Olaroiu to stay at Al Ahli, insists chairman Al Naboodah

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  • Cosmin and Abdullah Al Naboodah celebrate with the AGL trophy.

    Al Ahli chairman Abdullah Al Naboodah is “absolutely” convinced boss Cosmin Olaroiu will remain at the helm of the Arabian Gulf League champions next season despite an acknowledgement of some internal discontent about him.

    Olaroiu, 46, has cast a shadow over the club’s celebrations of a seventh domestic crown since he dropped a bombshell about a possible summer exit after last month’s 2-2 draw with Bani Yas. This was followed by proclamations last Friday he would “never be somebody’s toy” and certain factions were averse to his continued employment.

    Speaking after Sunday’s lifting of the top-flight trophy, Al Naboodah answered affirmatively the Romanian would “absolutely” remain in situ and went on to add the latest outburst was caused by opposition from a mystery figure – not himself – at Rashid Stadium against the fulfilment of a contract which runs until 2018.

    He said: “I’ve seen (Friday’s) press conference and I’d leave him (Olaroiu) to answer that, because I know who he’s talking about, but I don’t want to say.

    “The club position won’t change. Our reply was always that with Cosmin we have a two-year contract and that is what we are relying on in terms of the relationship between Cosmin and the club.

    “In the past, not the last press conference but the one before, I think the comments the coach made weren’t understood by a lot of people. But he explained in the second that ‘it’s not about me leaving Al Ahli, it’s about other reasons’.

    “I’ll leave the reasons for him to answer. It’s not my place to answer, but there are other reasons for him to complain about, which we don’t know what they are.”

    The Red Knights – who have not scheduled any emergency talks with their coveted coach – breezed to a 5-0 triumph against sorry Al Shaab which saw them end the league campaign on a record 66 points. They meet the same opponents during Friday’s President’s Cup quarter-final, with Olaroiu looking to claim the sixth trophy of a glorious three-year reign.

    A near-miss during his tenure was last year’s 1-0 aggregate loss to Guangzhou Evergrande in the AFC Champions League final. Al Naboodah revealed growing aspirations mean becoming Asian kings for the first time is now a realistic aim when the team return to the competition in 2017.

    He said: “If I look back a few years ago, for me the big, big challenge to overcome was the Champions League. Going back to that, after reaching the final and seeing how we compete in Asia and in the Champions League, I thought it’s not a dream any more, it’s actually a target now.

    “We need to improve; it’s very important for us to improve. If you want to win the Champions League, you need to be a little bit better.”

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