11/19/2008
Mehran Afshar, lastkick.com

Mehran Afshar reports from Perspolis FC’s training ground in Tehran.

It was around 11.30 on Wednesday morning and only Dariush Mostafavi was in the middle of the field interviewing with reporter Anooshirvan Ariamanesh of IRIB Network.

The fans gathered in groups of 10 – 15 with their hand in their pockets and hunched shoulders, shaking their heads and discussing the dire situation their team is facing.

"We all saw this coming", a young fan in his early 20s said "After the Saba match, it was obvious that he is under pressure from the management". "Agha (fellows)! We cannot have coaches like Ghotbi in our football. Our football is designed for coaches like Mayeli Kohan, Farshad Piyus, Ghale Noee, and not educated gentlemen like Afshin Ghotbi!" A middle aged grayed hair man, with Gilani accent was shouting, and others around him shook their heads in agreement!

"Who is going to coach us for the Paykan game?" A worried young boy was asking. Another guy replied, "Afshin Peyrovani will take over". An older fan chuckled and whispered "He succeeded in what Estili could not". When asked to elaborate he said, "He did it silently, and cleverly. He wanted the top spot, but had to get rid of Ghotbi first". "But they looked very close and supportive of each other; at least on TV and during the matches", a young boy snapped. "Uh! Come on! We all knew it. It was obvious in the practice sessions; there was no warm relationship between them".

Pointing to the construction site next to the ground one fan said, “See these cements and bricks here, yesterday, Ghotbi was complaining why the noisy construction work should go on while the team is practicing here! We are the champions for god sake; couldn’t these masons and workers take a break till after our practice session is over?!”

Outside the training ground a few people were trying to look trough the fences. Among them was a lady who was worried about Ghotbi’s resignation. “Oh! Good for him! He free of this chaos and misery! These guys don’t want to have such decent guys around; they tortured him so much that he could not take it anymore!”

Ahmedreza Abedzadeh approached the crowd and answered some questions: “Who will stand between the sticks for Paykan game? Is our goal safe?” An excited fan was asking. “Don’t worry, our goal will be safe”, Abedzadeh replied. “What happened to Afshin Ghotbi?” another one asked Abedzadeh. “He is taking some time off” the Eagle replied slowly, trying to calm down the crowd and remain composed.

The players came out of their cloak room and started to warm up with Komassi at the lead. They tried to look normal, but the tension was evident underneath their weak smiles, and there was no sign of the league champions on site.