Former Orlando Pirates coach Micho under-fire at Zamalek

Milutin ‘Micho’ Sredojević, who left Orlando Pirates to take up a post at Zamalek has seen his time in Egypt turn sour quickly.

Zamalek fans took to social media with ferocity to demand the coach be sacked after the Egyptian giants were defeated by ‘the worst team in the league’.

Former Orlando Pirates boss under attack in Egypt

Calls for Micho’s axing have led to the coach trending on social media in Egypt after what has been viewed as a tactically inept display against ENPPI, who languished at the bottom of the Egyptian Premier League before their 2-1 win over the weekend.

Micho left Orlando Pirates in a hurry, the coach claimed to be leaving the country to be with his ailing mother, but soon after he departed the move to Zamalek was announced. The coach was also accused of sexually harrassing a hotel employee, who opened a criminal case against the Serbian.

The former Buccaneers boss has been the subject of a torrent of abuse on Twitter in particular with the hashtag Micho Must Walk [loosely translated from Arabic] trending. Fans have levelled a lot of personal abuse at the coach but most of the criticism has to do with his style of play and his tactical approach.

Micho the ballboy

Fans accused Micho of being little more than a ballboy for club president Mortada Mansour, whom some Egyptian Media outlets believe has dictated Zamalek’s starting XI.

“Zamalek lost to ENPPI, one of the worst teams in the Egyptian Premier League, it was their first win over the club in a long time,” Mahmoud Dia of Goal Arabia told KickOff.com.

“Some media outlets have claimed club president Mortada Mansour told him to play with two strikers, which saw him take out Shikakbala, one of the stars of Zamalek and played Mostafa Mohamed and Omar El Said.

“It took just 20 seconds for them to concede the first goal, in the second half, Micho went back to what he wants, with Shikabala in for Said.

“He played wing-back in midfield, totally out of position and many fans were angry about this.

“Since Micho joined Zamalek, none of the fans has seen his ability, his style to win matches effectively, they are upset about his squad selection, he is fielding players they view as the worst and not their favourites.

“I think he needs to just start playing the players in their rightful positions with a different formation to get the fans back on his side.” 

Dia believes that the former Orlando Pirates boss still has the support of the big boss but embarrasment in their Champions League group stage opener against TP Mazembe could spell the end for the Wolf.

“I don’t think he will be sacked because Mansour said after the game that it was the referees’ fault about the defeat and called out Tarek Mohamed and Abdallah Gomaa for not wanting to train for the team.” Dia added.

“Next match is away to TP Mazembe and if they lose with a high score, I think Micho will be sacked.”