The King needs to turn it around

When We Were Kings, the title of a movie about boxing greats Muhammad Ali and George Foreman and their famous Rumble in the Jungle in the 1970s, could just as easily be the perfect way to describe Sharjah. The team's nickname is The King, earned by being the most successful club in President's Cup history, with eight successes. There have also been five league championships, including the first-ever UAE top-flight title in 1974, and in 1990 nine of their players were part of the UAE squad that took part in the World Cup in Italy. Contrast all that with the club's current situation and it really is a case of how the mighty have fallen as Sharjah find themselves bottom of the Etisalat Pro League and five points adrift of safety with just four rounds left. Sharjah have kept just one clean sheet in the league and have won only two games throughout the campaign. Since the turn of the year they have collected one point from nine matches and in the past six matches they have conceded 20 goals. It is horrific but, sadly, it is not the first time in recent history matters have gone pear-shaped for Sharjah as, in 2009, the club pulled out of the AFC Champions League in mid-competition to focus on another relegation fight, a decision that earned widespread criticism and a ban from AFC competitions. It is also true that one of the catalysts of the current chaos, the departure of Portuguese coach Carlos Azenha four days before the start of the season for personal reasons, was not the club's fault. However, the way that situation has been handled most assuredly is. Azenha was replaced by ex-Syria coach Valeriu Tita from Romania and almost straight away he rang the alarm bells, highlighting the fact the players were not fit enough. Results, unsurprisingly, were poor, Tita was sacked, replaced by Jorvan Vieira, the former coach of Iran and latterly Kalba and Baniyas, only for Vieira himself to be shown the door after less than two months in the role after results continued to flat-line. All the while, administrative changes were also happening in the corridors of power and, amazingly, a new regime went back to Tita although his second tenure was even shorter than his first and at the start of April club favourite Abdul Majid Al Nimr was drafted in to try and bail out the sinking ship. Recruitment chaos That chaos has been mirrored with decisions over foreign players. At the start of the seasonBrazilian defender Vandinho was released and replaced by Serbian Igor Duric, only to be brought back in January's window and then released again within weeks, with South Korea's Lee Song Ho and Taimur Kapadze - who then found himself out of favour with Tita - drafted in. If you are confused then it is no wonder. But there are two straws of hope for Sharjah to clutch on to at this business end of the season. One is that their last four fixtures are all winnable as they face Dubai, one point above them, and three mid-table sides in Al Ahli, who have one eye on the Etisalat Cup final, Ajman and Baniyas, a side who have AFC Champions League priorities. The other positive is history: this time last year Al Ain found themselves in the relegation mire. They survived thanks to miraculous late-season form, including inflicting the only loss of the league season on champions Al Jazira, and 12 months on are champions-elect. Sharjah will be hoping and praying that is a good omen because they surely need one.