Persepolis in limbo over future of the bench
Persian Gulf Pro League champion Persepolis is yet to know who will be in charge of the bench for the start of the next season.
Brazilin interim coach Osmar Loss Vieira, who led Persepolis to a seventh top-flight crown in eight years earlier in the month, has been hesitating to commit his future to the capital Reds.
Now on vacation in his home country, Osmar said before leaving Iran that “family reasons” might keep him from continuing with Persepolis, though the media in Iran suggested in recent days that he could be lured by Thai champion Buriram United.
The club is believed to wait on Osmar’s decision until the end of the week, while some reports say Persepolis hierarchy has already been in talks with several coaches for the Reds role.
Croatian Dragan Skocic – the ex-manager of the Iranian national team – German coach Petar Segrt, who led Tajikistan to the Asian Cup last eight on its debut in February, and former Al Ahli coach Nebojsa Jovovic in Qatar, have been named in the Iranian media as the candidates for the job, but the club is yet to confirm the news of the negotiations, insisting Osmar remains their first choice for the bench.
Having joined Persepolis as a number two to Yahya Golmohammadi for the start of the 2022/23 season, Osmar was appointed to the job following the Iranian’s departure in January – much to the irritation of the majority of the Reds supporters, who hoped to welcome their legendary coach Branko Ivankovic – then in charge of the Oman national team – back to the club.
Persepolis fell to a 1-0 defeat at Iralco in Osmar’s first game as the manager before he eventually won the fans over thanks to a remarkable run of 12 wins and two draws in 15 league outings – including a sensational comeback victory over Esteghlal Khuzestan in May, in which the Reds rallied from a three-goal deficit at halftime to win 4-3 right at the death and overtake archrival Esteghlal on top of the table with three games to spare.