Al Wasl part company with Hector Cuper

Barnaby Read 15:48 04/03/2014
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  • Having managed only four wins in sixteen attempts since taking charge last November, the Al Wasl board has today announced that Argentine manager Hector Cuper has left the club by mutual consent.

    Cuper becomes the 6th managerial casualty at Al Wasl since compatriot Diego Maradona was axed by the Dubai club in the summer of 2012 with the team out of all cup competitions and wallowing in 10th in the Arabian Gulf League (AGL).

    Announcing the news on their official Twitter account, Al Wasl said: "After a meeting held between #AlWasl Football Club and the coach Hector Cuper, they agreed to finish the contract by mutual consent.

    "#AlWasl management wish the best for the Argentine coach Hector Cuper and we thank him all that he has done at his time as first team coach."

    The final nail in the coffin seems to have been Al Wasl's 3-2 home defeat to local rivals Al Nasr last night that ensured the side's exit from the Emirates Cup and, ultimately, delivered Cuper's demise just four months into the role.

    58 year-old Cuper enjoyed successful stints at both Inter and Valencia, leading the latter to consecutive Champions League final defeats at the turn of the millenium, but could not do enough to arrest Wasl's terrible campaign.

    Wasl's season has not only been marred by poor performances on the pitch. The club's board walked out en masse in January this year after a run of three losses in four games that unltimately undermined Cuper and his side's efforts that were painfully below par.

    Frenchman Laurent Banide was similarly ousted prior to Cuper's appointment although Banide's early-season record of three wins out of six reflects significantly better than Cuper's ration of a win every four games.

    Al Wasl have confirmed that UAE coach Saeed Abdul Rahman will once again take temporary charge of the club, having performed a similar role when Banide was sacked.

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