Al Wasl confirm Calderon as Jorginho replacement

Barnaby Read 15:43 14/10/2014
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  • Poisoned chalice: Gabriel Calderon.

    Argentine Gabriel Calderon has today been confirmed as the tenth Al Wasl manager in four years following the sacking of Brazilian Jorginho yesterday evening.

    As first reported by Sport360, the former Baniyas, Al Ittihad, Al Hilal and Saudi Arabia boss joins Wasl on a one-year contract.

    Jorginho was relieved of his duties after just six competitive games in charge at the Zabeel Stadium, having only been hired in April as Hector Cuper's successor. 

    Emirati Salem Abdulrahman was caretaker manager at the tail end of last season, serving as intermediary between the respective terms of Cuper and Jorginho.

    Calderon was appointed ahead of former Al Ain, Al Nasr and Al Jazira boss Walter Zenga who was believed to have been in the frame for the role up until this week.

    The news first broke via the Twitter account of team manager Humaid Yousuf on Monday afternoon.

    “The administration has dispensed with the services of Brazilian coach Jorginho and an alternative will be named tomorrow [Tuesday]. Thank you Jorginho,” he tweeted.

    This was followed by the club's official Twitter account today revealing Calderon as the latest man to take up the rather poisoned chalice at Wasl.

    Calderon's time at Baniyas in the 2011/12 season included a ninth-placed finish and a 3-1 President’s Cup final defeat to Al Jazira, before he was sacked by Bahrain in August 2013. He then left Real Betis in June following relegation from La Liga.

    The 23-times capped Argentinian joins the Chettahs with the team 10th in the Arabian Gulf League, having registered one win and two draws from their first five league games.

    Calderon's first game in charge will be against league leaders Al Wahda on Saturday evening.

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