GN and the matter of "fairplay"

[Doctor DOOM]

what bothers me is GN won his second league trophy BECAUSE foolad took their last (irrelevant & a formality) game against Zob-ahan seriously and played with force, not wanting to aid or deny any other team of any extra chance.

this was an honorable thing to do. and GN was forced to speak about it and thank foolad & Jalali for staying true to the spirit of fairplay and beating Zob-ahan (when all zob needed to become the champs was a DRAW!!! I really wish foolad had done what GN did this year. and lets not forget the same supposed "grateful" GN lashed out at Jalali this season, and called him ... you all know GN's vocabulary and speech)

but when tables were turned, GN suddenly forgot about "honor, fairness, fairplay, ..." and with a half-assed team who really didnt even try to put up a fight. this gave unfair advantage to saipa, who were in danger of relegation along with 6 others.
and eventually poor Paas had to be relegated !

so my question is to Mr. GN; is THIS the honor you were talking? is this the "Fairplay" you spoke about?
how is it that you enjoy receiving it and be the beneficiary of it. but when it comes to extending it, you fall short .... miserably short?

another black mark against GN

I truly wish foolad had thrown the game against Zob and Zob had won that league

[Hajagha]

I didn't watch the game and don't now how they played, but filling the squad with the bench and give a rest to your regular starting line up when you already achieved the trophy and prepare for another battle (in this case Asian Cup) is quite normal and logic.

Check the Barca previous game, they exactly did so.

Saying that, there is no excuse to take the game too light and not playing the game with pride.

Cheers,

[TM-Fan]

I was worried before the Saipa game that GN would use a full squad to prove that he observes the "fairplay", like he asked Foolad to do so a couple of years ago. I don't know if it was his own decision or it was the club's pressure that made him do the right thing and play with reserve players.

Anyways, IMO any club should play according to their own interests and not for others. If you have secured your championship/league spot/ACL spot, etc. and you are playing a meaningless game, it is an opportunity for you to test new and younger players and rest the main squad. There is nothing against fair play with this. Gholam Peirovani wanted to do the same thing with Sanat Naft against Sepahan a couple of weeks ago, but the pressure from Esteghlal club forced him to play with the full squad.

This time the beneficiaries were Rahahan, Pas, Peykan, etc. and they apparently did not have enough power to force Sepahan use their main squad.

[Keano]

DD jaan,

Honestly I think your bias towards your fave team Foolad was the main incentive for you to come up with this logic. Sepahan is playing a super important ACL match in 3 days from today and 4 days from the time they played Saipa. It would be purely idiotic and illogical for him to play his first team in a meaningless match for his team. Any sane coach in the world would avoid playing their key players in a match where the outcome doesn't matter, while his team is to play a very crucial game imminently, especially in an international stage.

I do not advocate Mr. GN, as a matter of fact I find his double standard quite hypocritical and despicable (Acts such as sucking up to certain people's behind when needed).

Quite honestly I do not blame Mr. GN for playing his reserves. Afterall his main objective is and should only be ACL Championship from hereon!

[Ali Chicago]

If I were GN I would have done the same thing. You comparing apples and oranges. Very simpelton logic. Two years ago Foolad at that time had no ACL one game elimination 4days later.
You also need to consider how many game Sepahan players did play with numerous teams; U23 asian games, Asian cup in TM, 2010 WC qualification, IPL, ACL, Hazfi, etc.
GN even brough Hajsafi in the second half and played Sayyed Hosseini, so it wasn't like GN and Sepahan doesn't give a darn. Saipa was fighting for survival and Sepahan players weren't mentally as hungry and motivated probably. Even in the game agaisnt PP, Sepahan palyers weren't as hungry I would say which is understandable.
Among teams that didnt' get demoted Saipa was the well deserved one I think.

