Ghotbi's fate , post WCQ's

[Doctor DOOM]

I believe barring the improbable , which is TM playing a great game in SK and winning them for the first time in our history, any other result shd mean ouster of ghotbi once the campaign is over.

if we get eliminated, he shd be fired and we must invest in our next generation with a solid foreign coach contracted for the next 4 years.

if we do go to the WC, I dont want this rookie P.R. guy making all the vital decisions at TM.
I was just reading his usual "claims" that now shd be apparent to one & all that all of these lofty words are mere HOT AIR and nothing else.

listen to this:
minutes before the uae game he claims " you are going to see TM's best game " !!!!

قطبي: بهترين بازي ايران را خواهيد ديد

we also have other great claims ranging from "Lionheart, lions, magnificent attacking football, ... blah, blah blah" !

but when talk stops and action starts, we see a very different reality.

our "greatest game" resulted in us struggling to score a single goal against uae's youth side!
our "magnificent attacking team of lions" ( NKorea game ) in reality meant a toothless little cat, in long periods so old it couldnt move properly and looked confused & dazed until the referee took pity on us and whistled the end of the torture!

and now, days before the south korea game, he claims "ONLY HE can lead TM to victory vs SK in korea's home ground" !!
Now, his lions and dragons and tigers & whatnots are going to do something that we have never EVER been able to do in our history! not with far better coaches and better teams at better times.
( I just hope the koreans dont resolve to b1tch-slap us around a few times just becoz this guy talks smack like this! )



The guy should be fired .... and immediately hired as TM's Public Relations officer. I truly believe he will shine in this job. he has what it takes to be successful .... or at least SOUND successful!


his only salvation: a fantastic team display in korea.
in fact I wouldnt put too much in store of the result, but I want to see how he'll behave in & during the game, after this build up.

[Amin_]

The only hope I have is the fact that SK is already qualified and perhaps won't be playing with 100% motivation for the entire match.

If that wasn't the case I would have a total trust of 1% for a win with this Lion King.

[yashar_fasihnia]

although i am not impressed by ghotbi, i say lets wait and see wat happens.
we might go to play offs and in this way, ghotbi has more time with this squad and hence, we can make a better judgement about him.

however, my immediate opinion is that he isnt good enough for TM...
but then again, if he leaves, who will come?

[Doctor DOOM]

^ if the TM's problems were restricted to lack of strategy or teamwork, I'd have agreed that given time, perhaps he'd work on them and make our teamwork better.

but he has problems that are more immediate and right on the surface: player selection and recognizing the basic need of a game.
his insistence on an imbalanced team relying heavily on experience, while sacrificing pace and energy has led us to this point where we're no better in GD ( the uae game provided the perfect opportunity to increase it to 3 or 4 even ) , nor have we gathered enough points to be able to take a hit, no matter how small ( failing to win at NKorea has led us to our precarious situation where a probable & AMICABLE draw between our rivals would knock us out!!) !

this is when I really rue the day IFF accepted resignation of MK ( or fired him. it doesnt matter anymore).
not that he's a master tactician or any great coach.
NOWAY.
but if he has one thing, it is GUTS and DARING.

I am willing to bet had he been the coach, we'd have easily thrashed uae by 3-4 goals , thus drastically increasing our GD and I'm pretty sure he'd have gone for the WIN in NKorea ( contrasted against ghotbi's VERBAL claims and what really we saw in the game )
... putting far more pressure on our rivals to get a result .

MK's kaleh-khar attitude ( and reliance on youth energy and attacking football ) would have most probably earned us the 6 points, thus allowing us to even LOSE our last game and still have a sizable chance of qualifying.
in contrast, now, with ghotbi's philosophy, ONLY a WIN gets us that sizable chance and even a draw ( which is the best we are capable of) can still knock us out!

ghotbi's discounting & ignorance of the desperate need for a win at NKorea, has put 10 times the pressure on the team that now, ONLY the improbable ( winning sk in sk ) can save us!!!!

[yashar_fasihnia]

the thing is, its more harmful to make so many quick changes in TM coaching one after the other in such a short span of time. its not good for the players either.

I AM ASSUMING the play offs are immediately after this final game of ours against korea, and so, i dont really advocate removing ghotbi after the korea game and bringing a new coach.

[Doctor DOOM]

if you read the original post you'd see I said AFTER WCQ's whether we qualify or we get eliminated.
meaning let him finish the bloody thing anyway.

