Mallorca to name coach before Tuesday

After recent delays Real Mallorca president Mateu Alemany yesterday said that the club would announce a new coach “before next Tuesday.” Nearly twenty different coaches have been linked to the vacancy since Luis Aragones announced his decision to return to Atletico Madrid a few weeks ago. Mallorca are in a desperate situation as the team play a vital Champions League third round, first leg match in early August and want a coach in place well before that date. Pre-season training starts on July 18 with the team travelling to Kossen in Austria for a training camp on July 21. Amongst the names to have been mentioned for the job are Newcastle manager Bobby Robson, former Netherlands boss Frank Rijkaard and former Spain coach Javier Clemente, although none of these are thought to be included on the club's short list. “We have three or four coaches in mind and we are currently studying their characteristics. “It is a delicate process as we want to make sure it is the right person to lead the team in the Champions League,” said Alemany. Although Alemany would not elaborate on who the possible candidates are, the two favourites to take over seem to be former Las Palmas manager Sergio Kresic of Croatia and Carlos Babington, coach to Argentine team Huracan. Babington is known as “El Ingles” (the Englishman) in Argentina and comes highly recommended by Mallorca's former Argentine coach Hector Cuper.