Thank you Dragan, and best of luck in the future - appreciation thread

[fary-jupiter]

i bet iraq will go after skocic now lol

[Ghermez Agha]

Thank you mr skochee I appreciate your service and getting TM out of a rough patch. Hope you make lots of money and get a coaching gig better than Croatian and Iranian league after your TM stint!

[allan123]

Thanks Skocic, you help Iran in the worst momment

[Nokhodi]

Thanks Mr. Skocic,

You helped get the team to the World Cup.
You handle this with class.

Best of luck to you unless you're coaching against us!

[O-ZoNe]

Mr Skocic forever has my sincerest gratitude. Great coach who leveled up when all others walked away. It's not easy to do what he did after Wilmots debacle. I hope others stop attacking him personally and take a moment to realize he is on par with Ivic in TM history books. Hope he lands somewhere decent to continue improving his coaching resume.

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[Dubxl152]

Thank you Dragan for bailing us out and I wish you the best of luck in the future

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[rjafari]

Honestly - all the conversations about how we'd do in the world cup aside, he took over when no one wanted to and saved us. easier group or not, we were in serious trouble the prior round after the wilmots disaster - so thank you to him for helping us get back on course!

[Under Lahaf]

He deserved better, I am not saying he deserved to coach Iran in WC but he did deserve a much better departure!

just read this from varzesh about his last night;
https://www.varzesh3.com/news/184256...B9%DA%A9%D8%B3


As a fan of Team Melli, I thank him for everything he and his staff did for our team, for saving it from that Wilmots disaster and qualifying us.

[ABalls]

Mr Skocic forever has my sincerest gratitude. Great coach who leveled up when all others walked away. It's not easy to do what he did after Wilmots debacle. I hope others stop attacking him personally and take a moment to realize he is on par with Ivic in TM history books. Hope he lands somewhere decent to continue improving his coaching resume.

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100%! When others, even other Iranians, acted cowardly and ran away from TM, Dragan saw opportunity instead and stepped up. That takes courage. He guided us through a strong qualification campaign and qualified Iran for an unprecedented 3rd WC against the odds. He deserves a great next job and I hope he finds it in Eastern Europe and continues to raise his own profile.

[Karimi 8]

Thank you for saving us from the mess Wilmots left us in, and taking the job that nobody wanted. I feel bad for him that he won’t get to ever coach at the WC level but unfortunately his ceiling had been reached in Asian football. Wishing him all the best

[PSGman#19]

100%! When others, even other Iranians, acted cowardly and ran away from TM, Dragan saw opportunity instead and stepped up. That takes courage. He guided us through a strong qualification campaign and qualified Iran for an unprecedented 3rd WC against the odds. He deserves a great next job and I hope he finds it in Eastern Europe and continues to raise his own profile.

Thanks to him, he allows us to avoid an Iranian coach for TM, which is the worst we could have see

[peiman92]

Sorry but you overstayed your welcome.
Had you left last november i would have thanked you.

Now i’m just relieved you finally got kicked out because clearly you wouldn’t leave on your own.
You tried to take us down with you but Mehdi Taj saved the day in the 11th hour.

You should be forever grateful to Iran because we have secured your future with jobs in UAE/Qatar.

[BacheLot]

sorta wish IFF coulda $ucker him into taking U23 Job by ma$$ively juicing up his pay..! but i can understand him to taking kindly to such a low blow at this juncture as well..!!

i dont think any other former TM manager has managed a more consistently sound manhandling of our neighboring Ayrab rival teams Ever ..?? i mean, his TM's pure roo-kam-koni of Iraq/Bahrain especially was the most impressive achievements of his short tenure, imo..!!

we certainly forever owe our presence in this Last WC (in it's highly competitive, glorious old format ) to him and him so predominantly ..! especially so considering the meager salary and general respect he received in reciprocity ..!!

had the disheartening events of the last TMCamp and the ensuing drama had not unfolded, i possibly coulda stomach him coaching us at gutter WC ...!!?


Thank you Coach for your tireless service and best wishes on continued success ..! 🙏
and if he was to leaves iran in search of his next job, i sincerely hope that our people/fans give him a well-deserved, cheerful irooni-style sent off ..!

