Ahly's management must get full support to work without pressure in selecting the club's new coach, the club's marketing consultant Adly El-Qayei said, criticising the recent debate over English coach Steve Bruce's name being floated as a candidate for the vacant Ahly job.
Ahly is currently led by caretaker coach Mohamed Youssef, who took charge after the firing of French coach Patrice Carteron following the African Champions League final loss last month.
The 57-year-old Bruce has reportedly emerged as a contender for the empty post, but there has been no official confirmation of negotiations with the former Manchester United player.
"There should be more patience. The board must get a full chance to select the new coach away of any pressures," El-Qayei told Ahly's TV channel early on Tuesday.
"We found a huge disagreement over Bruce even before his arrival," he said.
"We don't know if he will come or not, and Monday's board meeting isn't related to a definite [candidate]."
Bruce started his managerial career in 1998 when he took charge of Sheffield United before managing a host of clubs in England like Huddersfield Town, Wigan Athletic, Crystal Palace, Birmingham City, Sunderland, Hull City and finally Aston Villa.
On 3 October, Bruce was sacked by Aston Villa after a series of poor results at the English Football League Championship, the second-highest overall in the English football league system after the Premier League.
Guiding Birmingham City and Hull City to become runner-ups of the Football League Championship in 2006/2007 and 2012/2013 respectively were the prominent managerial achievements of Bruce. He also guided Hull City to become FA Cup runner-up in the 2013/2014 season.
No official announcement yet
El-Qayei is the first Ahly official to speak publicly about Bruce, as the board spokesman Sherif Fouad has remained silent on unveiling the name of the new coach.
"Club president Mahmoud El-Khatib will announce the name of the new coach once the agreement is over," Fouad declared late on Monday.
"The president asked me to tell the club fans that he appreciates their desire to secure stability for the team and also to hire a new coach, but he [El-Khatib] insists that this issue is being handled carefully.
"All the recent claims about the name of the new coach are just rumours. El-Khatib is the only one who knows the name of the new tactician," he concluded.
The Reds have played just ten league matches as opposed to 16 played by other teams due to participating in both the Champions League and the Arab Club Champions Cup (Zayed Champions Cup).
On Sunday, the Cairo giants continued their recent revival in the Egyptian League following a run of poor form; beating Talae El-Geish 2-0. The victory was the third successive league win under caretaker coach Youssef.
Ahly moved up from to 5th place on the league table with 20 points from 10 matches, 15 behind archrivals Zamalek, who played four more matches.
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