The biggest surprise of all was the departure of Smouha's promising coach Ahmed Sami, who leaves the club in fifth place in the premier domestic competition.

Local reports said Samir will take over 13th-placed Ceramica Cleopatra, whose coach Haitham Shaaban also left by mutual consent despite helping the club to a stunning 1-0 win over the big-spending Pyramids FC and a surprise 0-0 draw with Cairo giants Ahly.

The reason why Sami had left Smouha to take charge of a club eight places below them remains unclear, but reports said he was frustrated with the Alexandria-based club's tight budget for transfers after wealthy chairman Farag Amer had lost in the elections in October last year.

Smouha named Abdel-Hamid Bassiouni as their new coach after the ex-Egypt striker abruptly left Ghazl El-Mahalla, who lie 10th in the league table with 20 points from 17 games.

El-Mahalla launched a scathing attack on Bassiouni, accusing him of breaching his contract with the club.

"Smouha's officials went too far and held a meeting with Bassiouni when we were in Alexandria to face Ittihad … even though Bassiouni was supposed to be committed to his job," Mahalla said in a statement.

The club, who also said they would take a legal action against Bassiouni, appointed their former full-back Mostafa Abdou as their new coach.

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