Persepolis in limbo over future of the bench
With the Iranian Super Cup game right around the corner, Persepolis is yet to know who will be in charge of the bench for the match against Sepahan on January 17.
The game will be the first of a hectic fixtures list for the Tehran Reds over 30 days, including vital encounters with title rivals Tractor and Sepahan in the Persian Gulf Pro League, as well as crunch matchups in the AFC Champions League Elite against Saudi heavyweights Al Hilal and Al Nassr.
The Persepolis job has been vacant since Juan Carlos Garrido was sacked after the 3-1 home loss to Mes Rafsanjan on Dec. 21 – the holders’ fourth defeat in six games in the Iranian top flight.
Karim Baqeri, an assistant to the Spanish head coach, took the interim role for the games against Khaybar and Havadar, leading his team to back-to-back victories before the midseason break.
A club legend and widely regarded as one of the finest players in the history of the game in the country, Baqeri has been backed by many – including senior players in the squad – for the permanent role for, at least, the remainder of the campaign.
However, Baqeri, who has been a constant member of the coaching staff during the Reds’ domestic dominance over the past nine years, has insisted time and again that he has no intention of working as the number one in the dugout, as he believes football fans in the country “show little patience with the Iranian coaches”, while the club “deserves to have a high-profile foreign manager at the helm.”
Rumors keep swirling around the Persepolis bench, with former Bayern Munich boss Niko Kovač and Spanish Rafa Benitez – a UEFA Champions League winner with Liverpool – among household names to have been reportedly approached by the club hierarchy over the past couple of weeks.
Foolad Khuzestan coach Yahya Golmohammadi, who steered Persepolis to three league titles in four years before parting ways with the club midway through last season, has also been tipped for a dramatic return to the Reds dugout.
Despite Golmohammadi’s public dispute with Foolad CEO Houshang Nassrizadeh in recent weeks over the winter recruitment plans, the southern Iranian club is not willing to cut ties with the coach, whose contract runs through the end of the next season.
Golmohammadi himself is believed to be not interested in leaving Foolad after an impressive first half of the season saw his team stand fourth in the league table – four points adrift of top two Tractor and Sepahan and one behind Persepolis.
Julien Stephan has been the latest name to be brought up in the Iranian media, with several sources reporting on Wednesday that Persepolis is in talks with the Frenchman.
Stephan, 44, has been without a job since being dismissed by Rennes in November, after the Ligue 1 side won only three of its first 10 league games, suffering five defeats to sit 13th in the 18-team table.
The pinnacle of Stephan’s coaching career came in April 2019, when he steered Rennes to a shootout victory over Paris Saint-Germain in the French Cup final.