Tag: Branko Ivankovic

Ivankovic’s pre-condition to coach Team Melli.

Branko Ivankovic is claiming 960,000 Euro arrears from Persepolis Club.

While the Croat coach is negotiating the possibility of coaching Team Melli with FFIRI and has met with the Iranian Ambassador in Croatia regarding this matter, he insists on settling the accounts with the Iranian Champions. The former Persepolis and Team Melli coach has given two conditions to the Iranian authorities, one of which is the financial settlement, while the other is the settlement of the contract with current coach Wimots before he can officially negotiates terms & conditions to coach Team Melli. It is an unwritten law between coaches that negotiating a job will not be carried out unless the post is vacant, which is not the case with Team Melli as Wilmots is still in charge, although remotely.

Meanwhile, Perspolis has acknowledged the receipt of an official letter from FIFA legal department reference Ivankovic’s claim and ordered to pay the full amount to their former Croatian coach. Failure to pay would result in sanctions on Persepolis and interest accumulation on the amount until it is fully paid.

Meanwhile, in true tradition Persepolis club on the receipt of the warning from FIFA, is seeking a discount from Branko Ivankovic! Persepolis must have thought to pull a quick one by taking advantage of Black Friday!

FFIRI has remained tight-lipped on the negotiations with Ivankovic and the contract with Marc Wilmots, whose future with Team Melli seems to be doubtful after the poor results that threaten Iran’s qualification for the FIFA Wolrd Cup 2022.

Kanaani-Zadegan, dismisses all rumors of a rift between players and Wilmots.

The Team Melli central defender dismissed talks of a dispute between players and Belgian coach Marc Wilmots as malicious rumours.

Mohammad Hossein Kanaani-Zadegan, was quoted saying that “The players and the coaching staff in Team Melli had a good working realtionship and mutual respect, anything beyond that is just malicious”

“Unfortunately, these talks have been spreading on social media. We respect Wilmots, and any talk or insinuation that the players in Team Melli were against Wilmots, is baseless rumours.” When Kanaani-Zadegan was quizzed about Branko Ivankovic impending arrival, he responded “I am unaware of his presence and I just heard it from you” The Persepolis defender said.

About the issue of Masoud Shojaei ,  Kanaani-Zadegan said “It has been mentioned that Shojeai has announced his retirement from Team Melli after the defeat against Iraq but the rest of the Team Melli players unanimously objected to that!  I assure you that this so-called announcement has never happened in the dressing room, and we are not unaware of any such plan”.

In respect to the other reports that Wilmots’ training style was not to the liking of the players “I don’t know where these rumours come from; Wilmots is a great coach, we’ve conducted the training that he planned for us too ” Kanaani said.

“there were some reporters present when we were at the training ground and they have witnessed how both we and Wilmots worked so hard for Team Melli’s success.”

Asked if the team only practised for two days before meeting Iraq? He said: “Again, this is not true, we did a few days of good and high-intensity training and I do not accept such statements that we only practised for two days. ” When he was asked to comment on reports that some Team Melli players called or have contacted Branko Ivankovic when they heard he is taking over Wilmots’ post, the former Machine-Sazi defender said, “I am unaware of this, it is best to discuss this with players who have called Branko.”

To put the records straight, Team Melli full contingent that includes the Legionnaires practised two days only before the match with Iraq. The rest of the training that Kanaani is probably referring too, was the training sessions for the domestic players only conducted by Hashemianm which is not considered as a full Team Training where gameplans, tactics and other stuff is discussed by the Head Coach.

Also, it has to be noted that reporters are only allowed 15 minutes from the start of training practice and then they asked to leave the pitch. It is not feasible to measure anything of worth in such a short time for reporters and observers.

Is Ivankovic the right choice for Team Melli now?

OPINION

One cannot ignore all the talks about the rift between Marc Wilmots on one side and the FFIRI, Iranian Media and fans on the other.

