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MADRID. — Two years in, a wretched run of Spanish La Liga form is finally showing Zinedine Zidane how fickle the life of a football manager at the ultra elite level really is.

“I want to show that I am also a good coach in the difficult times,” Zidane told France Football yesterday as he was awarded manager of the year for the second time by the prestigious magazine in his homeland on the back of eight trophies in his first 24 months in senior management.

But his chance to prove there are more strings to his managerial bow than commanding the respect of a collection of Galacticos thanks to his own stellar playing career will now be put to the test.

Despite a 16-point deficit to Barcelona at the top of La Liga that has realistically ended Real Madrid’s chances of defending their title with still over half the league season to go, Zidane’s job remains safe for now thanks to his hitherto stellar record and the sort of respect from president Florentino Perez that most Madrid managers could only have dreamt about.

Whilst Zidane’s refusal to break from the mould that delivered Los Blancos a first La Liga and Champions League double in 59 years has been questioned, much of the fault also lies at Perez’s door. — The Mirror.