MADRID (AFP) - Real Madrid president Florentino Perez said he had accepted Jose Antonio Camacho's resignation as coach and appointed his deputy Mariano Garcia Remon in a caretaker role.
Real won their first two Liga games 1-0 but were thrashed 3-0 by Bayer Leverkusen in the European Champions League last week and lost 1-0 to modest Espanyol on Sunday when Camacho benched club captain Raul and England captain David Beckham.
The win put Espanyol, who finished fifth-from-bottom last season, top of the table. Real are currently eighth.
The tough-talking Camacho admitted he had been unable to work with the Real superstars but added he would be staying on in some form of role within the club.
"This year, the president, the board and the fans believed in me," he told a news conference at which he refused to answer any questions.
"But I can only admit that the team has not performed as they should have and they are not going to improve with me staying. By staying the crisis could have got worse, so I decided to go.
"He (Perez) asked me to stay on at rhe club and that is not a problem."
Perez said that the board had decided to accept Camacho's resignation.
"The board agreed the following at a meeting on Monday, namely to accept the resignation of Jose Antonio Camacho as head coach, although he will continue to serve the club in a sporting capacity," he said.
Perez revealed that "the board has decided to place its confidence in one of its own, Mariano Garcia Ramon, as coach, (he being someone) with a recognised 'madridista' culture.
"This will ensure continuity. It was a proposal of Camacho which the board has accepted.
"We are all going to work together to reach our objectives which we set at the start of the season, for which we seek and expect the aid of the whole madridista family."
Remon said he regretted the turn of events.
"It may seem untrue but it is a sad day. It marks the end of a person's work, a job very well done and which did not find its reward on the pitch," said Remon, who added he had only accepted the post after Camacho told him to.
It is the second time Camacho has walked out on Real. Six years ago the 49-year-old Camacho resigned just three weeks after arriving at Real following a disagreement with former president Lorenzo Sanz over transfer policy.
That led to four years as coach of Spain's underachieving national side, though, he was unfrotuante to see the side go out to South Korea in the 2002 World Cup quarter-finals.
He then had a season at Benfica of Portugal before the revolving door at Real spun once again with the ejection of Carlos Queiroz following a Champions League quarter-final exit to Monaco and only fourth place in the league.
If Camacho looked to have won the transfer game with the signings of big-name defenders Walter Samuel and Jonathan Woodgate, as well as England hitman Michael Owen, his second reign has ended after just 120 days.
Remon, a former Real goalkeeper in the 70s, has coached Sporting Gijon, Albacete, Las Palmas, Salamanca, Numancia and Cordoba in the lower divisions.
He was called back to Real in 1996 when Jorge Valdano was relieved of his duties and coached the side for a few weeks at the end of that season before leaving.
He returned to Real this year with Camacho after Real sacked Queiroz who had lasted a year in the job after replacing Vicente Del Bosque.