CAIRO: Petrojet coach Mokhtar Mokhtar said he s targeting the Egyptian League title this season to the delight of the club s Suez-loyal fans.
The Petroleum side is topping the Egyptian league table with 25 points after a brilliant start to the season.
I wish I could lead my team to the first Egyptian League title and dedicate it to our fans, which always back us up in the worst circumstances, Mokhtar told FilGoal.com.
The former Ahly assistant coach pointed out that he s adopting a different policy than that of last season when the team dropped in the second half of the league.
Things have changed since last year, he added.
When asked about the team s potential shake-up, Mokhtar said he refused to put any of his players on the transfer list in the meantime.
Midfield duo Waleed Soliman and Osama Mohamed have been both linked to imminent moves, but apparently they are going nowhere.
We are not going to let anyone leave, especially Soliman and Mohamed, because we need their services in our League campaign, he said.
They cannot exit now; they are bound to stay till their contracts expire in 2012.
Moreover, he said he tried to talk Hussein Ali, who was a key player in the team, out of moving to Ahly, but to no avail.
I refused to give him the green light last season. Early this year, I tried to convince him to extend his contract, but he was too eager to seal a move to the Red Devils, he explained.
Eventually, the boardroom accepted the Egyptian champions offer, and we benefited from the deal.
He also reaffirmed that under-the-table negotiations are beyond acceptable.
Some clubs contacted our players behind our back, which is so unethical.
We would only deal with the legitimate and straight-forward ways, he added.
