Zidane hands former Girondins team mate Madrid post

Zidane has brought Stéphane Plancque on board to be part of his technical team. The 55-year-old spent two seasons, between 1992 and 1994, with Zidane at Girondins de Bordeaux and among his tasks in Valdebebas will be analyzing and producing reports on Madrid’s rivals. Plancque told French daily 20 Minutes, “Zizou called me to offer me the post. I was surprised and very honoured. I have to confess I didn’t really have to think twice about accepting”.

For the past two years, Plancque has been working as a scout for Lille, the club he played for from 1977 to 1987. The Ligue 1 side have granted him permission to join Zidane’s coaching staff, according to 20 Minutes, and this weekend he will be taking notes on Roma’s meeting with Fiorentina to start gathering information on Madrid’s Champions League Last 16 opponents. “I’m thrilled to be working for such a big club. It’s very fulfilling. If Zidane phoned me, it must because he has total faith in me”, said Plancque who, for the moment, will not be moving to Madrid to live. He will only travel to the capital when Zidane needs him.

Zidane likes to be surrounded by those he knows well. His right-hand man at Madrid is David Bettoni, who is unable to carry out his given role as assistant as he is not in possession of his UEFA Pro license. They struck up a friendship when they played together as teenagers in Cannes. Bettoni accompanied Zidane to Italy when he signed for Juventus and again to Spain when he joined Real Madrid in the summer of 2001. It was Bettoni who convinced Zidane that he could become a coach and when Zizou was appointed Ancelotti’s assistant, he asked Carletto to recruit his friend to prepare technical studies on the team’s rivals.