Biggest reason of Esteghlal's failure this season?

[Kasra.]

We have all seen that one of Iran's greatest clubs is playing very poor, achieving poor results. But what is the reason of this big mess?

- Hejazi and his staff
- The players
- The managment
- Lack of gheyrat
- Lack of a good squad
- Missing players
- Other

Please vote and discuss

[Masoud_A]

Hejazi and the staff mostly, its been obvious throughout the season that EsEs doesnt have any plan for their games, I donno if they analyse the opponents at all, Because before one of EsEs games Hejazi said we dont have any info on our opponent and we dont need any because we are Esteghlal.

To some degree players can be blamed too, Borhani and Bayatinia lack of scoring ability is something that cant be fixed this easy, ofcourse one can argue that the same staff bought these players, Farhad Majidi has been too poor comparing to all the publicity he attracted.

Bottomline is The staff to a great extent are at fault while players role in this cant be overlooked.

[Ali Chicago]

While I don't try to lessen the poor performance of Nasser Khan, I think it is more than just one reason. Wish there was a way to select a few not only one.

To me the first reason is Coaching staff. Poor performance of newly added plaeyrs (Poolaid, Ravankhah, Maniyee, even Montazeri).

I voted for the lack of good squad but even that in turn actually is due to bad decisions by Nasser khan. So sorry to see this asset of Iranian football destroyed himself this season.

[BehzadB]

^^^ sounds to me like you have "taarof" with Hejazi...

this team has no problem with the number of talented players.. Ravankhah, Pouladi, Maneeiy, Montazeri, were all Key players of their teams last year.. these were not average signings.. all of these guys have been coached by good coaches and have played and practiced in good places , for many years now.. they are not like the old (zameen khaki) players who have just signed to Pro football.. they don't need months and months to make simple passes..

I think Hejazi's biggest failure is that He has failed to get these guys ready , in the head.... SS plays football very much like how Hejazi Talks.. When the coach keeps making Unrealistic excuses , the players do the same.. (in their head)...

Hejazi needed to get the pressure OFF his players.. but he has added to it by his attitude, his actions and his talks.. He himself is under a lot of pressure and he is the one having problem dealing with that pressure (because he was never a pro himself), and he transfers that to his players..

again, when a coach says ".. any other team in our place would lose every game 4-0....", how do you think it affects the players psychologically???
then the reporter asks him who? and he names 4 players.. (I don't remember the names, but the video is there, and it's not the point here)..but here is the problem.. right after naming those 4 players he says something like "... khob kee moond digeh .." .. meaning that he has 4 key injuries and without them this is what we get!!!

and that is another sign that he is failing in helping his players.. when a coach who has 4 injured players says ".. khob kee moond digeh".. it mean, what I have left is not good enough to win.. is that the type of comment that a professional coach makes?? How are the rest of the players suppose to feel??

I mean, you have Borhani, Majidi, Ravankhah, Pouladi, the foreign player (dont' know his name), maneei, Amir Abadi, Mansourian, Sadeghi, Ghorbani, Navazi, Montazeri , Broumand.... and still according to Hejazi, anyone else in his place, would lose every game 4-0...

when that's what your coach says on TV, what do you expect from the players?? what do you expect from the fans that go to the games?? isn't he setting up his players for major "boo" from the stands...


in my Honest opinion, I think the only reason that Hejazi was selected as the coach of EsEs was Politics!!! Ali Abadi and his gang know they have absolutely no popularity among the people specially after all the failures (TM, EsEs Asian fiasco, Omeed team) they have had... Ali Abadi just wanted to get some popularity otherwise, we all know that Ali Abadi and Hejazi have absolutely nothing in common, if you know what I mean . GN? sure.. they both go to Jamkaran a lot.. but Hejazi?? give me a break..

[Ali Chicago]

^^^ sounds to me like you have "taarof" with Hejazi...

this team has no problem with the number of talented players.. Ravankhah, Pouladi, Maneeiy, Montazeri, were all Key players of their teams last year.. these were not average signings.. all of these guys have been coached by good coaches and have played and practiced in good places , for many years now.. they are not like the old (zameen khaki) players who have just signed to Pro football.. they don't need months and months to make simple passes..

