Branko Ivankovic; New Head Coach of Persepolis

Branko Ivankovic has been appointed as the new head coach of Persepolis. This Croatian coach has not managed a team in the past year, with his last coaching stint being in 2013 at Dinamo Zagreb, which lasted less than 50 days. Mahmoud Khordbin, the caretaker of Persepolis, commented on whether this change can be seen as a 'positive shock', stating to reporters, 'The team does not appear to have experienced a positive shock, as they have not trained well. I am not saying that Hamid's departure is a shock. His resignation was related to Branko's arrival. He knew his time was up and resigned.' Under Hamid Derakhshan's management, Persepolis experienced one of its weakest seasons in history in terms of results, leading to the decision to bring in another foreign coach. Branko previously managed the Iranian national team during the 2006 World Cup. Derakhshan resigned but expressed readiness to lead Persepolis against Al-Nassr, which was not accepted by the club officials. After Nejadfalah's visit to Istanbul to negotiate with Branko and finalize the agreement, Ivankovic signed a one-and-a-half-year contract. The vice president of Persepolis stated that the new head coach would leave Istanbul for Tehran early Tuesday morning. Branko, who is 61 years old, had previously been unable to come to Tehran due to a tax issue, but the Persepolis club has announced that this issue has been resolved. Branko's debt was 78 million tomans, with an additional 160 million tomans in late fees. It has been agreed that Branko will pay the tax debt himself, while the penalty will be the responsibility of Persepolis. According to the contract terms, a fitness coach, a goalkeeping coach, and a foreign assistant coach will be utilized. Two Iranian assistants will also be part of his coaching staff, who have not yet been introduced. The management of the Persepolis team for the Wednesday match against Al-Nassr will be handled by Hossein Abdi. He does not seem satisfied with Branko's recruitment. Abdi has always been considered one of the candidates for the Persepolis coaching position, and now that this opportunity has arisen, he can only appear in the head coach role for one game. After Persepolis training, Abdi told reporters, 'There are so many rumors that we need to reflect on. I don’t know, we heard these talks yesterday during practice. Nejadfalah spoke to the players about someone as a coach who has not yet arrived. Such discussions should not have been raised as it complicates management. We should have acted more professionally to avoid problems.' The interim head coach of Persepolis commented on Nejadfalah's 'unprofessional behavior', stating, 'Whatever was going to happen should have been done within the framework of professional matters. Persepolis has deviated from normalcy this year. Several CEOs and head coaches have changed. The coaching staff's salaries have not yet been paid, and actions are being taken in isolation.' Regarding Sosha Makani, the expelled goalkeeper of Persepolis, Abdi stated, 'Any player who behaves like this should no longer have a place in the team. However, we must help the team now, and if it happens again, there will be no way for Sosha Makani to return. In my opinion, Sosha Makani was expelled, but we did this to help the team!'