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When you've stared down the barrel of a gun nothing scares you any more and Joaquín Caparrós has stared down the barrel of a gun. Quite literally. More than 700 games into his
managerial career, after years of coaching on the sand pitches of _regional_ and _tercera_, five years in _segundas_ A and B, and a decade in _primera_, he finally left Spain for Neuchâtel
Xamax in Switzerland in July last year. Less than five weeks later and still unpaid, he was back again after the club's Chechnyan owner Bulat Chagaev burst into the dressing room after
a game and threatened players and staff. While surrounded by bodyguards and armed with a gun. Caparrós had only been back in the country 24 days when he was offered another job, this time at
Real Mallorca. No one with a gun and a bunch of heavies here, but it wasn't exactly easy. Mallorca had had seven presidents in four years, shareholders were at each others'
throats, jostling for control, and potential buyers circled. At times it was truly nasty; all too often, it reached the coach. Michael Laudrup had just walked after his assistant Erik Larsen
was sacked for calling the club's vice-president and majority shareholder Lorenzo Serra Ferrer a "bad man" amid accusations of print assassins for presidential hire. And his
predecessor Gregorio Manzano had ended up in court against the former régime. Some on the board threatened to walk if the director general did not. They didn't but very soon the Nadal
family did, led by the tennis player Rafa and his uncle Miguel-Angel, the former Barcelona and Mallorca defender, who had been Laudrup's assistant and was caretaker coach. They later
sold their shares but it solved little. Boardroom battles were exacerbated by the presence of the administrators. In the summer of 2010 Mallorca had lost their European place under Uefa
rules and getting another one looked like a pipe dream. In 2010-11 they had finished a solitary place off relegation and now, amid the uncertainty, they had lost three games in a row. They
sat 15th; again the fear was relegation. Fear? What fear? It didn't even matter that Caparrós is a _sevillista_ and Serra Ferrer a _bético_ – "the original odd couple," as the
coach put it. On Saturday night, just under a year on from Caparrós's arrival, Mallorca moved to the top of the table with a deserved 1-0 win over Real Sociedad. They have beaten
Espanyol and drawn at Málaga. It was only for a night – Barcelona took the lead back on Sunday with a nervy 1-0 win over Valencia – and Caparrós dismissed it as little more than
"anecdotal" but this is not simply coincidence. This is the coach who took Recreativo de Huelva up from the Second Division B and won promotion to the first division with Sevilla,
then taking them to eighth place; who took Athletic into Europe and to a first Copa del Rey final in 25 years. His detractors insist that he had to depart for Sevilla and Athletic to reach
their full potential and to play the kind of football that truly delighted the fans; his defenders insist that he laid the groundwork that Juande Ramos and Marcelo Bielsa built upon. That
their success is partly his. Caparrós took over at Mallorca last September and did not win in seven but bit by bit he imposed his authority on the team. Threatened by relegation (although
their position was not quite as dramatic as it was portrayed), they were safe with four games to go when they beat Zaragoza 1-0 and by the end of the season, they had lost just eight of
their 31 games under him. When Mallorca travelled to the Santiago Bernabéu on the last day of last season they had won seven of their previous 11 and still had a chance of qualifying for
Europe. Unthinkable a few months earlier. During his spell in charge, Mallorca were the country's fourth best side. And then in the summer, Mallorca did what Mallorca do: they sold
their best players. Ivan Ramis headed for Wigan and Chori Castro went to Real Sociedad. In total, nine players departed. It still didn't matter. Caparrós lives his football intensely.