[Keano]

Also bear in mind that the last weeks of each league the bottom placed teams always become the deadliest and most lethal teams of the league, especially facing stronger teams, not to mention teams who have already clinched the first spot weeks before the end of the season would care less about such meaningless matches. Remember 2 years ago how Osasuna managed to beat teams like Barcelona, Real Madrid etc the last weeks of the season? It was a matter of kill-or-die case, and they managed to kill rather than getting killed! I think it's a little unfair not to credit Saipa for its good performance and snatching up some valuable points against 2 of the top 5 teams of IPL in the last 2 weeks of the season.

If I were GN I would have done the same thing: Saving my top guns for a much more crucial playoff match in ACL!

[Doctor DOOM]

maybe I didnt explain myself.
in short, I KNOW this is done everywhere in the world. so it's nothing new or strange.

but the issue is for the guy who waxed on and on about "javan-mardi, mardanehgi, honor, fairplay, ... blah blah blah" when he was the beneficiary of the move, this is extreme hypocrisy for him to conveniently forget about it.

[Keano]

"javan-mardi, mardanehgi, honor, fairplay, ... blah blah blah"

As I mentioned in my first post and as I've always believed, GN is one hypocrite individual, he surely is a good Iranian coach (For Iranian football standards indeed), however his decent coaching ability in IPL will not automatically subscribe him to class-act gentlemen club. Some members have previously addressed him as a "Street Smart" rather than a "Book smart" which explains and reflects his behavior and mentality when coping with hardships/controversial matters!

[TrueBlue]

DD jan, with due all respect, I have to disagree with you on this one. GN had every right to field his 2nd team and give muh needed rest to his starters for the up coming ACL and Hazfi games.

Lets not forget that PAS has only themselves to blame. They have been playing crappy the whole season and they really shouldnt have left it to the last game. Sepahan, as a professional club, have every single right to look after their own interest.

Besides, wasnt PAS playing in their own packed stadium? Infront of their own supporters? The way they played, they deserved to lose and get relegated. Why blame Sepahan and GN? If they themselves had won the game they wouldnt have been relegated to begin with!

[maij]

Doc.

As a matter of fact , I watched that game ( well , to be precise ON and OFF as there were other interesting games to watch all at he same time) and I saw no sign that Sepahan players were taking it easy. In fact , if I am not mistaken , I thought that some of the Sepahan players were over zealous perhaps trying to prove to GN that they deserve to be starters rather than bench players.

However, you are right to be concerned when people say something but do the opposite when their interest is in question. This is one hypocritical world we are living in and the older I get , the more I see that hypocrisy is becoming the norm rather than exception. It is not just our own culture , but it is global and universal.

In this case , YES Ghalenoei is a bit of a hypocrite when he raves about Foolad and yet he fields his second string team against Saipa who had to win to survive.

BUT ...that is not telling the whole story.

I don't think GN went to meet Saipa thinking about losing or favoring this team or the other. Let's collect some facts here:

1- There is no love lost between Ghalenoei and Mayeli-Kohan and GN would be the last person to give MK or his team a favor.

2- Sepahan is involved in two other major competitions ACL and Hazfi Cup. It is within GN full right to arrange his team such as he did. In fact , if he fielded a full team , I would labeled him and "amateur coach in the making".

3- There was no suggestion or indication that Sepahan did NOT play at their full potential even using plyer who were not regulars.

4- Most , if not all , of Sepahan players were members of the First Team ,. not youth or under 19 players. So , technically speaking , they have played the full team against Saipa....tongue-in- cheek.


Yes , perhaps there is a shred of complaints against GN , but if I was the judge , my sentence would be ; a slap on the wrist and ask him to NOT open his mouth too much , congratulate him for breaking the all time record of winning the Iranian league for 3 times running and 4 over all and then wish him well in ACL & Hazfi

NOW... If you think I am a good judge ...vote for me

[Doctor DOOM]

^ majid joon, you are indeed a good judge and you have my vote.


you see, the thing is I am not attacking GN as others do. hell, I have defended him and most his acts (although his speech and behavior leaves a lot to be desired). at the same time, I dont behave like our "color-oriented" friends who rise to defend anyone as long as those characters belong to their "color camp". I mean we hardly see the opposite camps come to defend the opposites' man or team if they were right ... simply due to color-orientations!!!
I'm not biased and will call a spade a spade, no matter if the chap (daei for example) or team is my favorite or not.

