Dragan Skočić In or Dragan Skočić Out?

[ParthianDE]

What is the contract siutation with Skocic?

Does he have an official contract to be our WC coach, or is there still a way to get another coach without financial penalties?

[The]

Here's the issue I see. After two years you still can't distinguish Skocic's first match in charge from his most recent.
No progress has been made in terms of addressing weaknesses. And that's concerning.

Basically if after two years, he hasn't been able to get the team to play with some level of cohesion offensively or defensively, I don't think a couple of extra friendlies or even 4 extra years in charge is going to change anything.

We are certain to fail at world cup with him charge. So why not just move on, bring in someone new (Javad or a mid-tier foreign coach with int experience) and focus on the Asian cup.
Worst case scenario, we get soaked at the WC, which is going to happen regardless, best case scenario, Javad is able to unlock something in this team that gets us to pull off a miracle.

[ParthianDE]

Here's the issue I see. After two years you still can't distinguish Skocic's first match in charge from his most recent.
No progress has been made in terms of addressing weaknesses. And that's concerning.

Basically if after two years, he hasn't been able to get the team to play with some level of cohesion offensively or defensively, I don't think a couple of extra friendlies or even 4 extra years in charge is going to change anything.

We are certain to fail at world cup with him charge. So why not just move on, bring in someone new (Javad or a mid-tier foreign coach with int experience) and focus on the Asian cup.
Worst case scenario, we get soaked at the WC, which is going to happen regardless, best case scenario, Javad is able to unlock something in this team that gets us to pull off a miracle.

Is Nekounam or any other of the better Iranian coaches even interested in taking the position at this stage?

[The]

Is Nekounam or any other of the better Iranian coaches even interested in taking the position at this stage?

Hard to imagine there's a single human being in Iran who would not cut off their doodool just to get a chance to be the head coach of TM.

Well maybe except Majidi, since he just got a massive contract

[naderb94]

This post is a perfect example of "Appreciate what you have before it's gone"... I'm sure level-minded TM supporter would love to bring CQ back and dump this clueless lower level manager back to Sanat Naft.
I use to say gut it out until the WC and make a change afterwards, but we will lose all respect that CQ placed come November with the status quo of Skokic. Make a change and bring a new manager who has some familiarity of TM players and has a clue with how to manage high level players.. As of now, CQ or Nekounam would make the most sense right now. The likes of Karim Bagheri or Vahid Hashemian in a caretaker role wouldn't be bad either. I'll take all those options over Skokic.

[K. Nader]

Here's the issue I see. After two years you still can't distinguish Skocic's first match in charge from his most recent.
No progress has been made in terms of addressing weaknesses. And that's concerning.

Basically if after two years, he hasn't been able to get the team to play with some level of cohesion offensively or defensively, I don't think a couple of extra friendlies or even 4 extra years in charge is going to change anything.

We are certain to fail at world cup with him charge. So why not just move on, bring in someone new (Javad or a mid-tier foreign coach with int experience) and focus on the Asian cup.
Worst case scenario, we get soaked at the WC, which is going to happen regardless, best case scenario, Javad is able to unlock something in this team that gets us to pull off a miracle.

This is more or less what happened with Japan in 2018. Mind you, they got rid of Vahid Halilhodžić (who most of us would rate as a superior manager to Skocic) for a domestic coach ~5-6 months before the World Cup. In his case, the issue was "poor results and a lack of communication and trust with the players".

Four years ago, we thought Qatar was when TM would take the next big leap and finally progress to the knockout phase. While never impossible, it's realistically not happening under Skocic. If we have to press the restart button, we may as well start now.

All this said, I imagine there are certain players that will stay quiet. We have a decent number of players who are starting when they have no place near the final list. Let's assume CQ is the alternative. Do we think the likes of Noorafkan, Rafiei, Khalilzadeh, and others will oppose the current state? Yes, a few will come and say things like 'we need more support, blah, blah' but I don't think they'd be as blunt as the likes of Taremi, Azmoun, etc.

In the end, I feel the most for the players. They're definitely not stupid and morale isn't great. They're literally and reluctantly walking into the Hunger Games.

[DR Strangemoosh]

Bichareh Dragan - I feel bad for the guy because he is genuinely a decent iran pro league coach and I am always grateful for him qualifying us to WC after Wiltits shenanigans. He also seems like a nice guy.

