Persepolis to stick with Osmar despite poor run: Report
Persepolis hierarchy has reaffirmed its commitment to head coach Osmar Vieira, insisting the Persian Gulf Pro League giant has no plans to make a change despite the team’s alarming dip in form during the second half of the season, before the Iranian top flight campaign was called off on February 28.
The Tehran Reds endured a nightmare run after the Brazilian took charge of the bench for a second spell last November, managing just two wins in seven matches while suffering five defeats. The dismal stretch has seen Persepolis, who finished the first half of the season in second place, tumble all the way down to sixth in the standings. Unsurprisingly, fan discontent grew louder with each passing matchday.
According to reports from Football 360, the club remains fully behind the Brazilian tactician even as speculation swirls over potential replacements. Notably, Mahdi Taj, the head of the Iran Football Federation, recently revealed that only two teams had fully supported the decision to continue the league season despite the ongoing wartime circumstances in the country – and Persepolis was one of them.
The reasoning is clear: With eight matches still to play, Persepolis is fighting to salvage its hopes of securing a place in Asian competitions next season. If the season were to end now and spots were allocated based on the current standings, the Reds, who have lifted the domestic trophy on seven occasions over the past decade, would miss out on continental competition for the second consecutive year – an unthinkable scenario for a club of Persepolis’s stature.
Osmar’s first stint at Persepolis could hardly have gone better. Over 17 matches across all competitions, he recorded 13 wins and lost just once in regular time, guiding the club to the league title in the 2023/24 season.
His second act, however, has been a different story. Appointed as successor to Vahid Hashemian, the Brazilian has won only seven of 14 matches – a 50 percent win rate – with two draws and five defeats in regular time. Despite those underwhelming numbers, club officials have shown no signs of wavering.
During the recent 40-day period of conflict and the subsequent ceasefire, Persepolis’s management held several online coordination meetings with Osmar, who left Iran following the outbreak of war. A short preseason-style training block during the ceasefire was reportedly conducted according to the Brazilian’s specifications.
With airspace now reopened, Vieira and his assistants are preparing to travel to Iran and have asked the club to arrange training sessions from the early days of June. The Brazilian remains the only foreign head coach currently active in Iran’s top flight, and he is expected to be on the bench when the season resumes.
Despite rumors linking several high-profile Iranian coaches – including Yahya Golmohammadi, Karim Baqeri, Mahdi Tartar, and Hossein Abdi – to the Persepolis job for next season, follow-up inquiries have confirmed that club directors have not been swayed. Initial discussions regarding Persepolis’s transfer market strategy for the upcoming campaign have already taken place with Osmar’s input.
For now, Persepolis appears determined to tune out the noise. With their Asian hopes hanging by a thread and eight matches remaining to rescue their season, the club is banking on Vieira to turn things around – and has no intention of looking elsewhere.