president’s whim. I think he is the only coach that he respects,” added the former Blancos supremo.
“The current president doesn’t really trust much in coaches, but in Mourinho’s case he really, really backed him many times in difficult moments.
“When [Julen] Lopetegui left, I said I’m sure Mourinho will be here and I don’t rule out him being with Real in the near future.”
Calderon is, however, uncertain as to which path Mourinho will tread, with it possible that a man who has not enjoyed the best of times in the dugout of late will take a break from coaching.
Quizzed on whether the 55-year-old should take a sabbatical, Calderon said: “It’s difficult to know how he is behaving.
“I remember, for us the greatest in our history is Alfredo de Stefano. He used to tell me, a great team, a great coach can never complain about referees, injuries, bad luck, the behaviour of some players. That’s something that belongs to the mediocre and I think in that he’s doing it.
“His record is incredible, difficult to match for any other coach, but his behaviour, I think he’s doing that so many times and that’s a warning for any team that’s going to hire him.”