Tag: Hamid Derakhshan

Branko Ivankovic appointed as Persepolis head coach

The former Team Melli coach Branko Ivankovic has been appointed as the Head Coach of Persepolis club following the resignation of Hamid Derakhshan.

The Croat who coached Team Melli in two different terms has been sought by the club for some times now however the worsening results of the team under Derekhshan and the appointment of a new CEO , albeit in acting capacity , expedited the negotiations until Derkhshan was forced out by default.

The beleaguered Persepolis coach has announced his resignation following the match in which his team drew 2-2 with bottom of the table club Rah Ahan , prompting the fans in Azadi to chant against him and demanded his ousted.  Hamid Derekhshan was appointed as head coach of Persepolis on 10th September 2014 following the sacking of Ali Daei.

Ivankovic will be starting his job with immediate effect. The 61 years old Croat whose last match as coach of Team Melli was against Angola in the FIFA World Cup 2006 will have an immense task taking Persepolis out of the current turmoil. Despite the good showing in the AFC Champions League, Persepolis has been struggling in the league lying 10th in the table and dangerously getting close to the relegation zone.

Ivankovic has to deal with unstable management with ever changing personnel,  club instability , undisciplined squad  and acute funds shortage. His unenviable task will start with the AFC Champions League match in which Persepolis has a good chance in qualifying for the next round but a long shot to win the title.

Makani is pardoned: Debility of Iran’s football.

Why is Carlos Queiroz so popular amongst the Iranian fans?

For many reasons, but one of them is that Queiroz is fundamentally a professional coach , brought up in a professional environment and applies the highest standards in his work of which conduct and discipline is top priority.

In a professional environment, disgruntled or disobedient players like Rahmati and Aghili have no place in Team Melli, regardless to how good they actually are. They have to pay the price for their indiscretions.

Only two days after Sousha Makani was sacked by Persepolis coach Hamid Derakhshan and his dismissal was confirmed later by team Manager Mahmoud Khordbin , a bunch of flowers and a kiss on the forehead ended all the commotion and everything is back to normal. Sousha Makani is pardoned by Derakhshan!!

Sousha Makani’s harsh words for his coach in front of his teammates subsequently followed by his refusal to sit on the bench and departure from the squad , lead to some unsavory scenes and a coach who was  angry and humiliated.  Derakhshan on his part announced in a news conference that Makani has no place in the team as long as he is the coach of Persepolis.

The reinstatement of Makani typifies how feeble this coach is and how Persepolis is suffering from lack of strong leadership. This act of fragility and instability by Derekhshan , whose days are numbered as Persepolis coach anyway, does not concern Persepolis team alone, but extends to Iran’s football image. It also concerns team Melli as Makani is was in the last squad.

Persepolis is a proud team with a legacy. It has been suffering from acute players’ indiscipline and even revolt against a weak management and coach. Derakhshan’s main interest was the title of Persepolis head coach. Neither his achievements nor his resume merits his appointment as the coach of the most popular team in Asia. However, it is the results and the behavior of the players such as Makani , Sadeghian  and the rest that typifies the weakness of this man and reflects negatively on all Iranian national coaches. Being a coach of Persepolis, will inadvertently puts the person in the news and limelight in Iran.

Despite Derakhshan’s act of benevolence, Persepolis Disciplinary Committee has yet to rule on Makani.

Even if Queiroz did not lift any trophies for Iran, he has shown the way and succeeded in managing a team to the highest standards possible despite lack of resources.  Will the Iranian coaches learn from him or at least follow his professionalism and high regard for discipline?

Derakhshan is certainly not a good learner.

 

Sousha Makani is kicked out of Persepolis

Team Melli and Persepolis goalkeeper , Sousha Makani has been kicked out of Persepolis team and told not to report back for training by his coach Hamid Derakhshan.

Before Persepolis’ yesterday’s match in the league ( Friday) , Makani indulged in a strong argument with the coach protesting the decision by  Derakhshan to play Masoud Homami in goal. Makani , notorious for his indiscipline , left the team in protest after failing to win his case. The Match against Rah Ahan ended 2-2.

During the post match press conference, Derakhshan announced that Makani will never return to Persepolis while he (Derakhshan) is the coach. “Makani left the squad without permission because I have not picked him for the match. This is not the first time that I had to deal with such transgression by the player. It is exhausting me and increasing the stress level. There is far too much indisciplined around here, but let it be known to all. I will not allow Makani to come back to the team. If they insist on him , I will leave the team.”

Sousha Makani

Mahmoud Khordbin , Persepolis Team Manager , while expressing his anger and deep disappointment with Makani’s misbehavior, confirmed that the goalkeeper has no place in Persepolis anymore as far as he is concerned.

Makani has been performing quite poorly of late for Persepolis. He has conceded several easy goals in the league and the AFC Champions’ league which was contributory to his teams losses. However and shockingly for that, Carlos Queiroz has selected him  for Team Melli squad that played two friendlies in Europe ahead of Rahman Ahmadi and others!

 

Branko Ivankovic in the run for Persepolis coaching job.

The Former Team Melli coach, Branko Ivankovic, is being considered to take over from Hamid Derekhshan as the head coach of Persepolis club.

The Croat was one of the most successful foreign coaches of Team Melli. His achievements in the 4 years stint included winning the Asian Games Gold Medal in 2002, third place title in the AFC Asian Cup 2004 in China and leading Iran to the FIFA World Cup 2006 in Germany.