The Belgian coach has failed to meet expectations and that 14-0 win against Cambodia looks now more a hoax that gave him and his players a serious false impression of superiority and self-esteem that was brought down back to earth in Bahrain.

It is safe to say that Wilmot’s team lacks special players in midfield to open the game and feed the forwards but also Wilmots himself does not know his best lineup. There were several other technical shortfalls and the dearth of focus by the players. Wilmots also failed with his players’ selection and substations. He was technically outsmarted by the coaches of Bahrain and Iraq.

Two crucial losses on the trot seem to be good enough justification to relieve the man who was accountable from his duty, but what about the timing? In fact, the timing is perfect as it gives the new coach over three months of plotting and planning. That period will surely be enough for a person like Ivankovic who is very familiar with Iran’s football.

The Professor has many advocates in Iran’s football and if he cannot do the job for Team Melli, it is difficult to imagine any other foreign coach doing it. His familiarity with the players, many of them he coached in Persepolis, his knowledge of the culture, his awareness of the players’ discipline and behaviour are great assets to add to his technical awareness and savvy tactics.

It has to be mentioned that Ivankovic is a strict disciplinarian and has no time for petulance, sulkiness and general misconduct that is rife amongst the Iranian players. In his time at Persepolis, he got rid of several players due to disciplinary issues, the most famous of them is the current Team Melli Back Ramin Rezaeian.  Ivankovic could also face problems with other players who are stars in their own rights but not too professionals in attitude and conduct. One such player is Sardar Azmoun.

It is a terrible thing for a person to lose his job, especially in the festive season, but if this unfortunate action has to be carried out, now is the best time for Team Melli but not necessarily for Marc Wilmots.

Marc Wilmots accuses FFIRI of committing a serious breach of contract”.

The strained relationship between Marc Wilmots and the Iranian football took a sharp turn to the worst as the Belgian coach has tweeted that his employers, FFIRI have committed a serious breach of contract while the FFIRI has secretly approached Branko Ivankovic to replace Wilmots.

The Belgian coach says that unbearable situation has been created for him and his assistants by the Football Federation. Following the defeat of the Iranian national football team against Iraq, criticism of the Belgian national coach has been on the rise, and the rumours of replacing Wilmots with Branko Ivankovic has gained momentum.  However, the Iranian Football Federation in a bizarre statement about the various rumours surrounding Team Melli coaching, including negotiation with Wilmots on the subject of termination of the contract, said that it (FFIRI) does not confirm or deny anything!! Such peculiar denial has given the media the ammunition to speculate more and confirm to a certain extent that what has been rumoured is, in fact, close to reality and truth and not just rumours.

 And the lame statement by FFIRI, who are trying to be clever, will not alleviate those stories.

Now Marc Wilmots has ended his silence on the subject today and posted on his official Twitter page his thoughts on the “rumours” in the Iranian media: “The reality is that the situation is unbearable for me and my assistants due to a serious breach of contract by the Iranian Football Federation. “The case is being processed by my lawyers and I do not intend to comment any further.“

While the breach of contract by FFIRI is quite clear, as Mehdi Taj administration has consistently delayed the payment of the wages of Wilmots and his assistants, which eventually forced the hands of Wilmots to refuse to carry out his duty ( a violation of the contract of its own), the serious concern is hardly about the clauses of the contract but the lacklustre, lethargic , lack of creativity and lack of urgency in the team that is coached by Wilmots and that lead to two consecutive defeats.

Branko Ivankovic rumours!

The former Team Melli and Persepolis head coach Branko Ivankovic is rumoured to be approaching a return back to Iran.

The Croat, who left Persepolis after three successful years of winning trophies and titles, was recently interviewed where he denied the possibility of a return back to Persepolis, the club that withheld his wages for over a year. Nevertheless, Ivankovic also said that he is not interested in coaching a national team as he prefers the day to day commitment associated with coaching a club.

History has proven time and again that what coaches say in public about their future jobs, hardly holds true and in reality, anything might happen. Denial is standard practice for coaches on speculation of a new appointment.

