No prizes for having guessed Sredojević’s fate at Zamalek

The warning signs were there from day one, and perhaps coach Milutin Sredojević should have heeded them before signing on the dotted line with Egyptian giants Zamalek in August.

This is a club that often changes coaches with the regularity of the infamous latenight government reshuffles that were a hallmark of former president Jacob Zuma’s regime, and the former Orlando Pirates coach should have listened to the many observers who warned him about the unpredictable nature of eccentric Zamalek owner Mortada Mansour.

Predictably, the Serb lasted exactly 137 days after swapping Johannesburg for Cairo in a blaze of publicity, and surely noone was surprised when the two parties unceremoniously parted ways on Monday night. Tension had been simmering for days, and given that Mansour is notorious for his impatience, it was only a matter of time before the likable coach was made to walk the plank.

Let’s face it folks, Sredojević was always on borrowed time as he had to contend with a tempestuous section of the fans who insisted he was a lightweight, in over his head at a club a lot bigger than his profile.

Then the poor guy also had to deal with a crippling wage dispute that has seen some players not being paid for four months. The writing was on the wall a few days ago when the players refused to train in protest over their unpaid wages and the coach himself soon realised his stay in Cairo had become untenable.

But as I mentioned above, the events of this week hardly came as a surprise and perhaps the Serb mentor would have done himself a world of good had he taken a squint at a piece we published on our digital and print platforms in the early stages of his flirtation with Mansour while he was still at Pirates.

We said Sredojević’s new boss was nothing like he’d ever encountered in his career and it wasn’t far-fetched to suggest the inscription on his headstone was written as the ink was drying on his new contract.

His sacking was as inevitable as death and taxes, as Mansour has presided over 23 coaching changes in the five years he has been president, though that does include temporary appointments. Winning titles apparently doesn’t guarantee you safety, as some of the coaches were shown the door after bringing home trophies.

We mentioned that the eccentric club boss usually has no time for niceties and allows his mouth to shoot first and then deals with the consequences later. He once threatened war with Ethiopia and said on live television that the Emir of Qatar could “go to hell and take his mother with him”. Gripping stuff! Sredojević’s appointment to the coaching seat should have set off alarm bells as Mansour first denied he’d hired him, then admitted he had, then denied again, and then you get the picture. The Zamalek boss told a live television audience he had signed another Serbian, Aleksandar Stanojević, then denied he had ever said so. Think about that for a moment. How on earth can someone deny ever doing a television interview when there are visuals to prove it?

Just as the media were trying to catch their breath, he admitted he had said it but added it was just a clever “trick to find out who the club’s enemies are and I exposed them in front of everyone”. Unbelievable. See what I mean?

The signs were always there and the coach should have listened.

Coaches are pretty much an endangered species at Zamalek and given their crazy turnover under Mansour, Sredojević had a better chance of lasting in the job than of Sunday Times sports editor Bareng-Batho Kortjaas committing to a vegetarian diet for longer than 48 hours.

Sredojević could have saved himself so much trouble had he just read our piece.