"My blood is at boiling point," he announced before one derby. It always is. He parades up and down the touchline, tracking the linesman, heading the crosses, screaming and
shouting, barely able to stand still. During one game when he was coach of Athletic Bilbao he allowed Canal Plus to fit him up with a heart-rate monitor. His heart reached 170 beats per
minute. That intensity is the keynote of his teams. "If we don't play at 100%," he said this weekend, "we're nothing." Players describe Caparrós as extremely
charismatic; as funny as he can be furious. He connects well with his players: Daniel Alves still credits Caparrós with making him and Jesús Navas says he is "everything". It was
he who made Julio Baptista, signed as a defensive midfielder, into a forward. The result? Fifty goals in two seasons. He has studied journalism and understands not only how to keep the media
on side but also how to deliver messages. Dressing-room walls get covered with press cuttings and the team join in a huddle before every game. He has always insisted on having players that
carry his demands onto the pitch: Pep Martí, his leader at Sevilla, is at Mallorca now and the Portuguese centre-back José Nunes, now in his eighth season at the club, leads from the
defence. Then there are the kids. Iker Muniáin, Adrián Lopez, Sergio Ramos, Jesús Navas and Markel Susaeta all made their debuts under him. And in times of financial crisis – Mallorca must
repay €4.5m a year to their creditors – that is vital. Of Mallorca's starting XI on Saturday, Ximo, Nsué, Pina, and Pereira all played at Mallorca B. Pedro Bigas, another youth teamer,
was his staring centre-back for the opening two games. When he was at Athletic Bilbao, Caparrós made a tougher, more aggressive player out of Fernando Llorente. It is something he does with
all of his players. His training is focused on unity, competitiveness and defensive solidity. On getting it right, over and over. His sessions, another says, are "not especially
groundbreaking". Yet they are intense: three sessions a day during pre-season. Players return from the summer and do not see a ball for a week. It is all about physical condition. And
then, step by step, comes the ball. His teams play on the break, aggressive and swift. Set plays are worked on carefully, repeated constantly. They're not always pretty but they are
pretty effective. There were eight draws last season and of Mallorca's 12 league wins under him, six of them were 1-0. "He is not exactly a lover of good football," one
insider puts it, "but the results are not chance." It was 1-0 on Saturday too. Mallorca resisted Real Sociedad in the first half and blitzed them in the second. They have now won
their past four home games after going in level at half-time. Pina controlled the midfield, Pereira was quick and direct, the defence solid, the goal just a matter of time. When Víctor
Casadesús scored, it was deserved. They could have had more and they still may. Mallorca lost players as always in the summer but this time the coach had a major say in the construction of
the squad. Javi Márquez signed from Espanyol, Geromel from Köln, and Conceiçao from Figurense. The transfer window closed with the arrival of Gio Dos Santos from Spurs. On Saturday there was
already a hint of them evolving into a more attacking side; with the new arrivals, that appears more plausible. For the first time in years, the squad may be better this season than it was
last. Mallorca are second, their highest position for five years – and even then they had lost it by week three in 2007-08. They will not stay there. But this is about more than that.
Caparrós's character, that combination of humour and charm with determination and seriousness, has pervaded the club, imposing a kind of consensus upon it. His direct, fearless approach
has blown away doubts even as there were many. It has protected the dressing room from external problems and, with the results, reinforcing his authority. It has brought the unity which has
always been his obsession. How long it will last is another issue but a certain sense of _sporting_ stability pervades at last: even the opposition recognise that they are heading in the
right direction on the pitch. Fans, despite clashes with the club, largely agree. So does the media. For the first time in a long time, Real Mallorca have a coach who doesn't have a
pistol pointed permanently at his head. TALKING POINTS Real Madrid beat Granada 3-0 and Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice. He didn't celebrate either of them. The reason? He is, he says,
"sad". After the game, he appeared in the mixed zone and spoke to the media. This is what was said: "Why didn't you celebrate?" "Maybe I am a bit sad."
"Why are you sad?" "People know why." "Because of Iniesta [winning the Uefa player of the year award]?" "No, not because of that. There are more important
things. That's past. I'm OK. Anyone of the three of us [Ronaldo, Iniesta, Messi] could have won it. He deserves it." "Is it something to do with the club, then?"
"I'm not going to say anything else. People know why." "Personal or professional?" "Professional." … "Why do you say the people know? Which
people?" "People inside the club. They know. I can't say anything else." … "Is this a passing irritation? How do you feel?" "I don't know. We'll
see." … "Why are you [sad]?" "I'm not saying anything else." Ronaldo's words sent everybody bonkers. It was the perfect storm for Spain's Sunday night
shows – an excuse for everyone to shout and argue and put forward theories. According to one radio station, Ronaldo had even gone so far as to meet with Madrid's president, Florentino
Pérez, on Saturday and tell him that he was not happy and did not want to stay at the club. What they did not say, oddly enough, was _why_. Has his dressing-room relationship with other
players broken down? His relationship with José Mourinho? Is this a contractual battle (he has not renewed his current deal)? Is he annoyed at the treatment of his friend Kaká? Why so sad?
Sevilla got a penalty against Rayo and Alvaro Negredo stepped up to take it. As he did so, fans ever-so-politely reminded him that he is from Vallecas, began his career with them and should
miss it. He did. When Sevilla got another one Ivan Rakitic took it instead. And also missed. A man down and 2-0 down, Levante produced the performance of the weekend with a 3-2 win over
Espanyol – finally clinched with a 90th-minute own goal. Barcelona are still top, the only team with three wins from three. Not that they were very good against Valencia. And, here's
news: Messi didn't score. Results: Celta 2-0 Osasuna, Zaragoza 0-1 Málaga, Deportivo 1-1 Getafe, Mallorca 1-0 Real Sociedad, Rayo 0-0 Sevilla, Athletic 2-0 Valladolid, Levante 3-2
Espanyol, Madrid 3-0 Granada, Barcelona 1-0 Valencia; Atlético v Betis postponed to 26 September.