Masry’s new coach Hossam Hassan has insisted that competing for titles is his target for the Port Said club.

“Masry want titles. We’re not here to compete for the seventh or eighth place,” the former Zamalek and Ismaily coach told a press conference late on Monday.

On Sunday, Masry officials reached a mutual agreement to terminate the contract of their coach Talaat Youssef because of a poor run of results that left the club seventh in the league table with 19 points, 12 behind leaders Haras El-Hodoud.

Hossam, along with his twin brother and new football director Ibrahim, are rejoining Masry after an earlier spell at the club ended three years ago. The pair are contracted until the end of the current season.

The Hassan twins took charge of Masry in 2007 to rescue the club from relegation before being sacked in 2008 after Ibrahim attacked a referee and clashed with the home crowd during a match at Algerian club JSM Bejaia.

“When I was here in 2008, our main target was to avoid relegation, and lack of funds meant we couldn’t make many good signings, but now the situation is different as the club is more stable and financially secure,” explained Hossam, the 45-year-old former Egypt star.

"There are many difficult matches in the coming period against Zamalek, Ismaily and Ahly, but we keep winning the title in our mind,” he concluded.

In 2008, the pair coached Egypt’s Ittisalat before leaving in November 2009 to lead Cairo giants Zamalek, where they were relatively successful before being fired after the Whites ended last season runners-up to Ahly despite leading the league for most of the season.

Ismaily sacked the 45-year-old twins just days after signing them in 2011 due to a poor run of results in preseason friendlies.(For more sports news and updates, follow Ahram Online sports on Twitter:@AO_Sports)

https://english.ahram.org.eg/News/31942.aspx