What is interesting is that Ivankovic, who is perhaps the most popular and successful foreign coach in Iran’s football history, is out of work and the approval rating of the newish Team Melli coach Marc Wilmots is quite low. Not only Wilmots has failed to get any points out of the last two World Cup qualifiers, but Team Melli is also in serious risk of losing out on qualification which was achieved so easily under Carlos Queiroz in 2014 and 2018. Wilmots, who is a fly-by-night coach who is hardly seen in Iran, is currently back home in Belgium and seems to turn up a day or two before matches! In reality, he will not be in Iran for at least 4 months before the next World Cup qualifiers in March 2020.

Speculations are rife about Ivankovic taking over Wilmots’ job. His knowledge and experience of Iranian football at all levels is second to none. His records and achievements with Team Melli is quite highly regarded and appreciated by the fans. What could be a serious stumbling block with Ivankovic is how to work with a feeble ineffectual and seriously inefficient federation.

Those responsible in the FFIRI, but specifically the Duo Mehdi Taj and Mohammadreza Saket, have time and time again failed Team Melli in many ways. They have always extended their arms begging the government for aids and donations including money to pay their employees and coaches. The FFIRI Lacks solid strategy, philosophy and direction and works on Hail Mary and wishful thinking basis. Just like a few days back when two emotional communique was issued by the International Relations department and published in the official FFIRI website to justify the two costly losses in the World Cup qualifiers. Instead of injecting confidence and providing solutions for Team Melli to recover from this tragedy created by them, the FFIRI went into comprehensive good wishes and good luck philosophy without committing any particular measures. Basically, counting on hope, luck and greetings!

This federation hardly has long term plans for Team Melli, particularly Friendly matches. They claim they have tried, but were not successful to arrange such important matches, which prove the inefficiency of the personnel running the FFIRI.  Under such a cloud of inefficiency, it is difficult to imagine a coach succeeding in Team Melli.

 However, Ivankovic who led Team Melli to FIFA World Cup 2006, has tasted all that and plenty of bureaucracy in the many years he worked in Iran. The Gentleman, as many supporters call him, might fancy himself another challenge and a few bouts with Mehdi Taj. He just might be the answers that the fans are looking for because anything is better than what it is now.

Branko Ivankovic : ” No intention to coach Team Melli”

Former  Team Melli and Persepolis coach Branko Ivankovic says he has no intention of coaching Iran national football team.

Ivankovic led Persepolis to the Iranian domestic treble last season but left after they failed to pay him his salary, a common practice in Iran in the last few years.

The 65-year-old coach, considered as one of the best foreign coaches of Team Melli, won the gold medal in 2002 Asian Games and led Team Melli to third place in 2004 AFC Asian Cup.

The Croat coached Iran at the 2006 FIFA World Cup, where the Team Melli failed to qualify for the next stage after losing to Mexico and Portugal. while drawing with Angola.

“At the moment, I have a lot of offers from Egypt, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Japan and China but have not accepted them so far. In Al Ahli, I was fired after three matches, something I never experienced such a thing before. I believe I worked well for the team as it needed some changes in dressing room but this is football and I accept it,” Ivankovic said.

Asked why he left Persepolis at the end of the last season, Ivankovic said, “I had four fascinating years in Iran and I so much miss the country. However, I was forced to leave Persepolis because they didn’t pay our salaries for about one year. At that time, Al Ahli gave me a good offer and I accepted it,” he added.

Persepolis have lost three times in the last 10 matches but Ivankovic says they are favourites to win the title for the fourth time in a row.

“I think Gabriel Calderon needs time in Persepolis because he is a great coach. Persepolis fans love their team and support their players and coaches. In my opinion, Persepolis and Sepahan are vying for the title in the current season,” Ivankovic stated.

Ivankovic believes that Team Melli had a chance to qualify for the next round at the FIFA 2018 World Cup.

