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.

Is there a shift in Iranian fans’ mentality ?

An intriguing enigma has developed lately in Iran’s football that might be the beginning of a new era, at least from the fans side of the, if not with the whole of the system.

Iran has the largest football fan base in Asia, even more that China that has several folds more population. People just love football in this country and if you have ever missed it , you should look at the attendance of the local derby between Perpsolis and Esteghlal , the two highest fanbase teams in Iran and beyond. It is always one of the biggest match attendance in the world.

Persepolis and Esteghlal are the two most popular teams in Iran.

lebanon-fans-543

Like many other countries, football fans in Iran have more loyalty to their clubs than the national team. For decades these two teams had a monopoly on the number of players in Team Melli. It was unthinkable of announcing a squad without any player from the reds of Persepolis or the blues of Esteghlal.

Not anymore. The original squad for AFC Asian Cup 2015 did not have a single player from Persepolis. That was a historic first. The trend of breaking the monopoly if the 2 top teams on Team Melli started way back during Branko Ivankovic days and reached its peak a decade or so later during Carlos Queiroz. Former Team Melli managers will deny it, but it is a common knowledge that pressure was excreted upon them to include as many as Persepolis and Esteghlal players in the team to assure the federation of fans attendance and support in the 100,000 capacity Azadi Stadium.

After the elimination of Team Melli from the Asian Cup, Queiroz embarked on a vicious ward of words against Amir Ghalenoei and Hamid Derakhshan accusing them of treachery, amongst many other allegations. Team Melli head coach war of attrition with local club coaches has started sometimes ago, but his conflict with Persepolis and Esteghlal coach seemed to have hit the peak after the failing of the Asian Cup.

Queiroz in a feeble attempt to justify the team’s elimination pointed the fingers at Ghalenoei and Derakhshan as contributory factors to the team’s failure!

Essentially , Queiroz was telling them “You are getting a taste of your own medicine!”

Aside from the others reactions to Queiroz tonguelashing, many Persepolis and Esteghlal fans took exception to it and defended their club coaches, some in fact even marched with banners and had to be restrained by security personnel at the two clubs respective training grounds.

Up to here, the plot is progressing normally as expected under such circumstances but the shock that has awaken everyone was in NAVAD TV show. The popularity of Carlos Queiroz when a poll was conducted in Navad TV reached an overwhelming 88%!

Iran Fans in Doha

Let us carefully run through some facts.

Fact 1) the absolute majority (greater than 80%) of Iranian football fans polled before the Asian Cup, believed that Team Melli will win the title or be in the final match at least. Less than 10% thought Iran will not make it past the quarter finals. So, we assume that 80% of the fans are quite disappointed by the result.

Fact 2) Team Melli has failed to progress beyond the group matches in the World Cup , ranked by FIFA as 31 out of 32 teams with some embarrassing performance figure. It has failed to win any championship or titles, even the good old WAFF championship, failed in Asian Cup , and very miserably so in the Asian Games( U 23 team).

Fact 3) Team Melli has not been displaying a pretty or entertaining football with a stern defensive style and mostly sticking to the same faces and names.

Fact 4) Carlos Queiroz has made more enemies in Iran that anyone can think of. From Omid Namazi , Rahmati , Aghili , Salih etc and all the way to Ali Karimi who abandoned ship in the last hours.

The above mentioned are facts, not speculations or rumors. So, how on earth one can explain the popularity of such a character?

Iran vs nigeria greeting the fans (35 of 36)-3

Is there a shift in mentality in Iranians fans? are they sick of the archaic Iranian establishment ? Are they tired of Iranian coaches and their antics? Are they sending some kind of a message to the hierarchies? Are they “Blue eyes worshippers” as Ghalanoei alleged ?

In Europe and certainly some of the Persian Gulf Countries, National Team Managers that have achieved much better than Queiroz have lost their jobs, yet Iran is an exception. It defies the common logic for a coach to have such popularity without being able to win anything.

Not that Carlos Queiroz is to be blamed for the whole of Iran’s football deficiencies, but in essence, he is part of the system that has disappointed and failed the fans and an important one for that matter. It is criminal to shield him from criticism while blame the failing on the rest of the establishment.

In any case despite the fact that Queiroz has not won anything for Iran, he managed to win the heart of the fans.

NOW..

Go Figure.

Derakhshan fires back at Queiroz.