I think Hejazi's biggest failure is that He has failed to get these guys ready , in the head.... SS plays football very much like how Hejazi Talks.. When the coach keeps making Unrealistic excuses , the players do the same.. (in their head)...

Hejazi needed to get the pressure OFF his players.. but he has added to it by his attitude, his actions and his talks.. He himself is under a lot of pressure and he is the one having problem dealing with that pressure (because he was never a pro himself), and he transfers that to his players..

again, when a coach says ".. any other team in our place would lose every game 4-0....", how do you think it affects the players psychologically???
then the reporter asks him who? and he names 4 players.. (I don't remember the names, but the video is there, and it's not the point here)..but here is the problem.. right after naming those 4 players he says something like "... khob kee moond digeh .." .. meaning that he has 4 key injuries and without them this is what we get!!!

and that is another sign that he is failing in helping his players.. when a coach who has 4 injured players says ".. khob kee moond digeh".. it mean, what I have left is not good enough to win.. is that the type of comment that a professional coach makes?? How are the rest of the players suppose to feel??

I mean, you have Borhani, Majidi, Ravankhah, Pouladi, the foreign player (dont' know his name), maneei, Amir Abadi, Mansourian, Sadeghi, Ghorbani, Navazi, Montazeri , Broumand.... and still according to Hejazi, anyone else in his place, would lose every game 4-0...

when that's what your coach says on TV, what do you expect from the players?? what do you expect from the fans that go to the games?? isn't he setting up his players for major "boo" from the stands...


in my Honest opinion, I think the only reason that Hejazi was selected as the coach of EsEs was Politics!!! Ali Abadi and his gang know they have absolutely no popularity among the people specially after all the failures (TM, EsEs Asian fiasco, Omeed team) they have had... Ali Abadi just wanted to get some popularity otherwise, we all know that Ali Abadi and Hejazi have absolutely nothing in common, if you know what I mean . GN? sure.. they both go to Jamkaran a lot.. but Hejazi?? give me a break..

I think you missing a factor here Behzad Khan. You see these players u named Ravankhah, Montazeri, Pooladi, Borhani, etc. are players that are good in lower level clubs. But all of these guys chocked when they play for a high caliber team. Borhani while very talented, how many goals he missed???? Two penalties was wasted by Maniee and Jabbari.

While you can argue it is still cocahes responsibility to even choose these players (which I agree), but regardless of Nasser Khan's role in this, all of the players who signed for EsEs this year amazingly underperformed. This is not an excuse for Nasser Khan poor performance, but nevertheles a reality.

EsEs this year is somewhat like PP last year, they attack but dont' finish they get scored aganist easily. Look at wins that pp get for example, they have 3-4 high quality chances they score 1-2 and win the game. Esteghlal has 6-7 and fail to capitalize on one even. And you see the 11 point difference in the table.

Lot of those players u listed are just done like Navazi, F majidi, Mansoorian. What did Mansoorian do in the Sepahan's game? While I tremendously resepct Mansoorian's role adn what he has done for EsEs, he is over, same is with Navazi, F Majidi. Our new recruits didn't perform, Jabbari is lackluster at best. So the result can't be better than this.

If Hejazi could bring peace of mind to this team, we can do much better. Not Championship material by any chance, but still better than 10-11th in the table.

[Ali Chicago]

Btw it seems the poll is corrupted, since if u add it all up it is way more than 100%.

[perspolees]

there is nothing to worry
esteghlal will finish yet again second...thats what their legacy is why do you think there's anythng wrong here?

[maij]

There will never be a single reason for a failure of a football team.
Or
Failure to achieve an objective normally stems from combination of factors.

As far As SS is concerned , there are many factors that has resulted in less-than-expected performance ( NOT a failuire).