“I think (Carlos) Queiroz preferred to defend in Russia. Iran could have played attacking football against Portugal and Span. After beating Morocco, Team Melli should have taken risks,” said Ivankovic .

“Is there any chance to return to Team Melli if he receives an offer?”

“I would prefer to work at club level. I am not going work as a national team head coach,” Ivankovic concluded.

Asghar Sharafi, severly criticized FFIRI over failure to honor Wilmots contract.

After all the fuss about football federations failure to pay Wilmot’s wages, a great number of sporting personnel and media in Iran attacked the head of the federation and accused him of shortfalls and failures which has put Iran’s name in disrepute.

Asghar Sharafi, Iran’s veteran footballer , former Team Melli star and assistant coach is one of those who strongly criticized the performance of the Football Federation in the aftermath of the disgrace leading to a threat by Coach Wilmots to leave.

“if you did not have the money, why would you employ and upset a foreign coach?” Sharafi questioned.  “in reality, Team Melli has no working head coach. How can that be? Aren’t these people ashamed? Those who claim to be managing and running football affairs in our country are only embarrassing the nation and making a mockery out of us in front of the world. They are playing with the dignity of this nation. Aren’t they thinking even a little that their poor actions have an effect on the reputation of this country?  Why don’t they care to think about the country’s reputation ?”  Sharafi added:

Asghar Sharafi Team Melli Iran 1972
Asghar Sharafi Team Melli Iran 1972 winger

“Is it not in the class of Iranian football not to have a working coach for Team Melli? We are the 25th richest country in the world. Also, if we don’t have the money as they claim all the time,  then why hire a foreign coach? We have so many good young coaches right now. Our football is very beautiful. When speaking, negotiating or cutting deals, that person must have knowledge.”

” Some times ago, our football was not so good, but who can criticize the progress of Yahaya Golmohammadi’s team which he built on the tightest of budgets, or Amir Ghalenoei? Who can question Esteghlal and Persepolis? Our football has changed. to the better” said Sharafi who was the assistant coach of Heshmat Mohajerani in Iran’s first participation at the FIFA World Cup1978.

“I blame the football federation100 percent for their incompetence.  They’re not worthy of the posts that they cling to.  These are people who would not even be employed in their previous organizations but somehow, they turned up as experts in sporting organizations like football. I am not seeking controversy or start a fight with someone. I have accomplished many honours across the world representing Iranian football. The World Cup , Olympics Games and Asian Games? I’ve reached all of this. Everyone has his days but a person can not be there at the top all the time. It is not always Asghar Sharafi’s day. So I’m not talking about jealousy. It really hurts me to witness the ridicule that these people have put upon us. Show me a country that doesn’t have a coach when it and goes to play a game” Sharafi added.

“It’s a real shame they didn’t pay the coach his dues or any money for that matter, a real shame. Why hire a foreign coach? Extend your foot to the size of your carpet. Wilmots has the full rights to refuse to work with this lot ” said Sharafi. “He has a contract with us, he gets ten times as much as a local. How much we gave to Queiroz and Branco. Whose money is this? It’s yours and mine, it’s people’s money. Then they take two photos for their family album and say, look, I wasn’t in football but I was the president of the federation.” Sharfi taking a dig at the head of the federation. Mehdi Taj.

Omid Team is in search of a replacement for Kranjcar.

The issue of Omid team performance and the coaching standards of the team has been raised in the technical committee of Iranian football federation.

Hossein Kalani, a member of the Football Federation’s Technical Committee said that in the past two weeks, there has been several discussions on the dismissal of the Omid team head coach, the Croat Zlatko Kranjcar.

in an interview with ISNA, Kalani commented on the rumors circulating around Krancjar’s fate and his imminent dismissed from coaching Iran’s Olympic Team (Omid) : “I have heard this as well like the rest. However, as I was sick and resting at home because of the illness, I was unable to attend several meetings of the technical committee.”

