Abu Dhabi: Al Jazira are set to retain Henk ten Cate as coach following their President’s Cup triumph on Sunday evening – and overhaul their foreign player contingent by signing a minimum of three new recruits.
A member of the club’s board, Butti Al Qubaisi, said that he and other directors were in “complete unanimity” about the Dutchman staying beyond the expiration of his six-month contract on Tuesday as they hunt further silverware next season.
On the subject of foreign signings in the summer, the club’s chief executive, Ayed Mabkhout, added: “There will be a change of at least three players.”
Ten Cate discussed his future with the club’s board – who will meet again at the weekend to decide on the Dutchman’s fate – on Monday evening, before heading to his native Netherlands for a lengthy break.
The former Barcelona and Chelsea assistant coach salvaged a dismal season for the Pride of Abu Dhabi by steering them to a 6-5 penalty shootout victory over Al Ain to clinch the President’s Cup on Sunday.
Afterwards, he was coy on the prospect of remaining at the club, commenting: “We are speaking. But let’s talk about the celebrations. I am not so important.”
Even though Al Jazira finished only seventh in the Arabian Gulf League and ended bottom of their Asian Champions League group, Ten Cate has impressed club officials with his diligence and optimism, despite being without key players such as Mirko Vucinic and Jefferson Farfan due to injury for most of the campaign.
“The decision the football management company is close to making is to retain the coach Ten Cate for next season,” Al Qubaisi said. “He rebuilt the team and it’s necessary to maintain some stability by keeping him in charge, regardless of whether he won the cup or not. We intend to compete aggressively in all tournaments next season, including the Asian Champions League and we hope to win the league in order to qualify for the 2017 Fifa Club World Cup play-offs.”
Fares Juma, the Al Jazira defender, expressed the hope that Ten Cate will stay.
“He succeeded in getting our house in order, restoring the players’ confidence and improving our fitness,” he said.
As for the club’s foreign contingent, Al Jazira are expected to keep Vucinic, the 2014-15 AGL top goalscorer, and the Peruvian winger Farfan.
But Kenwyne Jones, the striker who joined the club on loan from Cardiff City in January, is almost certain to leave after CEO Mabkhout described his stint as “unsuccessful”.
The future of Al Jazira’s three other overseas players – midfielders Thiago Neves, Angel Lafita, and Park Jong-woo – is unclear, although two could exit to make room for new signings.