1- Hejazi has never been a top class coach in his career
2- He has been away from top class football for a long period
3- The large number of changes in the playing squad.
4- Lack of leadership in the field.
5- Lack of discipline.
6-Poor performance of players.
7- Lack of team spirit.

Not necessarily in that order.

Borhani , as far as I am concern , is a big flop so far ( but that is not very surprising for me). Talebloo and Sadeghi are the most disappointing after Borhani.

Firing Hejazi will NOT bring miracles to SS.

[BehzadB]

I think you missing a factor here Behzad Khan. You see these players u named Ravankhah, Montazeri, Pooladi, Borhani, etc. are players that are good in lower level clubs. But all of these guys chocked when they play for a high caliber team.

How can all of them together under perform at the same time?? are you saying they are all busts?? no way... Ravankhah, Pooladi, Montazeri, Manei, borhani, these are all good players.. very good players.. the fact that Borhani misses chances has nothing to do with the fact that SS as a team plays poorly..

last year Madanchi missed more scoring chances than any other player that I could remember all my life, .. but PP was playing good football.. .. that is not the same problem that SS has right now.. SS is just playing a "sar dar gom" football.. with different sets of players... even in games they have won..

Hejazi is wrong for SS as GN was wrong for TM, fundamentally wrong.. simple as that..

I mean, what qualifies Hejazi to be Esteghlal's coach??


--------------
good summery Agha majid, but 6 out of those 7 reasons lead to Hejazi...

[Ali Chicago]

How can all of them together under perform at the same time?? are you saying they are all busts?? no way... Ravankhah, Pooladi, Montazeri, Manei, borhani, these are all good players.. very good players.. the fact that Borhani misses chances has nothing to do with the fact that SS as a team plays poorly..
last year Madanchi missed more scoring chances than any other player that I could remember all my life, .. but PP was playing good football.. .. that is not the same problem that SS has right now.. SS is just playing a "sar dar gom" football.. with different sets of players... even in games they have won..
Hejazi is wrong for SS as GN was wrong for TM, fundamentally wrong.. simple as that..
I mean, what qualifies Hejazi to be Esteghlal's coach??
--------------
good summery Agha majid, but 6 out of those 7 reasons lead to Hejazi...

I think u are over estimating all of these guys. Montazeri wasn't like a super star in foolad. Neither was pooladi in Paykan. Ravankhah wasn't in Fajr either, Borhani was deported from UAE and even in Paas didn't score more than 2-3 goals. Farhad Majidi underperformed since he left Alwasl. Mansoorian is at the end of the line.

Don't get me wrong, I am not saying Hejazi has a clean sheet, He is to blame for the lion share of this. But these players I listed plus Maniyee has totally underperformed. They even didn't do average underperformed. Even Talebloo has underperformed.

You brought a good example about Madanchi. PP last year played good football but didnt' have a finisher. EsEs this year has the very same problem. EsEs plays much much better than last year. Against Saba Battry EsEs played very well. Much better than PP in the last three games to be honest, but PP finished and EsEs can't. That is the difference. The same way that PP played well last year but couldn't finish.

Now this happened I think beacuse of the emotional pressure that Hejazi himself is under and can't deal with it and somehow transfered that pressure to teh players. This is where Mr. Hejazi failed.

Another thing is constant chruning in EsEs line. Why on Earth Mr. Hejazi changed the line up who played against Saba is beyond me.

In principal I agree with you that lion share of the blame goes to Hejazi and his coaching staff, but one has to consider the other exacberatiing factores as well, when judging the coach's performance.

As a coach, and I was one in much much lower level of course, but your team is as good as players you got. I had a very weak team and we went 0-10 the first year. What could I do? Every jack who knew crap about football was doing the Monday morning quarterbacking for me and I had to just listen and say nothing.

In the second year we improved to 6-4 or something. Now in a crappy youth league no one cares how my team does, but if you are EsEs or PP as a coach Hejazi or Ghotbi or anyone else won't get that opportunity and media are there to rip him apart. This is happening to Hejazi right now.

