The Staff of Saipa up in the Air

PLDC - Abdolhossein Edalati

The Manager of Saipa has announced, "The employment of a foreign coach was only to improve and inject new technical staff into Saipa, not to displace Mohammad Mayeli-Kohan from Saipa."

Manochehr Salehi also divulged, "The club practice sessions from the 12-15 of Mordad [or 3-6 of August] will take place in the form of a practice session in the morning and afternoon. Next week an Italian will become Coach of Saipa."

He also spoke of transfers to Saipa, "Saipa continues to pursue Rahman Rezaei, Ali Samereh, and Mehdi Shiri because two of our own players by the names of Shahin Samadian and Mohamad Momeni will be dispatched to India by the beginning of the new IPL [Iranian Professional League] season."

Salehi also stated that Mohammad Mayeli-Kohan will continue his duties as Head Coach of Saipa despite the presence of the new Italian Coach and continued, "We have no problems with the presence of Mohammad Mayeli-Kohan in the Saipa's technical staff. In fact we have had discussions and have reached conclusions on this issue. Mayeli-Kohan is a very shrewd and intelligent man who's exceptional in diplomacy and negotiations. We believe his expertise will be beneficial to Saipa."

When questioned on the disadvantages of having a foreign coach in Saipa, Mohammad Mayeli-Kohan told the press, "I open my arms to anyone who can use their expertise to benefit Saipa. I hope this Italian coach will be the only foreign coach that Saipa employs. Anyway, I, myself, am not compelled to stay will Saipa. I have not signed any contracts with Saipa yet and both Saipa and I are free to do as we wish."

Mayeli-Kohan also alluded, "If you look at every foreign coach from the time of the revolution and after you will see that none of them have been successful, from Blazevich, the former National Team Head Coach, to Istanko at the Club level."