Real's Camacho offers to resign

Real Madrid coach Jose Antonio Camacho has offered to resign after the Spanish club's poor start to the season, according to reports in Spain.

Camacho is believed to have contacted club president Florentino Perez yesterday and told him he would be willing to stand down. England coach Sven- Goran Eriksson is thought to be among candidates to replace him.

Perez is believed to have turned down Camacho's offer but the two men will meet today to address Madrid's current problems.

If Camacho goes, Real coach Mariano Garcia Remon is expected to take over for tomorrow's game against Osasuna.

The Spanish giants were thrashed 3-0 at Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League on Wednesday night and then lost 1-0 at Espanyol in La Liga on Saturday - despite dropping David Beckham and Raul to the bench.

"I didn't see Real Madrid play football," said Camacho, who added ominously that "the coach is responsible for all defeats."

Camacho spent 16 years as a player at the Bernabeu but his previous spell in charge, in 1998, came to an end after only three weeks when he fell out with then president Lorenzo Sanz.

On Saturday, Camacho gave Michel Owen his first start but the former Liverpool striker could do nothing as Maxi Rodriguez scored the only goal of the game against a Madrid side also missing injured Zinedine Zidane and Luis Figo.

Brazilian superstar Ronaldo squandered Real's best opportunity when he missed a penalty in the 50th minute. Spain's unforgiving fans will look at a table which shows not just hated Barcelona a point ahead of them but also city rivals Atletico Madrid. Those teams drew 1-1 in the capital last night.

Camacho, 49, reportedly feels incapable of imposing control over the dressing room. However, the club's Brazilian defender Roberto Carlos said Camacho should reconsider-Carlos: "I have been in worse situations than this with Real Madrid. That's why Camacho shouldn't worry because we will improve. He needs to understand that he has a different way of dealing with us than other coaches. He should be patient."