Shahania president confident that the Oryxes can beat the drop

Al Shahania president Menahi Al Shammari is confident that his sides January signings can aid the Oryxes beat relegation to the Qatar Gas League, but stressed that they will need time to bed in with the club. The Shahania supremo gave an exclusive interview to QSL online in the aftermath of Shahania’s 1-1 draw with fellow promoted side Muaither.

Opening up the conversation, Al Shammari was quick to praise new signings in Ivorian striker Jean Mangoua & Iranian midfielder Rahim Zahivi who replaced Khalid Gourmi and Mohamed Tiaiba as the sides professional players. “I believe the new players did well for their first game, adapting to the league. However they need time to fully adapt and cannot be properly judged after just one match.”

The Oryxes have been quick to change personnel in the wake of their record 10-0 defeat at the hands of Lekhwiya in round 13, replacing manager Jose Fernando with Croatian coach Igor Štimac. After much upheaval Al Shammari believes the pressure is on his side to perform in the second half of the season. “Now is a very important time for the club, we must fight for every possible point to stay in the league. I hope the side can rise to this challenge as we know it will be difficult.”



“We are also looking to strengthen the side from a local player perspective, we are currently looking at options on players and we will be looking to add quality local talent in both midfield and attack to boost our survival chances” noted the Shahania president when asked about any further signings to the side.

Al Shammari also reflected on his sides 1-1 draw with Muaither yesterday; “Overall I believe Shahania played well and gave a good performance against a relegation rival. We showed quality in the final third against Muaither in the second half, unfortunately luck was not on our side.”

Concluding the interview Al Shammari looked forward to Shahania’s round 16 clash against Umm Salal. “Our next game will not be easy against Umm Salal, we drew with them last time 2-2 and the team will have to be at full concentration to get a positive result in order to reach our goal of survival in the league.”