[Wahid Dejagah]

A huge thank you to Dragan,

Growing up with Iranian football has been nothing short of an emotional rollercoaster. From the dark ages of the 2007-2012 to the highs of 2014-2019, it's never failed to provide entertainment. Willmots' tenure was possibly one of the most challenging to be a fan. With the chaotic state he had left our strong team, on the verge of elimination, things seemed to be deteriorating with no signs of light at the end of the tunnel. A variety of Iranian coaches were named, which didn't fill fans with much confidence. Almost out of the blue, a relatively unknown entity named Dragan Skocic stepped up to the challenge. An unproven coach, with nil international achievement, this seemed like the perfect job for him, and the worst signing for the National Team- A hero if he pulls it off, nothing changes if he didn't. Strangely similar to a last ditch attempt to sign a coach for relegation contenders.

Almost unbelievably, through the chaos, he took us to Bahrain and won all games, against all odds. A hero he became indeed. From those early days, the haters tried to undermine him- it was all "luck", the coach did nothing, etc. etc.


The fact remains, Skocic gave his best. Everyone has their capabilities. It was not his fault he was offered and took the job offer of a lifetime. The vast majority of coaches with an even stronger resume, I dare say, would have failed catastrophically. But he didn't, which I'm sure angered quite a few, including those who turned their backs to the National Team. A record including 2 losses, one in a meaningless qualifier and one against an Algerian B team. Grounds to fire someone with what they previously achieved? No.

Coaches either transpire player loyalty through love (usually ex players), or an iron fist. Skocic, unfortunately, had none. No one to back him. A lonely ranger. Disrespected by staff, ex players, management and unfortunately, even players. He had glaring shortcomings, lots to be desired, but he did his best. He performed his miracle.

In no logical world would it be justified to sack someone at this stage. The world media is shocked. Those in Iran, probably not. Now, as a fan trying to reason with this situation logically, I have one target in mind: The interest of the Iranian National Team. Is there a possibility Skocic would have lost all three games? Yes. Is there a likelihood CQ would do the same? Also yes. But CQ nearly spent a decade forming this team. A ruler with an iron fist, a strong tactician. Im a huge fan of his, but he also has significant shortcomings. But at the World Cup, nothing but the best will do, and given the current situation, Carlos Queiroz is the strongest option we have to lead the team, by far. The players won't dare disrespect him, and he is vocal and strong enough to deal with any trivia surrounding the National Team. Let's welcome him back, and not let him leave in the same disrespectful manner we did before.


At the end of all this, I want to extend my sincere gratitude to Mr. Skocic. I thank him truly for his hard work and efforts. I wish him all the best in the future, I really do, and hope he gets a lucrative contract and has success with teams in the Middle East and beyond.


Thank you Dragan. Thank you Skocic.

Welcome back Carlos! All for TM. All for Iran.

[inarsenewetrust]

Thanks to him and congrats, its no small feat to take a team to a world cup, regardless of the specifics (how much was down to him, etc)

I believe initially he provided a sense of stability and breath of fresh air to the players, at least having somebody who knew the basics and would show up to work after wilmots.

Early in qualification, specially after resounding win over Iraq I thought he had cemented his place... He made some critical errors that despite whatever anybody tries to pin as a coup or some outside forces leading to his downfall, were actually the primary cause of his firing. This included how he dealt with Taremi situation (especially in comparison to say Kanani situation), and the disastrous June camp. Taking an inflated list of players (including 5 guys who had no business whatsoever being in the camp) to train in 120F weather for 2 weeks straight was a critical error that even he alluded to afterwards. Nobody made the decision but himself.

And that points to a general theme about why skocic should have been discarded a while ago, and why he is not fit to coach any team at the WC...Resume and experience. He is effectively learning on the job. The pressures of this work vs what he did in khoone be khoone or Abadan are not comparable. Dealing with that level of pressure was already impairing his judgement, and was likely to only continue doing so in the leadup to world cup, and at the tournament itself, particularly when things start to go wrong as they always do in football. Having somebody with the track record, experience/familiarity with these high pressure moments is the best way to minimize errors and ensure optimal performance.

CQ will leave no stone unturned, he will have the players firing from mental and physical perspectives, he will unite the camp, he will present a charismatic face to Iranian football once again (as he did last WC) and his knowledge of these specific opponents is probably the best of any coach out there. Despite the limited time, I think his arrival will give a sort of electrical shock to the players who were clearly (for the most part) not behind their former coach and feeling like the situation was hopeless.

Whatever happens, Taj and co made the best move for Iranian football today. A move that will maximize our chances of success in the last real world cup.