CAIRO: Hossam Hassan said on Thursday that he would succeed Helmi Toulan as Telecom Egypt s coach. I ve been appointed as Telecom s new coach. Ibrahim [his twin brother] will occupy the football director position, Hassan told FilGoal.com. The former Masri coach was heavily linked with Zamalek over the past few weeks. The crisis-hit Zamalek were reportedly considering sacking Swiss coach Michel Decastel after a barren run saw them edge close to the relegation zone. They eventually decided to keep hold of him after Zamalek ended their six-match winless streak by beating ENPPI 1-0 on Tuesday. Egypt s all-time scorer Hassan will be looking to help third-bottom Telecom, who are three points adrift of safety, retain their top-flight status. Toulan handed in his resignation as the team s coach after failing to lead them to a single victory in 12 successive games. Telecom s last victory came when they beat Gaish 3-2 on Oct. 26. Hassan will need to shrug off his fiery temper if he is to avoid a repeat of his unhappy experience at Masri. Although Masri produced impressive results under the 42-year-old s guidance, the club board sacked him last December following his infamous tantrum during a regional match against Algeria s JSM Bejaia. Hassan protested against the referee s decision in an inappropriate way and provoked Bejaia fans through some shushing gestures. His twin Ibrahim, who worked with him at Masri, was also shown the door for assaulting the fourth official. Both men said that they did not regret what happened, claiming that Bejaia s "provocative fans are to blame for the unfortunate incidents.
