Coachless Bahrainis mull managerial options

Yomiuri - Former China managers Bobby Houghton and Bora Milutinovic and ex-Senegal coach Bruno Metsu are among the candidates to take over at the helm of Bahrain after the surprise resignation of Srecko Juricic.

Japan will face Bahrain in a World Cup qualifier at Saitama Stadium on March 30, five days after playing Iran in Tehran, and the resignation of the Croatian coach has left the Gulf nation's preparations in tatters.

The Bahrain Football Association is expected to name a replacement for Juricic by the end of the week, and it has emerged that Milutinovic, Houghton, Metsu and former Bahrain coach Wolfgang Sidka are among those being considered for the post.

Milutinovic is currently working in neighboring Qatar with the Al Sadd club and will lead the team into this year's Asian Champions League this evening when it faces Al Ahli of the United Arab Emirates in Doha.

The wily Serb qualified China for the World Cup finals in 2002 to take to five the number of countries he has coached at the game's biggest spectacle. He also helmed Mexico, the United States, Costa Rica and Nigeria at the finals.

Englishman Houghton, whom Milutinovic replaced as China coach in early 2000, led Swedish club Malmo to the final of the European Cup in 1979, where his side lost to Nottingham Forest. Since then he has garnered a wealth of experience working in Asia, coaching extensively in China and the Middle East.

Sidka, meanwhile, worked with the Bahrainis in 2000 and 2001, taking the nation to the final phase of qualifying for Korea-Japan 2002 and is also currently in Qatar, with Al Arabi.

However, the early favorite for the position appears to be Metsu, with the Bahrainis considering taking the manager on loan from Qatari club side Al Ghafarah.

Metsu has been linked with numerous top jobs in Asia since leading Senegal to the quarterfinals of the World Cup in 2002.

A wrangle over cash ended his chances of becoming South Korea manager at the end of Humberto Coehlo's reign last year, while he took Al Ain of the United Arab Emirates to the inaugural Asian Champions League title in 2003.