Pitso Mosimane has been harshly criticised after leaving Iranian giants Esteghlal, with the club’s former CEO Hojjat Karimi questioning his credentials.
The South African tactician, who is currently Africa’s most successful club coach, left Esteghlal over payment issues and is currently a free agent.
However, Mosimane’s departure hasn’t gone down well in Iran, with Esteghlal’s former CEo hitting back at Mosimane.
“Right from the start, the gentlemen claimed that they brought the African Lion to Iran,” he said, as per Varzesh3.
“Why did we need to bring a coach from Africa and a country whose football is much weaker than ours? We didn’t say anything during this time so as not to weaken the team, but it was clear to me that he wouldn’t succeed.
“Instead of bringing a coach to Esteghlal from a country with a style in football, we brought a coach from a place where I think Iran should export coaches [to].”
Karimi went on to question the financials of Mosimane’s deal, saying for the amount of money Esteghlal paid the South African they could’ve appointed better coaches – in his opinion.
“The amount of Mosimane’s contract with Esteghlal, which was on par with the great world coaches, is truly unbelievable; especially for someone who certainly has much better coaches in Iran,” he added.
“Interestingly, if we look at Iranian coaches, they create a thousand rumors and gossip about why you pay them so much money, while among Iranian coaches there are more qualified figures who could have become Esteghlal’s head coach, and among the foreign options there were definitely better coaches.”
