Real Madrid President Florentino Perez has called a board meeting for this afternoon to discuss the pending coaching switch (Manuel Pellegrini out; Jose "Special One" Mourinho in). More tellingly, Perez has called a press conference for an hour after the board meeting.

Board meetings at the club are usually longer, drawn-out affairs. By capping this one at less than an hour, Perez is expecting the board's rubber stamp on his decision to push Pellegrini aside. Perez is a smooth operator, and the whole set-up signals that Perez already has the votes to ram the move through.

Perez is the club's largest benefactor, personally assuming some of the massive debts incurred in last summer's transfer binge. At some level, he who pays the piper calls the tune. At the same time, Perez may be setting himself up for disaster the next time the club's membership votes on the presidency. As discussed in a previous post, the Special One is the world's most effective manager—but his playing system will not sit well with club faithful who would rather see the team lose 7-5 than win 1-0.

The level of acrimony at today's board meeting will be interesting, but in the end, the presser will be more relevant. Perez needs to convince the membership and the press that the Special One can not just win, but win in style. This is Perez' last roll of the dice in this presidential term. He thinks he's playing Yahtzee, but the faithful are looking for a craps game.