Last season’s treble winners Sheikh Russell Krira Chakra sacked coach Maruful Haque and his two assistants coaches and replaced him with Montenegrin Dragan Gjukanovic in a dramatic move on Saturday. Russell are struggling to reproduce their last season’s performance and have already been dethroned in Federation Cup and Independence Cup. The 46-year-old coach, Gjukanovic, has already arrived Dhaka to take charge of Russell, who are languishing in third position in the ongoing Bangladesh Premier League with 15 points from 10 matches.
The move was completely surprising given how Russell handled Maruf, who reportedly did not have the slightest clue about his possible termination.
Maruf, who attended the training session even on Friday, is believed to have a good relationship with the club officials, who were very happy with him after the treble winning feat. The club paid Maruf Tk 18 lakh this season, the highest for a Bangladeshi coach ever to receive from a club.
However, he fell from the grace after Russell failed to reach the final of Federation Cup and the Independence Cup with club being eliminated from the quarter-finals stage in both the tournaments.
‘We are grateful to Maruful Hauqe because he delivered the club a treble in the last season,’ club president Nurul Alam Chowdhury told New Age on Saturday.
‘But the ongoing season was not good for us as we lost the Federation Cup and Independence Cup and we are not in a good position in the league as well.
`What disappointed us most was the performance of the team in the recently-concluded Independence Cup.
‘We felt that the club could have done a lot better. Since there is a case for accountability, we have decided to sack the whole coaching staff including the head coach, assistant coach Zulfikar Ali Mintu and goalkeeping coach Humayun Kabir.
‘I am making it all clear that the decision was taken after discussing the matter with the coaches and through full professionalism,’ added Alam.
With the termination Russell severed a three-year long relation with Maruf, who has been at the club since 2011-12 season. The decision came months after Maruf turned down an offer to act as an assistant to national team’s Dutch coach Lodewijk de Kruif.
Maruf was not available for comments as his mobile phone was found switched off.
Russell’s new coach Gjukanovic has a 12-year coaching experience after retiring from playing career.
Russell also appointed former national team assistant coach Milon Mollah as Gjukanovic’s assistant.
-With New Age input
