Dubai deny coach switch talks with Baroot while Ajman concede lack of foreign contribution

The relegation-threatened Dubai team back their Swiss manager while Ajman lay the blame of poor show on their expatriate players.

Eid Baroot was cited as a replacement but the Dubai club have denied the reports. Christopher Pike / The National

Relegation-threatened Dubai club have denied they are in talks with Eid Baroot to replace Umberto Barberis and have given their beleaguered Swiss coach a vote of confidence.

Barberis replaced compatriot Martin Rueda at the Al Awir club in October after six league matches, during which they beat Emirates 3-2 and held Al Jazira 2-2 for four points. In the 10 matches since, Dubai have earned only five points with a win 2-1 over Ajman and draws against Al Wahda and Ajman.

Those disappointing results have left Dubai with a battle on their hands to avoid relegation after four consecutive seasons in the top division. They share the bottom spot with Ajman on nine points, one behind Al Shaab and six adrift of Emirates. The bottom two sides at the end of the season are relegated.

Club officials, however, believe what the team needs now is stability instead of change and are confident Barberis can keep them up.

“The management is keen to keep the stability of the team, which is currently led by the Swiss Umberto Barberis,” said the team manager Khalid Al Kaabi. “We have not opened the doors of negotiations with any coach, including Eid Baroot, and we have no intentions of doing so.”

With the league on a break until February 6, Khalifa Obaid bin Humaidan, the vice chairman of Dubai’s board of directors, is confident Barberis can iron out the flaws of the team and get enough points in the remaining 10 matches to keep their place in the Arabian Gulf League.

“We have no intention of changing the manager or the foreign players,” Bin Humaidan said. “The team has been playing well, but a few minor glitches are responsible for our current situation.

“During the break, the coach staff will be working on correcting those issues and, with greater effort and focus in the coming period, I am confident we can start taking steps towards the safety zone.

“The way the bottom of the league table looks at the moment, I think the relegation battle will not be decided until the final round. But we need to make sure we step up, take responsibility and start reaping points, and not wait on the results of the other teams.”

Meanwhile, reports in Spain claimed Primera Liga club Elche are close to signing Al Jazira’s Paraguayan striker Nelson Valdez on loan for six months, with the option of making the deal permanent at the end of the season.

Valdez has been taken off Jazira’s roster following the arrival of Ecuadorean striker Felipe Caicedo and, according to Spanish website www.laverdad.es, Elche are willing to pay €700,000 (Dh3.5 million) for the loan spell and €2m should they make the deal permanent at the end of the season.

Valdez, however, has yet to agree terms, though a week ago, he had told Spanish radio Urbana Al Maximo that he was “proud that Elche are interested in me”.

According to the report, with other Spanish clubs such as Celta Vigo and Rayo Vallecano also in the fray for his services, and a few Italian clubs also showing their interest, the 30-year-old South American isconsidering his options.

Jazira have also agreed to Al Nasr’s offer for Ali Al Ameri with the 25-year-old defender signing a four-and-a-half year contract with the Dubai club yesterday.

FOREIGN FLAVOUR LACKING

Ajman have ruled out any changes to their foreign quartet in the winter transfer window, despite strong criticism of their collective performance by coach Abulwahab Abdulqadir.

Ajman are bottom of the Arabian Gulf League points table with only nine points from 16 matches. Winners of the Etisalat Cup last season, they have won just one league match this term, defeating Al Wasl 4-2 in the fifth round in October.

Since then, they accumulated only five points from five draws, and Abdulqadir blames his underperforming foreign players for the sorry state of the team.

Captain Boris Kabi, who finished third behind Asmoah Gyan (31) and Grafite (24) in the goalscoring charts last season with 23, has a more modest strike rate this time around with nine in 16 matches.

Simon Feindouno has contributed five of Ajman’s 22 goals from midfield, while Kuwaiti striker Yousuf Nasser has only two. Moroccan Driss Fettouhi has struggled with injuries and has missed seven matches.

“Things are getting harder for Ajman because of the poor performance of the foreign players,” Abdulqadir said after the loss 2-1 loss to Sharjah on Friday. “If you look at every team, the foreign players are their strengths. The team depends on them and they deliver, but unfortunately that is not the case at Ajman.

“Our foreign players have been far from effective. They are playing like individuals, dribbling around, and that is a big problem.”

Nasser, Ajman’s Asian player, accepted Abdulqadir’s criticism. He said: “The coach has a point of view and we fully respect that.

“So I am not going to comment on that, but what I can say is the foreign players here at Ajman are good and they are just missing a bit of luck. We need that to be success.”

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