Real Madrid’s decision to appoint Zinedine Zidane as their new coach has been described as “madness” by former Bayern Munich boss Ottmar Hitzfeld.

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Zidane was appointed in place of the sacked Rafael Benitez on Monday despite his only previous experience as a coach being his 18 months at the helm of Real Madrid’s second team, Castilla, in the regional third tier of Spanish football.

“For him (Zidane) it is like winning the lottery jackpot. It is madness,” said the 66-year-old Hitzfeld, who ended a stellar coaching career after taking Switzerland to the 2014 World Cup.

“It is an insane, crazy decision. He is a manager without any experience. He only lives on his famous name as a player. Zidane has proved nothing as a coach and he is now in charge of the biggest stars in the world.

“It is an incredibly difficult task although I hope it goes well for him.”

One man who fundamentally disagrees with Hitzfeld, however, is former France coach Gerard Houllier who on Wednesday predicted he would prove himself to be a “top-class manager”.

Houllier, who is in Sydney as coach of a Liverpool “legends” side playing on Thursday, said the former attacking midfielder Zidane – whom he coached as manager of the French national side in the early 1990s – had bided his time before assuming the top job at the Spanish side.

“He did the right thing. He became an assistant manager first, then he became the coach of the second team (Castilla) for two years,” Houllier said.

“Don’t forget, he left the international scene in 2006, now we are in 2016, so it’s 10 years. So you wouldn’t say he’s jumped from the playing career to the coaching career.”

Meanwhile, Gareth Bale trained for the first time under the orders of Zidane after missing the French legend’s inaugural session on Tuesday due to a minor muscle injury. Zidane has been quick to quell rumours in the English press over Bale’s future by insisting the Welshman, who has scored seven goals in his last five games, will be central to his plans.

Reports in England suggested Bale had been unhappy with the unceremonious sacking of Benitez after just seven months in charge. “Great to train for the first time with the new mister and the team #HalaMadrid,” Bale posted on his Twitter feed.

Preparations for Zidane’s debut in senior management against Deportivo la Coruna on Saturday continued with what the club described as a 90-minute long “strenuous session”.

Captain Sergio Ramos wasn’t able to train with his teammates, though, due to an injury problem.