However, I am amused ( disturbed would be a strong sentiment ) about his hypocrisy, especially when he received his glory through a very similar act or decision of a colleague (who could have and I wish had fielded his second string against Zob Ahan who truly deserve a trophy).

I'm also not saying his instructions were to lose the game or play at half speed or loosely. But the mere fact of fielding a second string tells a lot about intentions. yes, his ACL games do matter. But at the same time, we cant call him fair as a fair person would have seen to it that all the 6-7 relegation-threatened teams had faced the same chance.... especially since HE WAS GIVEN this chance.

I have defended him on technical matters and do respect him in technical/tactical areas .. if not as an orator or general decent fellow.
basically it has left a bad taste in my and many others' mouth. and if we add this to his general thugish/boorish behavior, then he has a lot to correct and not everything is "technical".

[Amin_]

As some already mentioned, having played soo many games this season, having so many TM players in your squad who have played in the AC, having an important ACL game in front of you, not to mention Hazfi as well, it's only logical and smart not to use these regular players who have played so many games throughout the season, and still have some very important games ahead of them. Had Esteghlal (or any other team for that matter) still been in ACL + Hazfi and already secured the 2nd spot in the last match, I bet they would have fielded up a B team too against Pas.

Also, I was watching the match on and off and there's no way that Sepahan players took this game lightly. Let's not forget that Saipa knew they were on the edge of relegation and played with everything they had in this last home game. Also, GN could have had broken of all time points record had he won, but naturally, the upcoming ACL and Hazfi games are of more value than all this.

Had GN used his main squad, and then lost the upcoming ACL match due to fatigue, we would have bashed him for not resting his players since he'd already secured the championship.

You know what would be hypocritical? If, 2 years ago, Foolad was in the same situation Sepahan is now (had they have been in ACL 2nd round + Hazfi etc.) and GN asking for "fair-play", and then now not doing the same thing he asked for. However, the situation is not the same, since Foolad back then was already out of all the competitions and had nothing to play for anymore, so they didn't have to worry about fatigue in their upcoming games like Sepahan has to worry about.

ps: We all know GN's past with MK; I bet there's nothing sweeter for GN to beat MK and cause him to relegate

[Paradigm]

And Rah Ahan once again narrowly escapes relegation. They manage to do it every season at the expense of another famous team... I think last year it was one of the Shirazi teams. (Regardless of who sponsors, I intend to focus on the region here).

[Ali Chicago]

On a Separate note, I would like to congratulate Mr. Jalali and Foolad club for the magnificent work they have done for Iranian football so far. It is no secret that core youth program of the Foolad started when Esteghlal Ahwaz youth program boy joined Foolad (Iman Mobali was one of them), but since then Foolad club has done a great job in order to develop youth for our football. Thank you Foolad.

If anything, I hope Mr. Jalali be a bit more practical. It doesn't mean one needs to sell his soul, but a bit more pragmatic. Nevertheless, Mr. Jalali is a great coach and a great human being.

[zzgloo]

On a Separate note, I would like to congratulate Mr. Jalali and Foolad club for the magnificent work they have done for Iranian football so far. It is no secret that core youth program of the Foolad started when Esteghlal Ahwaz youth program boy joined Foolad (Iman Mobali was one of them), but since then Foolad club has done a great job in order to develop youth for our football. Thank you Foolad.
If anything, I hope Mr. Jalali be a bit more practical. It doesn't mean one needs to sell his soul, but a bit more pragmatic. Nevertheless, Mr. Jalali is a great coach and a great human being.

Ali jaan......jalali is my faivorit also........
He does the following:
1- Play Good football.
2- Play attacking football.
3- No hashieh,no fingur pointing, no refree criticism,no BS !
4-developes football talents.
5-Does things with little money support..
.................................................. .......
I believe, teams such as Zob Ahan,Mes,Tractor,Foollad...deserve more credit than.....Perspolise,Esteghlal & Sepahan...............particularly, Foolad !.....although they need to improve thier defense .