Hamid Derakhshan , the head coach of Persepolis blasted Carlos Queiroz latest statements about him and Amir Ghalenoei , the Esteghlal coach.

In a short statement after the Perespolis team training in front of a large number of keen journalists awaiting his reaction to the verbal onslaught of Queiroz, Derakhsan who was clearly upset by the subject and wanted to refrain from commenting in the first place, was suddenly fired up and severally derided the Portuguese coach for what he called “Dishonorable rant”.

Persepolis coach said “this man ( Queiroz) is constantly telling us and reminding everybody that the referee was the reason behind Team Melli’s defeat. If we are to talk about refereeing mistakes, then what about that Uzbekistan game when the ball clearly passed Team Melli goal line but the referee did not see it? How come the referee was not the reason for Team Melli’s winning in that match? Your are looking for escape goats and culprits to justify the elimination Team Melli and conveniently found Amr Ghalenoei and Hamid Derkhshan as lucrative targets. These are unjustified feeble excuses you are offering.”

Derakhshan referring to the high wages of Team Melli coach said “ He is the world’s third or fourth most expensive coach. But I ask you all, what did he achieve for our football? The players that he has at his disposal are the end result of our hard work in the domestic league, the work of club coaches; it is not the product of Queiroz that he has brought from his home. What did you have up your sleeve for this nation’s football?  Have you developed this football to a world class standard, for instances? Have you introduce and played a beautiful football?”

Hamid Derakhshan then pointed to the past history of Queiroz and said “ The guy comes and publicly tarnish our image and insult us by referring to past events. I want to ask Mr. Queiroz, what about your own record and background? Mr. Queiroz your records are clear and everyone knows that the Real Madrid has kicked you out only after eight weeks in the job. A Portuguese player under you was busted on doping charges, and subsequently you were fired because of it. And there are other events. Now you are coming over here to teach us our destiny? Our football is bigger than people like you, and you do not have the rights to decide for us.”

Queiroz has singled out Derekhshan and Ghalenoei for special censure and accused them of being forces behind weakening of Team Melli spirit. The coach of Team Melli , said , both these two should have no place in Iran’s football ! Amir Ghalenoei , refrained from responding yesterday but said a special communique will be issued by him to refute Queiroz in the next few days.

 Team Melli will be arriving in Tehran on Monday.

Queiroz slams Iranian coaches.

After exiting the Asian cup in a penalty shootout, Carlos Queiroz talked to the press and expressed his disappointment and regrets about many issues surrounding Iranian football but reserved his most venomous attacks on two of the Iran’s top club coaches, according to Mehrnews.

Amir Ghalenoei , head coach of Esteghlal and Hamid Derakhshan , head coach of Persepolis , the two clubs combined that have the lion share of Iranian fans, where singled out by Querioz as saboteurs !

The tongue lashing started with Ghalenoei whom Querioz accused of back stabbing. “He promised me that he will release Esteghlal players and fully cooperate with Team Melli program, but when the time arrived for the release, he refused and started giving excuses.” Queiroz said about Esteghlal and former Team Melli coach Amir Ghalenoei.

“Look how he treated Nekounam and Teymourian , both of whom are pillars of Team Melli. Ghalebnoei , in essence , was leading a campaign to destroy the morale of Team Melli players.” Queiroz added.

Amir Ghalenoei

The Portuguese coach, earmarked Hamid Derekhshan for  special ridicule and Sarcasm ” What does a coach of 17 years old team , who has faked the birthdays of some of his player and was busted for it, know about football and Team Melli? All he achieved was shame and dishonor for Iran as a country and for the football federation that received a 4 years ban from youth competition because of Derakhshan cheating.”

Queiroz also recapped some of Derekhshan’s history “As a player, he does not have a clean sheet either. He has a record of misdemeanor and dishonorable acts, including his mutiny on Team Melli with some 13 other players who revolted against the late Team Melli coach Parviz Dehdari. What virtue does he holds to start criticizing us? ”

Amir Ghalenoei has been one of chief antagonists of Queiroz and repeatedly criticized him for long stoppage of the league program. Derkhshan, although publicly saying that the long break because of Team Melli is in the benefit of his struggling Persepolis, he has been known to criticize Queiroz on players’ selection and other tactical issues.

Somewhow, we think that this is not the end of the story. Niether of the coaches will take these lightly, especially Ghalenoei who has already filed a slander case against Nekounam in court. The hearing was adjourned until after the Asian Cup.

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 (…) !