Newly signed Ahly coach Hossam El-Badry has announced that he will make use of the team's younger players in the current squad, as he has talented names in the list, revealing he will start work from the beginning of September.
The 56-year-old coach will lead Ahly for a third stint, despite an acrimonious departure in 2013, after Egypt’s most successful club named him as manager on Wednesday in an attempt to arrest their stunning decline.
"I will give chances to all the young players as the squad has many talented ones like Akram Tawfik and Beckham; they are well-known to me and I will follow the rest of the young players' names," El-Badry told a local television programme on Wednesday.
"I have a talented squad, and the effort and responsibility [applied] in training is the only way to decide the games' starting lineup," he said.
El-Badry incurred the wrath of Ahly’s demanding fans three years ago when he abruptly resigned in order to take over at Libya’s Ahly Tripoli, but he has been linked with a return to the Red Devils more than once over the past couple of years.
Some fans objected to his return but the club’s under-fire board of directors decided to put him at the helm following the resignation of Dutchman Martin Jol, who said he had received death threats following Ahly’s surprise elimination from the CAF Champions League group stage earlier this month.
"I didn't escape from my post as some fans said, while the management itself confirmed that I had a deal with them to leave before my departure," El-Badry said.
"I am eager to hear the fans chants again as I had god memories with them," he added. "I belong to the Ahly name as well as the fans."
"My target is to win to please fans again like in the past, and I ready to meet all criticisms," the new coach said.
El-Badry’s most recent managerial spell, in charge of the national U-23 side, was not successful, however, as Egypt’s U-23 side failed to qualify for the Rio Olympics. They finished at the bottom of their group in the African Nations Cup last year.
But he will still be remembered for steering Ahly to the Egyptian Premier League title in 2010 and the prestigious African Champions League crown in 2012 in two spells. He was also the assistant to the team’s iconic coach Manuel Jose during a highly successful reign in the mid and late 2000s.
"I held a meeting with all management board members to arrange all the technical tools we need to achieve our target," he said.
"I asked the management to continue working with current football director Sayed Abdel-Hafiz, the person I used to work with, and I am confident of his ability to help me in my job."
"The management agreed with me to sign a foreign fitness coach," El-Badry concluded.
