Reliable relationships with management, players, and support staff are the factors that motivate me to stay at the club. The football club Ajman has reached a preliminary agreement with the head coach of the first team, Serbian Goran Tufegdzic, for the extension of his contract and continuation of work with the 'Oranges' in the next season. The final contract is to be signed in the coming days after the conclusion of the team's participation in the current season of the Professional League Adnoc.
Goran confirmed in an interview with 'Emirates Today' the agreement between him and the club management concerning the majority of details of the new contract, noting his satisfaction with the possibility of continuing to work with the team for one more season: 'My happiness from the extension of work is related to the warm relationships with management and players, as well as with the support staff, which motivates me to stay.'
This decision contributes to the club management's strive for achieving stability in football and administrative terms for the first team since the moment of entering the position over 15 years ago. This is evidenced by the limited number of coaches, replaced in the position of the head coach since the moment of inception of Khalifa al-Jarmeni in the position of the chairman of the board of directors in 2010.
Since Ajman's return to the Professional League in the 2016-2017 season, the team was led by all four coaches, among whom stands out the Egyptian Ayman al-Ramadi, who led the team from amateurs to the 2021 season. After him, Goran held the position of the team coach for two seasons before moving to the position of the coach of 'Nasr' in the 2023-2024 season.
In the past season, the team experienced two coach changes, starting with the Brazilian Caio Zannardi, who was relieved after four rounds, and replaced by his countryman Daniel Isailya until the end of the season, after which the club decided to return Goran after the end of his contract with the club 'Al-Wahda'.
Under Goran's guidance, Ajman showed significant results during the previous coaching period, leading the team to a seventh place in the championship with 35 points in the 2021-2022 season, winning 10 matches and drawing 5 while suffering 11 losses.
In the 2022-2023 season, the team dominated the distinguished season, garnering 44 points, claiming sixth place, which became the best result for the club in the Professional League, as well as advancing to the semifinals of the President's Cup before losing to the tournament against 'Sharjah'.
The current season has been the weakest for the Ajman team, where 23 matches were held in the league, in which 8 victories and 3 draws were retained, while during this period the team suffered 12 defeats. The last of which occurred against 'Al-Arabi' last night, leaving them in the tenth place in the table with 27 points.
Goran critically assessed the outcome of the match, which ended with the defeat of his team, despite the fact that the team led by two goals at the beginning of the game, before 'Al-Arabi' turned the course of events and won with a score of 3-2. 'I cannot accept a defeat in that form, in which it happened in the match against 'Al-Arabi'. We played two different halves; in the first we managed to play correctly, transferring the ball and creating dangerous moments, but everything changed in the second half. We fell into a multitude of problems, allowing 'Al-Arabi' to take the best position, we did not pressure the top correctly and allowed them to threaten our goal. They created a threat and managed to score three goals,' said the Serbian coach.
