Sobhi’s left in limbo as loan spell in Egypt ends
THE agent of Huddersfield Town winger Ramadan Sobhi says no decision will be taken on where his future lies until there is more clarity over what is happening with football in the face of the coronavirus pandemic.
Sobhi, 23, has been on loan at Egyptian Premier League side Al-Ahly since December 2018 after finding his opportunities limited to just 75 minutes across four games for the Terriers following a move from Stoke City after the 2018 World Cup in Russia, where he shone for Egypt.
Sobhi rediscovered the kind of form that prompted David Wagner to sign him, shining for the Cairo club this season, netting five goals in nine games before a thigh injury curtailed his progress in December.
The Egyptian international, who was linked with a move to Turkish side Kasimpasa last month, has one year left on his Town deal but his agent, Nader Shawky, says that whether he remains at Al-Ahly or moves elsewhere is still unclear.
He said: “We haven’t taken any decision related to Sobhi. Everything is halted right now and nobody knows the fate of the league whether this season or the next one.
“The talk about Ramadan’s stay or departure from Al-Ahly are just rumours.
“The situation is critical for the current season and nobody can affirm anything because things are not clear.
“If a club came to speak with me to sign Sobhi I won’t listen to them.
“No club would manage to grant me full details on their respective league.”
THEY had only been at the Lincoln City helm for a matter of months in 2016 but there were plenty of National League managers keen to make Danny Cowley their new best mate.
Prior to the appointment of Cowley and brother Nicky at Sincil Bank – an appointment that catapulted a side in the doldrums of English football’s fifth tier into League One, picking up a Checkatrade Trophy success and FA Cup quarter-final appearance along the way – they had raised eyebrows at Braintree Town.
On a tiny budget The Iron finished third in the National League in 2015/16, above former EFL clubs Grimsby Town and Tranmere Rovers and the Cowleys’ future employers Lincoln City.
Braintree were supposed to be the ‘gimme’ for clubs in that division, they were supposed to roll over and get their belly tickled by the ever-growing contingent of former Football League clubs with loftier ambitions.
Long before landing the Huddersfield Town job, Cowley was getting the better of managers with bigger pay packets and bigger budgets, while also juggling a job as a PE teacher.
But with the structure and discipline that is required to bring the best out of a class of children lies the ability to compartmentalise, to focus on set tasks, to not muddle thinking and to set clear and objective goals.
It’s no coincidence that another EFL manager who has achieved success beyond what should be realistically possible, Accrington Stanley manager John Coleman, also came from a teaching background.
When Lincoln began to dominate in 2016/17 following the arrival of the Cowleys it caused a ripple among managers in the division, managers who were keen to pick the brains of the duo, keen to understand their level of detail, the lengths they went to to succeed and how they managed to squeeze more out of their resources than others could.
It was allconsuming for the brothers. The target is continued growth, better learning and, in turn, progression up the football pyramid.
Recruitment was the major factor. Planning was put in place well in advance to bring in players who not only had the right attributes but the right mentality. Cowley brought in two of his trusty lieutenants from Braintree, Sam Habergham and Alex Woodyard, two players who would become vital cogs in one of the most remarkable seasons in the Imps’ history.
The mindset of the club was changing after the Cowley’s arrival. In a recent interview, Danny Cowley stressed the need to bring people along on a journey with you in order to achieve your goals. From the players to the staff to the fans.
The turnaround at Sincil Bank was nothing short of remarkable. Where there had been empty seats and apathy at water treading in non-League football, there was now near sell-out crowds, red flares and the ‘Poznan.’ It was a remarkable thing to witness, it felt like a club genuinely going through the very best of times. Maybe they were. Promotion followed promotion as the planning was executed to a tee once more. But there is only so much you can eke out of limited resource, there has to come a period where you reach a natural level, where no matter how much planning is put in place it won’t be enough to
The target is continued
growth, better learning and, in turn, progression up the football
pyramid