Adnan Hamad’s axing an expected one

Riyadh — Adnan Hamad’s sacking as Bahrain boss came as no surprise to anyone who had seen their first two displays at this Gulf Cup here in the Saudi capital.

Excuses can be made for their opening 0-0 draw against the Yemenis. The initial outing in a round-robin league format is always difficult, with the necessity of not losing often outweighing any lingering will to win. However, there was less of a defence — that’s exactly the right word as well — for Bahrain’s meek capitulation to tournament hosts Saudi Arabia in their second run-out.

Two own goals didn’t help matters either, with Bahraini defender Mohamed Husain slamming home the Saudis’ third with as much surety as Nasser Al Shamrani had their first-half opener.

Hamad’s post-match press conference at the King Fahd International Stadium afterwards was an understandably sombre affair.

There was a pervading sense that his already-sealed fate had been writ large on the wall. Few questions were offered up from the floor and, when a press conference room falls silent, any manager must instinctively know that the final whistle beckons for him. His answers spoke of a youthful team in transition, building for the future and the need for patience and time.

As it was, there was to be no future for the experienced Iraqi coach. On Monday, the Bahrain Football Association (BFA) confirmed he had been summarily sacked and replaced by his assistant, Marjan Eid.

Hamad had paid the price for the team’s “unconvincing technical level,” with their “poor performance” and “negative results” signalling the end of his tenure according to an official BFA statement. He’d lasted just three months of a two-year contract inked in August. The timing of such a decision was perhaps questionable considering Bahrain were still — theoretically, at least — in with a remote chance of qualifying for the semi-finals ahead of the final-round of pool-phase matches in Group A last night.

However, the underlying reasoning behind it was rather telling in these surroundings. BFA president Shaikh Ali bin Khalifa Al Khalifa made reference to “Bahraini’s football reputation” in the aforementioned statement. When national pride is at stake in a GCC-wide tournament between neighbouring nations, there will inevitably be casualties to mitigate for the perceived cost of failure. The ending of the BFA release certainly leaves little to no doubt that Hamad and his players had fallen beneath the level of expectation given Bahrain’s standing from prior editions.

“We hope that our national football team succeeds in performing their duty better to reflect the level they are known for through their good results in previous tournaments,” it concluded on a far more positive note. There’s still every chance though that Hamad’s axing won’t be an isolated incident by the time this tournament is finished and the clock ticks over to Thursday, November 27^th 2014.

Saudi Arabia coach Juan Ramon Lopez Caro is understandably under a great deal of pressure on home soil, especially given how his predecessor – the Dutch legend Frank Rijkaard — fared in this competition last year. Anything other than outright victory here and you sense Caro will be promptly shown the exit door too.

The Qataris obviously are eight years away now from staging the FIFA World Cup in the Middle East for the very first time, so their standing in the sport regionally is under the spotlight.

Algerian manager Djamel Belmadi is subjected to heightened scrutiny as a consequence and he doesn’t appear to be dealing with it that well judging by his recent press conference exchanges.

Oman’s Paul Le Guen also conceded he was under a high level of pressure in the build-up to this Gulf Cup campaign. It will be interesting then to see what, if anything, happens to the Frenchman should the Omanis’ participation here be ended by Jorvan Vieira’s Kuwait side tonight (Thursday).

alex@khaleejtimes.com