“but earlier, there was talk of such intention because Krancjar did not meet the required expectations. We were quite lucky to qualify for the next round. The players did their best, but that draw against Iraq which had better goal difference, put us in the second place in the group. If one of other teams scored a goal or two extra in the final matches of the Asian groups, we would have been eliminated.”

He continued, “There was some lack of cooperation and coordination between Krancjar and his own assistants. There was a clear disconnect in the coaching team. I think there was some negotiation with Krancjar to release him. This decision was probably taken at a technical committee meeting that I did not attend.”

Kalani denied any knowledge of Javad Nekounam being considered as Kranjcar replacement.”“I do not have any knowledge of this subject.”

As an ex Team Melli player and one of the legends of Iranian football, Kalani is a prominent member of the federation’s technical committee, yet he is unaware of crucial and important decisions made by that committee. He can only guess what has been decided in the meetings that he did not attend !!!

Commenting further “in Iran, there are foreign coaches like Branko who are successful and Persepolis feels proud of him, There are other foreign coaches as will that have succeed in other teams,” he said.

“However, we have virtually never received positive feedback and results from the presence of foreign coaches. I have always said that if we provide the same working conditions, perks and facilitates afforded to foreign coaches, to our local coaches, we will get 100% better results. Most of the honors in our football history have been achieved by our own Iranian coaches, some of whom never even had coaching certificates nor attended coaching classes. “

“The familiarity of the Iranian coach with the culture and language and hence, the ability to communicate instruction, plans and objectives to the players is one of the most important issues that must be considered. The Iranian coach recognizes the emotions of his players. The national team has always consisted with the best players, and they do not need to teach them basic football issues and high tactics. The most important thing is psychological issues.”

Kalani is one of very few prominent people in Iran that is clean shaven and wears a tie in public or official meetings in a country that one can be easily considered as outcast , labeled as westernized and accused of being anti-Islamic for that. He is western educated and a successful businessman in his own right.

Alexander Nouri mentioned as possible candidate for Team Melli coaching.

After the departure of Carlos Queiroz from Team Melli following the unsuccessful attempt to win the AFC Asian Cup 2019, there were many names suggested or rumored to take over from the departed Portuguese coach. While the FFIRI is active in seeking a, the social media and the critics have put on several names as possible successor.

Branko Ivankovic, Ali daei , Lambertus “Bert” van Marwijk and Nekounam were amongst the favorites.

Alexander Nouri has emerged on the list as a new entry. His name has been floating around in recent days although the German-Iranian coach has not had any talks with the Iranian Football Federation. In the last few days, some Iranian media outlets have been promoting the former Werder Bremen football coach Alexander Nouri as the most suitable option for Team Melli.

A young coach , 39 years, who tasted success at Werder Bremen and then failure, was appointed as the coach of Bundesliga 2, Ingolstadt, on the sixth week of the season but he failed to improve on the team result and was fired.
Despite his short and unsuccessful time at FC Ingolstadt, Alexander Nouri still believes in his future as coach of a Bundesliga team.
“I know that I can train any time in Bundesliga or second division club, because I have already shown I can do it,” the former coach of SV Werder Bremen said in a post of the “Tagesspiegel”.

64-DAY COACH IN INGOLSTADT

The subject of the report is the short life of the coaching business and Nouri can tell a lot about it. He held only 64 days last year on bench of second division Ingolstadt, before he was released on 26 November – after eight games without a win and at bottom of the table. “I had just begun feeling the team but by then it was already over,” recalls Nouri, who was allowed to continue for more than a year at Werder Bremen.
If Alexander Nouri is still ambitious enough to seek a job in the German Bundesliga, that means the end of rumors about his cooperation with the Iranian Football Federation and the Team Melli Vacant position.

if the Football Federation had short-listed Nouri for negotiation, after this interviews, it seems the chances of attracting him to Iran in minimal. The jury is out stability and the competence of young Nouri , however.

