Despite falling short in their pursuit of Al Ain and the league title, Eric Gerets is adamant he will be in Abu Dhabi next season to oversee Al Jazira’s title charge.
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The Belgian signed a two-year contract last May and the former Lekhwiya coach says it will be a “pleasure” to honour his deal at Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium.
It may not be his choice in the extremely fickle environment of the Arabian Gulf League – the Pride of Abu Dhabi having hired six different coaches in the last three years – but Gerets was buoyed by comments emanating from the club this week that suggested he will remain in charge next season.
The club, via its Twitter account, denied rumours that it was looking to hire a new coach on Monday, confirming the board of directors will meet at the end of the season to evaluate the performance of the playing and coaching staff.
“It’s easy. I have a contract for next season,” said Gerets at a press conference ahead of the Al Shabab game. “If somebody tells me ‘we don’t like you to stay’ it’s another story,” at which point goalkeeper Ali Khaseif said “no, he stay”.
Gerets added: “But if the club says that the work, the job that has been done, is OK, they want me to continue, with a lot of pleasure I will finish my contract.
1/3شركة الجزيرة لكرة القدم تنفي الشائعات الواردة بخصوص التعاقد مع مدرب جديد للفريق؛ ومازال السيد جيريتس يمارس عمله.
— AlJazira FC Official (@AlJazira_uae) April 27, 2015
2/3 وان مجلس ادارة الشركة سوف يجتمع في نهاية الموسم من أجل تقييم اداء الجهاز الفني واللاعبين
— AlJazira FC Official (@AlJazira_uae) April 27, 2015
3/3 يؤكد المكتب الإعلامي أن أبواب النادي مفتوحة للإعلاميين من أجل التواصل عبر القنوات الرسمية من خلال موقع النادي أو المتحدث الرسمي
— AlJazira FC Official (@AlJazira_uae) April 27, 2015
“But you know, in football, what is true today is not necessarily true the day later, because there are a lot of things happening at the end of a season in a club, with the coach, with players.
“So what concerns myself is that I stick to my contract, which is for another year.”
Ali Mabkhout scored a hat-trick against Shabab in a 4-3 win at Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum Stadium in December and Gerets confirmed the local hero will feature on Friday, despite dealing with a small injury.
The Belgian will, however, be hampered by the absence of three key players. AGL top scorer Mirko Vucinic, who has 25 goals in his debut campaign, winger Jonathan Pitroipa and midfield anchor Khamis Esmail will all miss the game after picking up bookings in the 2-1 win against Sharjah.
“If we win we are vice champions so that makes it a little bit more clear,” said the 60-year-old.
“Unfortunately, we have three players who took yellow cards, so that means that Mirko is out, Pitroipa is out, that Khamis is out, but I am sure we will find a team that will give a big challenge to Shabab.
“I always say to my players if you are not good enough to be first, you have to be second. If you are not good enough to be second, maximum you have to be is third.
“Now we have the chance to be second, because we have to be honest the best team this season was Al Ain.
“We have a chance to prove we are the second-best team in the Arabian Gulf League. This is a chance that we should take with both hands.”
He described Zlatko Dalic’s side as worthy champions, but warned the Boss to expect another title challenge from the Pride of Abu Dhabi next season.
“They have the most points so the team at the end of the race who have most of the points (deserve to be champions),” he said.
“We played a good game here against them. We played an even better game there and I think if the captain (Ali Khaseif) would be in the goal, I think we would not have lost that game.
“But that’s life, so congratulations to Al Ain and we will give you a rendezvous next season to have a better challenge, to beat them.”
Emirati stopper Khaseif said finishing second and beating Shabab, who are three points behind in third, will be important.
Support and Vote for @MirkoVucinic @ali_mabkhout @maanuulanzini10 @khamis025 who are nominated for #AGLAwards https://t.co/jxB4DdltRV
— AlJazira FC Official (@AlJazira_uae) April 28, 2015
“It’s to be vice champion for the Arabian Gulf League. We have to focus,” said the 27-year-old. “We have some players who will not be there, but also we have other talented players, and we will focus to get the three points.”
He also said the team will concentrate on trying to win the President’s Cup, as well as focus on winning the “best titles” next season.
“I really appreciate the Al Jazira fans’ support and we apologise for not getting the title,” he added.
“We are focused on getting all the titles during the season and we are trying to get the best titles next season. This season we still have the President’s Cup and we hope to win the title.”
