Al Ahli boss Cosmin Olaroiu has attempted to quieten the whispers engulfing his position after a season of setbacks.
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The Red Knights went down to their eighth loss this term in all competitions on Wednesday, a 1-0 defeat by Iran’s Tractor Sazi leaving them bottom in Group D of the AFC Champions League.
This is a stark contrast to the Romanian’s debut campaign at Rashid Stadium in 2013-14 when his new charges raced to Arabian Gulf Super Cup, Arabian Gulf Cup and Arabian Gulf League successes.
The decline has led to unconfirmed rumours swirling about Olaroiu’s position and splits in his playing squad. Speaking prior to tomorrow’s top-flight clash against
Fujairah, he insisted he and his players were united in their mission to rise Ahli from a distant sixth place.
“I hear a lot of weird things lately,” the 45-year-old said. “Lot of things people say about us.
“Sometimes, I just try to ignore it because I know what is going on from inside. Sometimes, the media try to affect the fans, they have a lot of influence.
“From my point of view, I do not think it is a coincidence. We hear ‘Cosmin is the one who controls everything at Al Ahli’.
“When I hear things like that, I laugh.
“What can I say to the president if I want a player, I will commit suicide if I do not get them?
“If they do not get me [a] player I will leave?
“For the local players, I want to end this thing and the rumours. With the players, they have good relationships with each other and us also. All of them are professional players.
“The first person people point fingers at is the coach. I will never ever say that name or this name made a mistake.
“I will take the blame, you can beat me. I will take responsibility – I admit we have problems and we are trying to fix them.”
Upcoming opponents Fujairah are much-improved, being defeated only by top two Al Ain and Al Jazira in the AGL since former Ahli boss Ivan Hasek took over in December.
“We have another battle coming,” Olaroiu said.
“Fujairah in the last game were very balanced in the last period, very aggressive and playing good football.
“The results they have earned are not a fluke, especially against Al Ain [who they beat 1-0 during the first of a top-flight double header last month].
“For me, I see them as a good team who are clearly improving. Maybe for us, we are not in a very good period but at least we have the spirit which we have got back.
“We are trying our best to fix all the problems we have, not a lot of time to fix everything. But we are trying to fix as much as we can.”