Coach Abel Braga’s wretched return to Al Jazira was brought to an end yesterday after he was forced out just six months into a two-year contract.
Braga, 63, was brought back to the capital this summer with a mandate to repeat his trophy-laden first spell in charge from 2008-11. But a miserable 2015-16 reached its nadir during Thursday’s 4-0 thrashing at Fujairah, leaving last season’s runners-up a lowly 11th in the Arabian Gulf League.
This result proved the final straw for the hierarchy, chairman His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed Al Nahyan and vice-chairman His Highness Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan giving their consent to bid farewell to the Brazilian. He undertook training last night and then informed the squad of his departure.
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“Al Jazira Football Company & the Brazilian coach Abel Braga have agreed to terminate their contract by mutual consent,” the club twee-ted late last night.
“We will be hiring a new professional coach in the next few days.”
The Pride of Abu Dhabi are expected to turn to either Under-21s boss Ali Al Jneibi or academy director Brian Eastick while they wait to acquire a permanent successor.
A pre-planned press conference to preview Tuesday’s Arabian Gulf Cup clash against Dibba Al Fujairah at 16:30 will still go ahead at Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium despite the announcement.
It’s the one we’ve all been waiting for. Understand #Braga has been sacked by @AlJazira_uae. Squad have been informed of decision @Sport360
— Matt Monaghan (@mattmonaghan360) December 12, 2015
Braga’s removal has seen him become the seventh coach fired by the club since he departed four years ago after he lifted the top-flight and President’s Cup double. His exit has also seen 12 backroom staff lose their jobs.
Speaking after the abysmal loss on the East Coast last week which ultimately cost him his job, the former Brazil and Paris Saint-Germain centre-back had appeared confident about turning around his side’s fortunes.
He said: “Our team did not improve with the reduction in long passes and four moves resulted in four goals. The failure to profit from our offensive opportunities also contributed to the loss.
“I stress that Jazira is able to overcome this difficult period which we are going through, especially as we will work to rebuild the team in spite of this and the team will soon return to winning ways.”
Braga’s re-hiring in June after the ruthless exit of predecessor Eric Gerets made Jazira one of the leading contenders for domestic glory.
This feeling was only strengthened when an already-impressive squad was further boosted by the signings of Schalke 04 forward Jefferson Farfan, Al Hilal attacking midfielder Thiago Neves, Al Ain centre-back Fares Juma and Guangzhou R&F centre midfielder Park Jong-woo.
But results have been awful throughout his tenure.
The club began their AGL campaign with a 2-1 home loss to Al Wasl. Successive top-flight victories against Sharjah and Al Wahda followed, before a two-and-a-half-month winless run in all competitions ended on December 5 with a 5-1 dismantling of bottom-placed Al Shaab.
Jazira are bottom of Group B in the AG Cup and are expected to take an U-21 selection with them to Dibba as they stand no chance of making the semi-finals.
