Tag: Majid Salih

Omid Namzi appointed as head coach of Zob Ahan.

Omid Namzi , the Iranian-American coach has been appointed as Zob Ahan football Club head coach replacing Amir Ghalenoei who crossed over to the other side of the city taking over the coaching of Sepahan.

The American born, Namazi played professionally in the American Soccer League, American Professional Soccer League, Major League Soccer, USISL and National Professional Soccer League where he was the 2001 Defender of the Year. As assistant coach of Team Melli, Namazi led the team to qualification to the 2014 FIFA World Cup and the 2015 AFC Asian Cup.

In December 2010, Namazi was named as an assistant coach to the Iran Pro League club Steel Azin F.C.. On April 28, 2011, he became assistant coach of the Iranian national team alongside Carlos Queiroz and goalkeeping coach Dan Gaspar.On June 18, 2013, Iran qualified for the 2014 FIFA World Cup, before qualifying for the 2015 AFC Asian Cup months later.

Namazi submitted his resignation on january 2014 citing family reasons. However, that version was taken with a pinch of salt by many observers

A week before that, Antonio Simoes also parted company with Team Melli due to personal reasons. Namazi was just one name in a long list of assistant coaches or administrators who have worked for Carlos Queiroz and left. Javad Nekounam, Ali Karimi , Dan Gasper , Afshin Peyrovani , Majid Salih , Antonio Simoes are just a few. Queiroz is known to demands complete adherence to his commands and more often than not , the assistants are there to just relay instructions rather than being partners in decesion making or tactical issues. Such role does not sit down well with many aspiring assistant coaches.

Namazi has signed a three-year deal with the Persian Gulf Pro League side which was recently eliminated from the AFC Champions League by fellow Iranian team, Esteghlal Tehran in a thrilling match series.

Majeed Saleh

Majid Salih resigns his post as assistant coach in Team Melli

Majid Salih , the Iranian assistant coach of Carlos Queiroz has resigned his post after the arrival of the squad from the Austria training camp.

Salih , who was assistant to Amir Ghalenoei in Esteghlal,  was selected as the Iranian assistant coach of Team Melli. It is believed that his selection was on the insistence of the football federation who wanted an Iranian coach in the cadre of the coaching staff. To make the point , Kaffashian refused to authorize the recruitment of a foreign assistant to Querioz after the departure of Tony Simoez unless the Portuguese coach selects an Iranian to work beside him.

Majid Saleh who was nominated by the FFIRI accepted the job and began his task with the squad in South Africa and then Austria as part of the coaching staff of Team Melli.

Things did not look too well when Salih was spotted sitting in the stands with the crowds instead of the bench with the players during one of the 3 matches played in Austria. The speculation is that Queiroz did not give Salih much authority or attention as he was forced upon him.

Salih immediately tendered his resignation upon arrival in Tehran , but that resignation was not announced in public due to the efforts of Kaffashian to persuade the Esteghlal coach to withdraw his resignation. Salih steadfastly refused  and insisted that he is not going back to Team Melli in the prevailing situation.

Salih flatly refused to comment on his resignation despite several attempts from the media and news agencies.

After Omid Namazi , Majid Salih is the second Iranian coach who has left Team Melli under mysterious circumstances where the real reasons behind their resignations were not revealed.

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