The miserable four-season Zamalek endured since 2004, during which they won a solitary Egyptian Cup title, is threatening to tarnish their image of being a competitive force in local and continental football.

Apparently, Zamalek’s sufferings will last for a prolonged period as the Cairo giants continue to wobble.

The five-time African champions failed to focus on their domestic campaign following their embarrassing Champions League exit.

They lost twice and drew once in their first eight league games as their arch-rivals Ahli are expected to enjoy a usual easy ride in Egypt’s premier competition.

If Zamalek are to save their glorious history, they have to alter their administration's policy to instate a non-existing order.

The entire board of directors must hand in their resignation because they bear the lion’s share of responsibility for Zamalek’s repeated failures.

Incumbent chairman Mamdouh Abbas is appreciated for spending big to reinforce Zamalek’s squad, but that doesn’t make him a successful administrator.

He failed to establish a policy that gives every board member certain duties to fulfill. Whenever any player has a problem, he goes straight to Abbas because he doesn’t know who is responsible to solve it.

Abbas also gives useless statements through Zamalek’s website that do his team no good, such as accusing the Egyptian Football Association of favoring Ahli or appointing ‘biased’ referees for the White Knights’ matches.

German coach Reiner Hollmann must be also shown the door.

He might be good in terms of tactics but he wasn’t up to snuff when disciplining his players.

Gamal Hamza slapped teammate Ricardo Alves in Zamalek’s Egyptian League game against Ghazl Mahalla. Instead of banning him for a lengthy period, Zamalek just fined him and Hollmann was satisfied with that.

The former Ahli tactician did not also take an action against Hamza and Mostafa Gaafar for wasting a host of clear-cut opportunities just because they love to dive whenever they enter the 18-yard box.

Zamalek players need a charismatic coach, like Ahli’s Manuel Jose for instance, to know that their place in the squad won’t be safe unless their performance and conduct become up to standard.

The last step would be signing new players when the transfer window reopens in January to strengthen certain areas.

Zamalek need two full-backs on the left and right flanks, a powerful defensive midfielder and a reliable striker to partner Junior Agogo upfront as the Ghanaian is suffering because he doesn’t get much support.

Would Zamalek survive? It remains to be seen.