Deputy Chairman of Al Rayyan club Abdullah Al Mutawa
DOHA: Al Rayyan, who failed to win a trophy last season, are looking for a replacement for outgoing coach Michael Laudrup, it has emerged.
Laudrup guided Al Rayyan to the Amir Cup final which they lost to Al Duhail on May 19 at the Khalifa International Stadium.
According to a post on the club website, Laudrup has ‘finished his contract with the club’ with the final match played a little over a week ago.
Deputy Chairman of the club Abdullah Al Mutawa was quoted as saying that Laudrup’s contract will not be renewed by Al Rayyan.
Al Mutawa said in a statement posted on the club website: “The club will hire a new coach to lead the first football team during the coming days.”
The Al Rayyan official said the club had a number of candidates to choose from without naming any individual.
He said the Al Rayyan management will go for the ‘most suitable candidate as coach’ who could help the team win trophies. Al Rayyan, one of the top teams in Qatar, finished the regular season behind runaway QNB Stars League winners Al Duhail and Al Sadd.
Laudrup, the former Lekhwiya coach, could not provide the spark Al Rayyan were looking for in the AFC Champions League in which they finished in third place in Group D, winning only one match out of six.
Laudrup, 53, took over as Al Rayyan coach on October 3, 2016 replacing former Qatar coach Jorge Fossati who was asked to take the reigns of the national side at the time.
Recent Al Rayyan coaches include Paulo Autuori, Marcos Paqueta, Diego Aguirre and Manuel Jimenez. Also yesterday, Al Rayyan unveiled its home and away jerseys for the 2018-19 football season.
The new football season will commence on August 3 when Al Duhail take on Al Rayyan in the one-off Sheikh Jassim Cup.
