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Josef says adios

Al Wahda boss Josef Hickersberger has confirmed his decision to leave his post at the end of this Etisalat Pro-League season with the club on course for a mid-table finish.

Wahda won the top-tier title as recently as the 2009-2010 campaign, but they’ve since fallen behind the likes of Al Ain and Al Jazira as some key players have been sold and not sufficiently replaced within the squad.

That lack of ambition in the transfer market has seemingly helped Hickersberger make up his mind too, with his playing personnel’s decreasing quality somewhat forcing his imminent departure.

“I’ll definitely leave – that’s for sure,” the 64-year-old Austrian revealed following Wahda’s 2-0 win at Al Wasl on Sunday night.

“I made this decision weeks ago because the Wahda team is not as good as before.

“We couldn’t sign some players; we gave away Hamdan (Al Kamali) and Bashir (Saeed) too (to Lyon and Al Ahli respectively) – maybe the best defenders here in the UAE – and we couldn’t sign any players.

“At the moment, if the injured players come back, they are still good enough to play for fourth or fifth position, but they’re not strong enough to compete for the league. That’s very simple, so Al Wahda has to make a big change.

“But, to make it very clear, as long as I’m coach of Al Wahda, I will give my best until the last training session, match and day.

“I hope that we can get some good results in the last few matches and then I will say: ‘Thank you.’”

Wahda’s victory means they still have a slim chance of qualifying for next season’s AFC Champions League as they are five points off fourth-placed Al Jazira with two matches left to play.

That’s not the predicament for other notable coaches in the league though, with Al Ahli’s Quique Sanchez Flores and Wasl’s Diego Maradona now incapable of securing a spot in the continent’s elite-level club competition.

Hickersberger – a former Wasl manager himself in the 2000-2001 season – expressed sympathy for the latter’s plight as well, adding somewhat cryptically: “It’s difficult. I know – I’ve been there 12 years ago.

“Al Wasl is a very difficult club to work with. It’s not easy there because there are many people involved in the procedure.

“Don’t ask just about the results of Al Wasl. It’s difficult. He cannot score anymore. On Sunday, with those chances, he would have scored for sure – even now, with five kilogrammes overweight.”

alex@khaleejtimes.com