Durban — Former Egypt national team striker Mohamed Fadl has urged Al Ahly to make a decision over the future of coach Pitso Mosimane sooner rather than later.
Mosimane failed to lead Al Ahly to the Egyptian Premier League last season and the club has lost ground in the title race to leaders Zamalek in the current campaign.
The Egyptian giants head into their next league game against National Bank next week on the back of two draws and having failed to win in their last three domestic games.
“I think Mosimane is a good coach but I also think that Al Ahly should reconsider extending his contract,” said Fadl on On Time Sports.
“I hope that Al Ahly can hire Herve Renard or Vahid Halilhodžić and I know the club can bring in such names just like when they signed Rene Weiler a while ago.
“To his credit, Mosimane has won trophies and maybe that’s why Al Ahly should renew his contract because there is not enough time right now to bring in someone else," he said.
Fadl indicated that if Al Ahly do renew Mosimane’s contract, they should not offer him a long term deal.
“They could extend his contract by just one year but certainly not more than that,” he said.
Since Mosimane took charge of Al Ahly in September 2020, the club has won two CAF Champions League titles, one Egyptian Cup and one CAF Super Cup title. However, the Egyptian Premier League is the one title that has eluded him so far and which has led to him being criticised.
As a club, Al Ahly are not known to retain faith in managers for the long term, especially in their recent history. They have not kept a coach for more than two years in over a decade.
The last coach that the Red Devils had who stayed at the club for more than two years was Manuel Jose who coached it from 2004-2009.
History is certainly against Mosimane staying on at Al Ahly but he can still turn his club’s season around. They are all but destined to reach a third consecutive CAF Champions League final after routing ES Setif 4-0 in their semi-final first leg clash last weekend.
They have also played three games fewer than first place Zamalek in the Egyptian Premier League, and so are still in the title race.
IOL Sport