[Ali Chicago]

There will never be a single reason for a failure of a football team.
Or
Failure to achieve an objective normally stems from combination of factors.

As far As SS is concerned , there are many factors that has resulted in less-than-expected performance ( NOT a failuire).

1- Hejazi has never been a top class coach in his career
2- He has been away from top class football for a long period
3- The large number of changes in the playing squad.
4- Lack of leadership in the field.
5- Lack of discipline.
6-Poor performance of players.
7- Lack of team spirit.


Not necessarily in that order.

Borhani , as far as I am concern , is a big flop so far ( but that is not very surprising for me). Talebloo and Sadeghi are the most disappointing after Borhani.

Firing Hejazi will NOT bring miracles to SS.

I agree with your points for the most part.

I would like to take exception with your comment that Hejazi was never a great coach. EsEs with Hejazi won the Asian cup and another time came second (with 1/10 or less of the current budget of football clubs spending right now). Hejazi had several prodigy one of them was Rahman Rezai. So I think he knows a thing or two about football.

I think all Mr. Hejazi has to do is to shield the pressure that he feels from his players. Players are under a thremenoud emotional pressure. Look at the way the attacked the Sepahan defense in the second half. They were rushing it so much that even didn't take a chance to pass back and switch the point of the attack, they attack the Sepahan's defense on the air (through Navazi's crosses) where Bengar and AzizZadeh ruled the air and EsEs doesn't have any air attack. Look at two penalties Maniee and Jabbari missed. Had they scored eses had 4 more points right now (sitting at 13 among top 4).

If Mr. Hejazi can control his own emotions trust his instincts and isolate the players from external pressure he himself feels, there is still time for EsEs to end up among the four top teams this year. To be honest Championship is out of reach now, but being among top 4 teams still acheivable

[Ali Chicago]

there is nothing to worry
esteghlal will finish yet again second...thats what their legacy is why do you think there's anythng wrong here?

You have a very selective memory dadash. When was the last time PP won the title? The very first round of IPL and that was in big part courtesy of Malavan to PP if u recall. So what are u talking about finishing second?

[BehzadB]

I think u are over estimating all of these guys. Montazeri wasn't like a super star in foolad. Neither was pooladi in Paykan. Ravankhah wasn't in Fajr either, Borhani was deported from UAE and even in Paas didn't score more than 2-3 goals. Farhad Majidi underperformed since he left Alwasl. Mansoorian is at the end of the line.

so what you are saying is that Eses needed 11 superstars for Hejazi to show his coaching skills??? I am sorry but with 11 superstars , I could coach that team.. and yes SS does have 11 superstars (former and present and future)...

You know better than to say a team as good as it's players.. if that was the case Fajr Sepasi should be relegated every single year.. It's always a combination of the players and coaching... and when I look at all the 'names' on SS team, the only weak spot I find is on the Bench.. and lack of professionalism by the coach... and of course lack of education too..

So what that Hejazi discovered Rahman Rezai?? a lot of coaches have discovered a lot of good players... Where did, Jabari, Teymourian and Badamaki come from.. where did Karimi come from or Nekounam or Mahdavi Kia?

In today's football, a coach that can not handle and manage the psychological pressure has absolutely no business being in the business of coaching, specially in a pro league.. Go read Hejazi's comments after Sephan game, after Saba game, after Saipa game so fort and so on..

just saying that players are not performing, is an excuse.. because the same players have performed well before, many times... one has to ask why aren't some of these players performing right now?? The answer is the mind set of the players... and who is responsible for that??

Hejazi won the AFC cup sure he did, but with WHAT players? and when?? Football has advanced a lot in the west Asian countries since then.. Ali Parvin won Asian cup with TM , but that doesn't make him qualified to be TM coach.. Times have changed.. methods have changed.. the likes of hejazi and Parvin are still stuck in the 60's and 70's... their dates have expired..

