ABU DHABI // Baniyas are hoping their most successful ever manager can produce “a little miracle” after appointing Abdulwahab Abdulqadir for a third spell at the struggling Arabian Gulf League club.
Baniyas are rooted to the bottom of the AGL table, and having won only once this season, are seven points from safety.
The Abu Dhabi club parted company with Jose Gomes after the 4-2 home defeat to Al Shabab on Friday. The Portuguese was appointed in October to replace Pablo Repetto, who arrived last summer.
During his first spell in charge, Abdulqadir led Baniyas to promotion to Division 1 in 1988 before guiding the club to the 1992 President’s Cup.
“He (Abdulqadir) is a familiar face in UAE football and we have confidence in him to do a little miracle for us,” said Jassim Abdullah Al Shrfa, head of Baniyas’s board of directors.
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“We have a contract with him not bound by a time-period. He can continue with this role as long as possible. Abdulwahab, for sure, has a very difficult job and we feel he’s the man who can do it for us.”
Abdulqadir initially arrived in the UAE in 1983 as a youth team coach for Al Shabab. After four years, the Iraqi took charge of the Baniyas first team, a position he held for five years.
After a two-year spell as the youth coach at Al Wahda, Abdulqadir returned to Baniyas in 1996, only to leave the following year to take up the role as manager for the UAE Under-19 national team. He was also an assistant manager for the UAE senior side under Carlos Queiroz during the 1998 Gulf Cup in Saudi Arabia.
Among other roles in UAE football, Abdulqader took charge of Ajman for two spells, where he led the club to the Etisalat Cup in 2013. He was subsequently named Pro League Coach of the Year.
“I didn’t blink an eyelid when I was offered the job,” Abdulqadir said. “This is the club that provided my first break in the first team and I spent seven seasons over two spells.
“I have a lot of good memories with them. I have of course come during a difficult period and my first task would be to raise the confidence of the players. There are a few technical matters that need to be taken care of.
“However, my immediate task is to prepare them for the next game against Hatta on Saturday. A good result is what we would be looking for. If we can achieve that, then we can take it from there.”
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