The Egyptian Premier League season is yet to reach the halfway point, and six managers have already been relieved of their duties so far. It started with Salah Al-Nahi stepping down as Ghazl Mahalla manager in as early as the second week, following heavy back-to-back defeats to the newcomers. The Peasants were thrashed 3-0 at home in the season opener before being overwhelmed 6-1 by Zamalek a few days later, prompting Al-Nahi to quit on October 20. A few days later, Mimi Abdul-Razek left Smouha despite an impressive 1-1 draw at Masri. Abdul-Razek, who took charge of the Alexandrian side at a late stage of last season, was replaced by Shawky Gharib on October 28. A single win in nine games had to be the end of Mokhtar Mokhtar's spell with cup champions ENPPI, who sacked the former Ahli coach on December 27, shortly after a home draw with Gaish. Mokhtar was replaced by another ex-Ahli manager in Hossam Al-Badri, who left Sudan's Merreikh to take the helm at the petroleum club. On the first day of 2012, Hamza Al-Gamal stepped down as manager of Bani Suef Telephones, leaving the task of saving the debutants from relegation to Ashraf Kasem. This time the decision was not preceded by a disappointing scoreline, it was rather Al-Gamal's rejection to what he had described as ‘interference in his work'. Following seven games without a single goal, Military Production parted ways with Kamal Etman on January 8, appointing former Zamalek star Mohamed Helmi. The sixth man to lose his job was the well-respected Talaat Youssef, who was sacked by Masri on January 16, one day after a 2-0 away defeat to newly-promoted Dakhlia. Youssef declared he was ‘delighted' with the decision after being subjected to ‘internal conspiracies' by some members of the impatient Masri board.