[persianallstars]

[yashar_fasihnia]

if you read the original post you'd see I said AFTER WCQ's whether we qualify or we get eliminated.
meaning let him finish the bloody thing anyway.

and if u read my post, u will see i never said, u claimed anything else!

[Paradigm]

DR D I think a big part of the problem with TM nowadays is that we don't have a quality / distinguished striker anymore so the team can't score or at least hope 'the striker' pulls two defenders to create space for the midfield to score. Otherwise based on the opportunities created, the scoreline could have been easily 2-0 or 3-0 versus both DPR Korea and UAE. TM is doing defensively better under Ghotbi and the goal keeping situation is better. The midfield has been the strong part traditionally. So whoever is in charge will have to deal with the strikers issue. I wish someone could convince Dejagah to seriously consider playing for Iran; he won't get a chance for Germany.

[yashar_fasihnia]

DR D I think a big part of the problem with TM nowadays is that we don't have a quality / distinguished striker anymore so the team can't score or at least hope 'the striker' pulls two defenders to create space for the midfield to score. Otherwise based on the opportunities created, the scoreline could have been easily 2-0 or 3-0 versus both DPR Korea and UAE. TM is doing defensively better under Ghotbi and the goal keeping situation is better. The midfield has been the strong part traditionally. So whoever is in charge will have to deal with the strikers issue. I wish someone could convince Dejagah to seriously consider playing for Iran; he won't get a chance for Germany.

we dont have a killer striker, we dont have forget 2, but even 1 decent defender and we dont have a decent attacking midfielder.

all of the above options we have are mediocre and lack a lot of factors even for asian standards!

[Doctor DOOM]

and afshin jan, exactly becoz our strikers are not of that quality, I say perhaps we shd prepare better circumstances for them to do their job.
perhaps provide a partner close to them, who can pull off 1 or 2 defenders off him , giving him space to do his thing. or provides the team an extra option for the team INSIDE the box

not by isolating them among 3 defenders.
that's never going to make anything better.

[maij]

My first reaction would be to fire the guy and let him re-join as PR manager or something, after all he is full of BuLL Cr*p.....and he knows it too.

But on second thought , I would say what is beyond that ? I have no doubt in my mind that the whole of the IFF is an incompetent entity where the appointments are mostly based on politician interests and pressure. Kafashian is a stooge and the rest are not much better. So for this bunch to make a decision , like appointing a proper coach for Team Melli , I have a great doubt that they can get it right. These people made no real impact on development and progress of football and they will cling to their posts with their lives......

in my book , After the World Cup Q's , the whole of the IFF should resign and competent professional managers should be elected. A New coach , with good reputation , experience and achievements should be selected.
None of the ex TM coaches like Daei , MK , GN and certainly NOT Ghotbi should be near the team for a few years.

Chances of my scenario ever happening is a dream, though....NOT in a country where politics and self interest takes precedence on national interest

[Doctor DOOM]

fat chance of them resigning, bro.

we already see them bolstering themselves and forming shields and defenses by referring to the youth WC, futsal and .... even w relation to TM we see , EVERYDAY that either taj or kaf claim "IFF did all it was humanly possible and now the rest is up to the boys in the team" !!!!

perhaps for once, choosing of the next coach shd be put to a referendum by the ppl.
put in 4-5 choices and let the ppl decide.
I doubt it's going to be any more horrendous and erroneous than IFF's decisions

[Martin-Reza]

Just read an interview with Bora Milutinovic in kicker, and he talked about all his previous World Cups, the importance of listening to the players and adapting to the culture of the country to have success, about his hopes to go to WC 2010 with a team and his jokes about being deemed to coach underdogs for the rest of his life.

I think he would have been one of many great foreign options IFF could have signed instead of Ghotbi.

But Ghotbi still was the best domestic solution, and I see no scenario in which it would be positive to dismiss Ghotbi ahead of WC if he brings us there.

[BehzadB]

Just read an interview with Bora Milutinovic in kicker, and he talked about all his previous World Cups, the importance of listening to the players and adapting to the culture of the country to have success, about his hopes to go to WC 2010 with a team and his jokes about being deemed to coach underdogs for the rest of his life.

I think he would have been one of many great foreign options IFF could have signed instead of Ghotbi.

But Ghotbi still was the best domestic solution, and I see no scenario in which it would be positive to dismiss Ghotbi ahead of WC if he brings us there.

Fair enough, I agree.