Al Nasr coach and foreign players in the line of fire

Gulfnews - Al Nasr club senior football team coach Rainer Holleman is under fire following the team's poor results recently.

Al Nasr lost 3-1 to Al Jazira last week in the FA Cup semifinals. They were leading in the match until the last 10 minutes. Al Nasr not only lost the match, but also lost two players who were sent off with red cards. The team will miss their services in the league next month.

Fanatic Al Nasr supporters shouted slogans against the German coach, asking the club's board to change him after he failed to lead the team to success. Al Nasr are 7th in the league with 13 points from 9 matches. Their forward line is the weakest in the First Division.

To add to Holleman's woes, Iranians Farhad Majidi and Arash Borhani have both been below par, though they have cost Al Nasr $2.6 million (Dh9.5 million).

Borhani could be leaving in the new registration period next month and will be replaced with a new foreign playmaker which Al Nasr are missing.

The Al Nasr board made a big mistake when they signed with two strikers (Borhani and Majidi), whereas the team was in great need for a playmaker. Now at the middle of the season, they will correct their mistake by signing with a playmaker.

Terminating the German's contract could be difficult since it runs until next year. If the club sack him, they will have to pay him his salary until then.

Some of the Al Nasr officials are claiming that the problem was not Holleman, but the absence of a playmaker. They are in favour of signing a playmaker and giving Holleman another chance.

Meanwhile, the Al Nasr volleyball team clinched the FA Cup as their first trophy in the new season. Al Nasr's teams in volleyball, table tennis, handball and cycling have been winning titles for many years now. Their success in these sports is in sharp contrast to the failure in football. Al Nasr had last time won the league in 1985-86 and the President's Cup in 1989.

They won the FA Cup in 2000 and 2002, but that can hardly be compared to winning the league or the President's Cup.

Al Nasr need a lot of work to rebuild the team and return to their past glory when they had won three titles in just four months, in the 1985-86 season. They have to have a good coach and sign some talented local players.