Ivankovic was considered for several key jobs in Iran in the last few years but he has an outstanding issue with the tax authorities from his last time employment in Iran. His tax arrears have not been paid and unless he clears the issues, he would be in trouble with the law.

Persepolis on the other hand , has been an organization in real turmoil. Under a coach with less that modest abilities, the club has been struggling in form and results.  Derekhshan , himself an ex-Persepolis player and Captain , has never coached at high level clubs and his attempts at coaching for lessor clubs has not yielded good results. His modest CV is reflected in the weak result of Persepolis. Derekshan took over afer Ali Daei was sacked from his post.

Currently Persepolis is lying 10th among 16 clubs, a position that has led to mass exodus of fans. The most popular club in Asia, and for the first time in its history, can hardly attract 5000 fans at home games in the great Azadi stadium.

Persepolis’s problems are not only technical, as the club is deep in red financially. There are virtually untold number of cases against them in Iranian courts and FIFA. Their chairman has been in jail for a few months now, and the club is running in handicapped mode since. Yesterday, the Ministry of Youth and Sports, the official owner of the club , has appointed an acting chairman Mohammad Hossein FalahNejad to run the club affairs. The new chairman did not waste much time in acting to revive the club’s fortunes.

 Persepolis fans in AzadiIt was FalahNejad who broke the news of Ivankovic deal. The acting chairman has also said that he met with Derekhshan and his assistants today and explained to them the intention of the club to recruit Branko Ivankovic.  Up to that time the deal is finalized with the Croat coach , pending the settlement of the tax issues, Derakhshan can keep his job, according to FalahNejad.

No Persepolis players for Team Melli

For the first time in Iran’s football history, no player from Persepolis has been selected for Team, Melli squad participating in a major championship or tournament.

Persepolis is arguably the most popular team in Iran and has the biggest fan base in all of Asia. After the success of the revolution in 1979, the club was nationalized and taken over by the government. The idea was to return the club back to private ownership after the cleansing and rectification of the club. 36 years later, and after packs of promises from several Presidents, including the football mad, Mahmoud AhmadiNejad, nothing has changed. During this current government, Persepolis affairs have taken a sharp turn to the worse.

Persepolis-Pray2

Years of mismanagement including financial irregularities have resulted in a huge buildup of debts with hundreds of footballers and athletes not receiving their wages. Suppliers have also faced the same fate and experienced nonpayment of bills for services rendered or goods supplied , although practically speaking , the club is a government entity. Tens and some say, hundreds of legal cases are lying in the courts of law in Tehran and elsewhere in Iran claiming unpaid bills by Persepolis. The current CEO Siyasi is in jail for undisclosed reasons.

Several management changes in the recent years have failed to improve the conditions and the financial health of the popular club. Naturally, off the field conditions deterioration has caught up with the players and coaches of the team resulting in some of the poorest performances in the proud club’s history.  The decline of the team also saw a marked decline in match attendances in Azadi.

Rouyanian & Daei
Rouyanian & Daei

The warning bills about the demise of the club have been ringing for the last few years. The government does not seem to be willing to pay the huge debts left by the unscrupulous past managers and CEO’s and considering shutting down the club for good if no feasible buyers who is politically acceptable to the regime, comes forward to bail out the ailing club.

Persepolis is currently in the 8th position in the League table with 17 matches played. The Club has qualified for the Asian Champions league courtesy of Ali Daei success in giving Persepolis one of its highest ranking in the past few years last season. Daei was sacked early this season and replaced by Hamid Derakhshan. An ex-Persepolis player and coach himself, Derakhshan has failed to leave his mark at the club and he is in serious trouble himself and could end up being sacked soon.

Mehrdad Pooladi is declared a free agent.

Team Melli left back and ex-Persepolis player, Mehrdad Pooladi has been declared as a free agent.

Pooladi was involved in a long dispute after the conclusion of the FIFA World Cup 2014 with Persepolis. While the players has repeatedly said that he is a “Free Agent” as his contract with the club has expired by the end of last season, Persepolis insisted that Pooladi is contract bound and must report back to duty and training else they will take disciplinary measures against him. In the meantime, Pooladi was seeking a new club.

Although there has been some interest from Europe, Mehrdad Pooladi , who was the best performing Iranian player in the World Cup , failed to conclude any deal in Europe. The next destination was closer to home. Al Shahaniya club of the Qatar Star League promptly showed interest and began verbal negotiation on the knowledge that Pooladi is available. The two sides were close to agreeing terms except that Al Shahaniya demanded a release in form of ITC from Persepolis as a condition for recruiting the Iranian defender.

Persepolis refused to release the player or cooperate with the Qatari club. With time running out to the closing of the transfer windows, Al Shahniya withdrew their offer to Pooladi due to lack of progress and documentations issues and instead the newly promoted team to the QSL , signed Pooladi’s compatriot and Team Melli teammate , Masoud Shojaei. 

Pooladi took his case to the Board of Arbitration of the FFIRI. Today the board issued a statement declaring him as Free Agent. The Board also declared that Pooladi’s financial settlement with Persepolis club is still unresolved and not settled. According to the contract, Pooladi is still to receive a substantial payment from the club outstanding from last season.

On a side note, The newly appointed Persepolis coach , Hamid Derakhshan was asked yesterday by a reporter about  the whereabouts of Mehrdad Pooladi and the reason for his absence from the team’s training session. Instead of speaking facts and truth, Derakhshan attributed Pooladi’s absence to the problems he has with the Military Service Release Form (…) !