CAIRO - Portuguese coach Manuel Jose has made his first visit to Al-Ahly late Wednesday, since leaving the Egyptian club as a hero in the summer of 2009. The 64-year-older, who is the current coach of Saudi giants Ittihad Jeddah, is spending his vacation in Cairo in the midst of a disappointing run for Ahly. He earned a cult status among Ahly fans, after steering the team to a host of local and continental titles during his successful five-year tenure. "Jose has a great relationship with everyone in our club," Ahly board member Khaled Mortagi told FilGoal.com. "His presence in Cairo allowed him to visit the club today (Wednesday night)." The future of Ahly's coach Hossam el-Badri, who was Jose's assistant before taking over at the club following Jose's departure, is under scrutiny after the Red Devils made a disappointing start to their season. They drew twice in their first three Egyptian Premier League games and won just once in four matches in the African Champions League group stage. Reports suggested that Ahly were considering bringing in a foreign coach to replace El-Badri, who has yet to win over his side's faithful despite leading the team to the league title in his first season in charge. Jose, under whom Ittihad made a fine start to their Saudi league campaign, has denied more than once that he would return to Ahly. "The Portuguese coach fully supports El-Badri and the players," Mortagi added. Al-Ahly will host Nigeria's Heartland in a vital Champions League clash at Cairo Stadium on Sunday. The six-time African Champions lie second in Group B with five points, five behind leaders JS Kabylie who already booked their place in the semi- final. Heartland are third on four points, one ahead of Egyptian coastal side Ismaili.
