Saudi Arabia supporters have reacted angrily to reports that Roberto Martinez could replace Georgios Donis as national team manager, less than 24 hours after Donis led the side to Gulf Cup glory.
Saudi Arabia won the 27th edition of the Gulf Cup on Tuesday by beating United Arab Emirates 2-0 in the final at Al-Inma Stadium in Jeddah.
Reports published around a day later said the Saudi Arabian Football Federation had reached an agreement with Martinez to take charge of the team at the 2027 AFC Asian Cup.
The reports prompted widespread criticism from supporters, who want Donis to remain in his position after his success at Gulf Cup 27. They also questioned the potential appointment of Martinez, whom they described as having failed in each of his previous roles, particularly during his most recent spell with Portugal, where he worked with Cristiano Ronaldo.
Saudi sports broadcaster Walid Al-Farraj was among the first prominent voices to oppose the reported move. The presenter of Rotana Sport with Walid on Rotana Khalijia said Donis was the right coach for the current squad.
“Donis succeeded because he is the coach suited to the capabilities of the players,” Al-Farraj wrote on X on 7 October 2026.
“Any attempt to return to the obsession with appointing a world-class coach for the Saudi national team, and to change the technical management three months before the Asian Cup, would suggest that the Gulf Cup success was merely a coincidence.
“Spare us the experiments. Continue as you are.”
Saudi commentator Nasser Al-Judaie also argued that Donis was the most appropriate choice, despite lacking the profile of several famous managers.
“As a coach, Donis is not as well-known as Roberto Mancini, does not have Pep Guardiola’s abilities and does not possess Jurgen Klopp’s cunning,” he wrote on 8 October 2026. “But at this moment, at least, he is more suitable than all of them to lead the Saudi national team in the next phase.”
He added that replacing Donis with someone “far below” those managers would show that previous lessons had not been learned, with decision-makers still looking for the “most famous” and “most stylish” coach rather than the “most suitable”.
Another supporter, Ahmed Al-Sheikhi, described the reports as “chaos” and said the prospect of Donis being dismissed had caused considerable disappointment with the Asian Cup only three months away.
“A coach who knows the players inside out, and the alternative is Martinez?” he wrote. “If this happens, it will remind me of the dismissal of Calderon when we reached the 2006 World Cup unbeaten.”
One more Saudi supporter, Mohammed, contrasted the reported plan with the team’s previous experience of expensive international managers.
“Twenty-three years of failure and millions spent on world-class coaches 90 and 50 million euros with nothing to show for it, along with mockery of our players and their level,” he wrote.
“Then Donis came, won the tournament with the resources available, took the best team award and dominated its prizes, remained unbeaten and conceded no goals. Yet you have agreed with a world-class coach who failed with teams full of stars.”
