أحمد سعيد

A two-faced coach?

Appearing on several pan-Arab sports channels almost simultaneously, former Zamalek coach Farouk Gaafar stunned viewers with his abilities to play double roles in the tragic scene that was taking place in Zamalek.
الإثنين، 02 يناير 2006 - 14:51
Appearing on several pan-Arab sports channels almost simultaneously, former Zamalek coach Farouk Gaafar stunned viewers with his abilities to play double roles in the tragic scene that was taking place in Zamalek.

Gaafar, however, has showed talents of changing faces and masks over time and especially since the beginning of his last spell in charge of the Cairo team.

The former Egypt manager protested to be sacked by an individual decision from ex-president Mortada Mansour saying that it has to be issued by the board of directors despite he welcomed being appointed in the same individual way.

His statements to the press were no different.

Before being axed, Gaafar didn't miss a chance to blame disappointing results on players and labeled them as 'irresponsible' praising the administration efforts to push the team forward.

Well, this all was turned upside down in his last press conference during which he accused Mansour of interfering in choosing the starting line-up and complained of the poor infrastructure in the club.

Gaafar's relationship with Mansour itself is an ideal example of the man's quicksilver switches in attitudes as he was the first to congratulate Mansour for winning the club elections although he has been electioneering for rival Kamal Darwish during the build up for the polls.

Even after the board of directors named Mohamed Salah as Theo Bucker's successor after only one match day in the Egyptian League, the job changed lanes to fall into the lap of Gaafar thanks to some dark forces acted from behind the scene.