Most probably, FFIRI is stuck with only one name, the jobless Javad Nekounam will is most probably the only candidate for the interim and temporary coaching post.

Interim coach is considered for Team Melli

Team Melli will most probably schedule 2 friendly games in April 2019. The opponents or location of the national team training camp has not been determined yet but strong preference is given to the China’s International 4 side round ribbon invitational tournament.

The football federation is hard pressed for time in choosing a new head coach, so it’s more than likely that an interim coach will sit on the bench until negotiations and appointment of a permanent new coach is finalized and concluded.

Javad Nekounam is one of the candidates as Iran’s interim coach, because he is available and due to his familiarity with the Team Melli players. Nekounam is however a risky choice if the permanent coach negotiation is extended and prolonged. He has showed a lack of discipline in his short career in coaching. When appointed as assistant to Carlos Queiroz, in his first match against Qatar, he nearly started a riot by his childish and provocative celebration in front of the Qatar bench when Iran scored late in the game. A conduct that earned him a suspension by FIFA and consequent to that, his time with Queiroz did not last long.

There are two other names that are being talked about as well as Nekounam. Ali Daei and Branko Ivankovic. Both of these coaches have club jobs to attend to and both are bound by contracts to their clubs. Unlike Javad Nekounam who is out of work and is believed to be the cheapest option, Daei and Ivankovic are a different challenge all together for the federation

Saipa and Persepolis coaches, will not be cheap in terms of contract. Both have aspirations for full time jobs rather than being a fill gap for someone else. In their own rights, they have the credentials and the competency while both have carried out the job of Team Melli head coach previously unlike Nekounam who has a short coaching career which is barely satisfactory.

And there is always the release by the clubs if they agree and what compensations will they be awarded.

Ali Daei, a patriot that he always is, might agree reluctantly to lead Team Melli on temporary 1 or 2 match basis until the FFIRI final decision on a permanent appointment. Some insiders, however, doubt that Daei will agree while Kaffashian-Taj axis is at the helm of FFIRI. Daei is still very bitter about the way he was treated after the loss to Saudi Arabia in 2009 and blames Kaffashian, the President of FFIRI at the time and his buddy Mehdi Taj for his unfair dismissal. Since both are retirees who draw benefits from government pension, as the law stands, they are not allowed to take a job and a pension at the same time. Kaffashian is said to have left FFIRI but Taj is still procrastinating. The chances of Daei agreeing on the fill gap post are much higher when those two bosses leave their posts in FFIRI.

Ivankovic is a more difficult case. He is not obliged by any means to help the federation. His resume speaks for itself and if the FFIRI is looking for a competent replacement for Queiroz, they are obliged to consider the Croat who has coached Team Melli on two separate occasions taking Iran to the 2006 World cup. A temporary assignment will not interest Ivankovic who is busy with Persepolis and intends to perform one step better in the AFC Champions League this time.

After Queiroz’s departure, most critics have agreed that the next coach should be as good or better than the Portuguese coach to take Iran forward to the next biggest challenge and the is the FIFA World Cup 2022.

Appointment of Daei or Ivankovic as Team Melli coach has its merits and advantages. However, the legacy that Queiroz has left needs strong character to improve upon his work. Daei is a typical Iranian coach who usually blames failures on other factors, at least publically. Iran needs a realistic modern thinking coach who can adapt to circumstances, which sometimes are poor.  A coach who is tactically agile and always has options up his sleeve. Blaming the earth and sky will not achieve much for Iran’s football. Facilities, administration and management have always been poor to sub-standard. Coaches and players need to live with it. The legend Daei needs an attitude adjustment to make it at international level. He has yet to show that change in that respect.

Ivankovic has his own shortfalls. He can be too nice of a man against footballers who can be very difficult to handle. Queiroz had no times for those players and simply got rid of them in Team Melli despite the public outcry and federation intervention. It is doubtful if Branko can repeat the same

Queiroz Iran vs Japan during their AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019 Semi-finals match