Ran Ben-Shimon was supposed to be the next great Maccabi Tel Aviv coach. The 38-year-old was hand picked to be the first coach of the Alex Shnaider era and was often compared to his mentor, Avraham Grant, who joined Maccabi at a similar age and guided the team to a championship in his first season with the club. Ben-Shimon's tenure at Maccabi, however, came to an untimely ending on Sunday after he was sacked by the club just eight matches into the season. Avi Nimni will come down from the front office to manage the team, with Ben-Shimon's assistant Marco Balbul to continue in the same position under Nimni. "We made this move because we still believe we can save the season," Maccabi chairman Aviv Bushinsky said. "The only option we had was to replace the coach. "We had high expectations at the start of the season and it's no secret we have the second biggest budget in the Premier League. We had to make changes before it was too late." Ben-Shimon, who led Ironi Kiryat Shmona to a third-place finish last year, guided Maccabi to just two victories in the first eight matches of the season and, ironically, the 1-0 defeat to his former club Kiryat Shmona on Saturday proved to be the last straw for the club's board. Nimni, who retired from active play last season, is the greatest player in Maccabi Tel Aviv's illustrious history. His four championships and four State Cups, and his 174 goals in 429 league appearances are unprecedented accomplishments in the history of the yellow-and-blue and his appointment will surely please the club's loyal supporters, who had been crying for Ben-Shimon's head for weeks. "I have a lot more to lose than to gain, but this club is more important than any one of us," said Nimni, who refused to take questions from the gathering press. "Now is not the time to talk. We want to concentrate on the work on hand." Nimni's first match in charge will be at Hapoel Petah Tikva this coming Saturday.