[Ali Chicago]

so what you are saying is that Eses needed 11 superstars for Hejazi to show his coaching skills??? I am sorry but with 11 superstars , I could coach that team.. and yes SS does have 11 superstars (former and present and future)...
You know better than to say a team as good as it's players.. if that was the case Fajr Sepasi should be relegated every single year.. It's always a combination of the players and coaching... and when I look at all the 'names' on SS team, the only weak spot I find is on the Bench.. and lack of professionalism by the coach... and of course lack of education too..
So what that Hejazi discovered Rahman Rezai?? a lot of coaches have discovered a lot of good players... Where did, Jabari, Teymourian and Badamaki come from.. where did Karimi come from or Nekounam or Mahdavi Kia?
In today's football, a coach that can not handle and manage the psychological pressure has absolutely no business being in the business of coaching, specially in a pro league.. Go read Hejazi's comments after Sephan game, after Saba game, after Saipa game so fort and so on..
just saying that players are not performing, is an excuse.. because the same players have performed well before, many times... one has to ask why aren't some of these players performing right now?? The answer is the mind set of the players... and who is responsible for that??
Hejazi won the AFC cup sure he did, but with WHAT players? and when?? Football has advanced a lot in the west Asian countries since then.. Ali Parvin won Asian cup with TM , but that doesn't make him qualified to be TM coach.. Times have changed.. methods have changed.. the likes of hejazi and Parvin are still stuck in the 60's and 70's... their dates have expired..

No one is trying to undermine the role of Mr. Hejazi in Esteghlal's demise. All I am saying, is players have underperformed as well. I even in my long post mentioned this is in part Hejazi's responsibility as well. So, again no one is trying to diminish Hejazi's role.
Having said that, player's peroformance has a huge role in make or break of a team. Remember Karimi, Kia, Kaabi Trio in Asian cup 2004 in Asia. They saved the coach's ass and Branko still get's milage out of that due to player's brilliance.

If one wants to judge a phonomenon, in real world usually (almost 99% of the time) there are several factores involved, it is not a liner cause and effect. In this case Esteghlal's performance can't be a linear cause and effect either.

I see a lot of people tend have an open season on likes of Parvin, Hejazi, etc. I suggest we take it a bit easier on these fellas. Hejazi won the Asian cup once and came second another time, with less than 500 million budget (Today that is the salary of two players in Esteghlal) in 1990. So it is not like he doesn't know how to win. He lost in final to a Japanees team, so it wasn't like he played against teams from Persian Gulf countries only.

[BehzadB]

I see a lot of people tend have an open season on likes of Parvin, Hejazi, etc. I suggest we take it a bit easier on these fellas. Hejazi won the Asian cup once and came second another time, with less than 500 million budget (Today that is the salary of two players in Esteghlal) in 1990. So it is not like he doesn't know how to win. He lost in final to a Japanees team, so it wasn't like he played against teams from Persian Gulf countries only.

If they want people to take it easy on them, they have to quit their jobs.. you can't take a coaching job at PP or SS and expect people to take it easy on you.. that formula never worked.. never will

did you say 1990?.. less than 500 million toman?? ey baba.. do you have any idea what that means when you take inflation into account.. besides, I didn't ask how much SS paid for the players in 1990, I said, look that who he had on his roster and consider that in 1990 most of Arab Clubs were far far behind where they are today.. not in terms of facility but in terms of Level of football that they perform.. basically saying that the competition was much weaker then.. that was 17 years ago..


Ali Jan , I think we are going in circles..

My last comment is that, I think SS can win a ton of games with the same players (including the injured ones) if they had a good coach.. a coach that can reduce tension and pressure and face the situations professionally.. Hejazi is not that man, regardless of how many games SS wins or loses..

Sephan won a game against SS in the last seconds of the game.. a sephan team that has been the best football team in Iran in the last 2/3 years.. in a game that was played pretty evenly... but instead of crediting the opponent or making some average comments that all coaches make after a loss to a TOP team, or instead of not saying anything and moving on, go check out the comments Hejazi and Hajiloo have make after the game, about our BEST football team in the last few years.. both on and off the field..

and you still believe that Hejazi is good enough for SS??