Composed coach?

Egypt's famous bad boy of Egyptian football -- as a player and a coach -- has returned. Inas Mazhar reports

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Hassan

Hossam Hassan, 43, is the new head coach of Egypt Telecom, or Masria Etisalat succeeding Helmi Tolan who failed to achieve meaningful results with the team.

But Hassan's managerial debut for Telecom was anything but successful after going down to Enppi 1-0. The loss failed to end Telecom's 12-match winless streak and they remain on 20 points, third from bottom, and in the relegation zone.

Hassan had previously been head coach of the Masri club of Port Said and his twin brother Ibrahim was the team's administrative manager. The twins did an excellent job with Masri last season and started this season strongly by beating defending champions Ahli 2-0.

But the twins' future looked bleak after a series of clashes with referees. Hossam Hassan was ousted from several matches, and then was banned by the Egyptian Football Association from attending team matches or even leading them from the bench. It had thus become a familiar scene to see Hassan, the coach, sitting in the stands with Ibrahim taking his place the bench.

The problems were compounded during an away match in an African zonal match against Begaia of Algeria, after the twins argued vociferously with the referee. Accordingly, the local fans showed their disapproval by yelling and swearing at the twins. Ibrahim gestured to the crowds using obscenities.

Back home, the twins were fired by Masri, fined by the African federation and suspended by the EFA which summoned Hassan for questioning. He refused.

When Egypt Telecom asked Hassan to take over, EFA President Samir Zaher refused the move until Hassan submitted to the investigation. Hassan appeared on several TV programmes and newspaper interviews in which he apologised to Egyptian football officials and fans and promised to remain composed in future. And though he was eventually questioned by the EFA, and coached Telecom last week, Hassan must still await a final decision by the EFA board of directors who were scheduled to meet last Wednesday.

But the question remains: Are there any guarantees that Hossam Hassan will keep his word and composure in the future?