But the poor guy is a victim of his own luck, and the absolute football illiteracy in and around the TM setup and a tiny fraction of fans.

Now he is getting a lot of flak but really the main criticism should be at other people...

[K. Nader]

One other person I want to direct my frustration towards is Hashemian. For all the posturing and signal-waving of him getting his license in Germany and shadowing Guardiola at Bayern, I really don't know what his contribution has been under the Wilmots or Skocic era.

Perhaps he has a sharp technical mind but I'm not sure if he's elevating the tactical prowess of this team in any way.

[naderb94]

Bichareh Dragan - I feel bad for the guy because he is genuinely a decent iran pro league coach and I am always grateful for him qualifying us to WC after Wiltits shenanigans.

But the poor guy is a victim of his own luck, and the absolute football illiteracy in and around the TM setup and a tiny fraction of fans.

Now he is getting a lot of flak but really the main criticism should be at other people...

His ceiling is a mid-table IPL manager.. He's not even good enough for Perspolis or Esteghlal.

[naderb94]

One other person I want to direct my frustration towards is Hashemian. For all the posturing and signal-waving of him getting his license in Germany and shadowing Guardiola at Bayern, I really don't know what his contribution has been under the Wilmots or Skocic era.

Perhaps he has a sharp technical mind but I'm not sure if he's elevating the tactical prowess of this team in any way.

Hashemian is a very beta attitude kind guy.. He doesn't bring any toughness or aggression into the locker room like Karim Bagheri does.. He can be smart and technicial kind of guy but if you act all SHOOLI and BIORZE attitude like he does, he won't get far in coaching...

[inarsenewetrust]

Skocic needs to go. We are staring down the barrel of disaster. No improvement from first game until now. His last friendly game imo was South Korea. Very solid friendly game, nothing at stake, nobody would be mad at him for losing with many guys out. He didnt test the right guys, the team showed nothing and was lucky to lose 2-0.

Has months to prepare for next friendly, repeats same errors, same result.

We have to take action now to at least give ourselves a sliver of hope.

Whoever fails to fire him now will be fired after WC themselves.

[Medzdidz]

During the next friendly CQ should come out of nowhere and give Skocic a RKO.

[diz]

SK draw and loss, canceled Uruguay match, Defeat to Algeria B/C team…the writing is on the wall folks. The time to cut our loses and run from Skocic is *now*

[inarsenewetrust]

Its like as a physician if you have a patient who seems certain to die. You need to exhaust all options. You wouldnt say to them, "oh this drug has only a small chance of working so we just wont bother". As the alternative is certain death, any other options are favorable. If you did nothing, then you would probably be held responsible for his/her death.

In this case, my personal opinion, we are superior to wales on paper, and around the level of US. For US I think they are superior in midfield zone and full back zone, possibly wing positions, while I think our GK, CB, and CF pool is superior (and in case of CF by a lot). In terms of experience our team has more. This means that just by changing the manager to anybody more competent (not difficult at all) we increase our chances of advancing to next round by a decent amount automatically.

In the end, those who fail to act now and fire Skocic will be held responsible in a few months time and in a very decisive manner. They will be crucified by the government and in the press after humiliation and will be out of jobs, even if it was the same government entities that put them there in the first place. Being an accessory to murder is a big time crime, no matter the jurisdiction.

Sko shows no improvement since first day, makes same mistakes as always, has special attachment to true liabilities, cant get the best out of a large number of the players, and has no sort of big game experience, track record to steady the ship, or motivational impact on the players. Tactically his PGPL and Azadegan showings prove many better domestic coaches available, so its just a matter of finding a coach who gives us any of those first points. Considering whoever comes is basically getting a free hit at the WC with a decent team in a decent group, most unemployed managers have little to lose, and Iranian managers have the chance to become national heroes.

And firing Sko is realistically of no consequence financially, if the government in fact pushes it through. The very reason we hired him was low termination clause.

[BacheLot]

we certainly need an upgrade in coaching prior to WC.... But i still fear, his replacement is more likely to be even a weaker unqualified candidate or some useless goozoo irani coach who'd start the PP/SS partibazi again..!

who even knows who's in charge in this fking Federation anymore and based their recent massive repeated failings in much smaller tasks of preparations , and being broke as a joke , do you guys honestly think they can find a suitable alternative and that so in a timely fashion..?? ... i'd say it's near impossibility..!!?