"The fans are unhappy": Shobier attacks Amuta after the Ali Mahmoud incident

Media pundit Ahmed Shobier has criticised Moroccan Hossein Ammouta, the technical director of Egypt's Al-Ahly, following his incident with Ali Mahmoud, the team's player, yesterday, Wednesday.

Ali Mahmoud came off and shook hands with football director Wael Gomaa, then with Ammouta. The Moroccan looked furious. He pulled the player towards him, said a few words and shoved him with his hands, sparking huge controversy.

Shobier said in radio comments today: "With Ali Mahmoud coming off yesterday, and of course I was watching on television until the videos came to me at night and I saw what happened with Ammouta, I honestly imagined at first that Ali was in the wrong, meaning Ali did something or said a word, because there was a shove from Captain Hossein Ammouta towards Ali, so I was going crazy: why, Ali, do you do this when you know the system at Al-Ahly and you're a young lad? Until I was certain beyond any shadow of a doubt that the boy did absolutely, absolutely, absolutely nothing."

You can discuss topics and news in greater depth in the Kooora forums

He continued: "It was said that he is being referred for investigation, over what?! He didn't do anything to be referred for investigation, the coach sees that he came off upset, that he came off, meaning annoyed, so the boy shook hands like that with his hand, he's tired I mean, he shook hands with Wael Gomaa properly, and he shook hands with the man like that from afar, so it seems that this angered Ammouta for example or something, it's possible I mean. But even if you're upset with him, no, that talk is in the dressing rooms!"

He added: "There are no problems, I mean, but the idea that you push the players and in front of people, you want to assert a right, there's no problem with that I mean, but the player didn't do anything, he came off normally, he didn't kick anything, he didn't hit anything, he didn't pout, he didn't swear, he didn't do anything at all! He came off upset, very normally I mean, so Captain Ammouta should just be mindful of these things, because it's not in the interest of the whole group."

The Al-Ahly fans and the draw with Al-Mokawloon

Turning to Al-Ahly's 1-1 draw with Al-Mokawloon yesterday, Shobier said: "Technically, Al-Ahly's fans are also not happy with the way the matches are being managed, the manner of the substitutions themselves, there's a state of unhappiness I mean about how the matches are managed, a state of dissatisfaction about how the matches are managed, on the other hand when you go to Mokwena with Pyramids, no, things are going well, Mokwena beat Al-Masry, beat Al-Mahalla in Al-Mahalla, beat El Gouna, beat Gor Mahia in Gor Mahia 2-0, so the man is doing well."

He continued: "My advice to Captain Hossein Ammouta: sit down with your assistants, see how the story is going, because in the end Al-Ahly's fans are strong, Al-Ahly's fans are strong, very very strong too, and yesterday honestly the fans did not fall short, they nearly filled their space I mean, of course with respect that Al-Mokawloon's stands, I mean, have a slightly small capacity, and with my respect, I told you Al-Ahly prefers not to play at the Al-Mokawloon Al-Arab stadium, but I go back and tell you once again: the fans are not happy, they are not satisfied."

Shobier: where is Al-Ahly heading?

The former Al-Ahly goalkeeper said: "The question that preoccupies public opinion now is, where is Al-Ahly heading? Many people are talking about change, change, there's an overwhelming current talking about change, and are you going to change a coach every 5 matches?! You did that with Ribeiro, and after him Emad El-Nahhas then Torup, a lot of confusion happened at Al-Ahly.

He went on: "A draw with Al-Mokawloon with a very very very poor performance. Don't let anyone tell me that the referee Mahmoud Bassiouny was the reason for the draw or the loss of two points, and it's good that I didn't see anyone talking about the referee, and I don't like this playing-the-victim business, neither with Al-Ahly nor anyone else."

You can discuss topics and news in greater depth in the Kooora forums

He added: "It's absolutely not right that every few matches we get rid of a coach, there must be deliberation and calm, but it doesn't prevent you from sitting down with the coach and talking to him, it's nice that you give the coach all the technical powers, but it's nicer that you sit with him and see what the story is? There must be communication and reckoning between the officials and the coach on an ongoing basis and they see how things are going."

Click here to read article