Many coaches in the Egyptian Premier League are afraid of being sacked due to their teams' poor results. The next eight weeks in the league will witness a fierce battle, as they fight to avoid the drop. Coach of the unfancied Assiut Petroleum Gamal Mohamed Ali is the most worried about relegation, as his side are propping up the First Division, with only 12 points. Assiut need to win all their games to avoid the spectre of demotion to the Second Division and they've got some tough fixtures ahead. Ali is obviously encouraging his side to do their best. The Delta club of Mansoura are second from bottom, on 14 points. They are pinning their hopes on Ashraf Qassem, the former Zamalek defender who took charge of the team a few days ago. So far so good, as Qassem helped Mansoura beat Ghazl el-Mahalla in his debut last week. The new club in the top flight, El-Gouna, is a like a nail in the head for coach Ismail Youssef, who joined the team in November 2007 after the sacking of Ramadan el-Sayyed. El-Gouna lie in the 14th place with 18 points. Youssef, a former Zamalek and Egypt midfielder, has achieved some good results with El-Gouna, but from time to time there've been problems with injuries and fitness. El-Gouna's board are sticking to Youssef, but the club's officials are still very worried. Haras Al-Hodoud are also struggling. Last season was great for them and they even won a prestigious trophy, the Egypt's Cup, but now they are languishing in 13th place with 20 points. Their coach, Tareq el-Ashri, feels disappointed with his team, who have lost seven, drawn eight and won four. Mohamed Radwan, the coach of Ghazl el-Mahalla, who are in 12th place with 21 points, is also under pressure. Of course, some coaches are happy, like Zamalek's recently appointed Hossam Hassan, who's proving to be just as talented a coach as he was a player. Zamalek were in the 12th place before Hassan's appointment in November, replacing Swiss coach Decastal. Zamalek lie in the fifth place with 30 points. Al-Geish's coach Farouq Gaafar is also smiling, as his side are in fourth place with 30 points. Hossam el-Badri, who coaches Al-Ahly, one of the best teams in Egypt, is also still in a good mood, as his team top the league with 40 points, despite having had one or two hiccups recently. El-Badri took over at the Red Devils last year, when Portugal's Manuel Jose's bailed out, and he enjoys the full support of the club. Ismaili's coach Emad Soleiman is also safe, as his side lie in the third place with 32 points and are hoping to challenge for the title. Coach Mokhtar Mokhtar of Petrojet, who are in second place, obviously has title ambitions too.
