Afshin Ghotbi proves his point

Afshin Ghotbi’s fortunes have been up and down throughout this IPL season. He came to coach a Perspolis FC team that was put together by his two assistants, Hamid Estili and Alireza Marzban. His team started like they were on fire, but then infighting started.

Ghotbi lobbied management to let go of a few trouble makers, including Marzban, but the club president would not have any of it.

Finally, starting a few weeks ago, Ghotbi started getting his way. Marzban was pulled off of the coaching staff (He remains with the team at a different capacity). Trouble making defender Shays Rezaei was suspended indefinitely, and Prima Donna striker Alireza Nikbakht-Vahedi was suspended and fined for dissent after being substituted in a league match.

This is all good, but now pressure was on Ghotbi to deliver, and his team responded like a true contender.

There were two games scheduled on this past Saturday; Sepahan vs. Bargh and Perspolis vs. Saipa, and everything went Perspolis’s way. Sepahan lost, and Perspolis won.

Ghotbi was understandably jubilant (Click here to see photos of an ecstatic Ghotbi after the goal). With three games left, one of them being with Sepahan, Perspolis is trailing only by two points. The title is certainly within reach, and Ghotbi is the toast of town for the next few days.