The Emperor And His Biggest War

This mean's the Emperor is on his way towards the biggest war in his career, a battlefield in Asia. His return to Iran sparkled hope within Persepolis supporters.

After Habibi Kashani's resignation things did not look bright in Persepolis, but the quick appointment of Dariush Mostafi as Chairman followed by the addition of Great "Oghab" Abedzadeh and Peyrovani settled things down, at least for now.

Afshin Ghotbi seems to be extremely delighted working next to Abedzadeh & Peyrovani, who he both regards highly as coaches, well at least higher then Marzban and Estili.

Steel Azin Owner Mr Hedayati who is also a potential buyer of nearly 50% of Persepolis shares, quickly invested money in bringing players such as Alireza Mohammad, Emad Reza, Ebrahim Tore and also bringing back Afshin Ghotbi.

Persepolis will also rely on the backbone of their team from last season who won the IPL with new contracts given to captain Karim Bagheri, Masoud Zarei, Mehdi Vaezi & top goal scorer Mohsen Khalili. Not to mention Alireza Vahedi Nikbakt who is still waiting for Ghotbi to approve his contract, can these 2 settle their difference's for a greater cause? Or will they part way, like Sheys Rezaei and Mohammad Reza Mamani did earlier in the year when they got fired by Afshin Ghotbi due to disciplinary reasons.

Mohammad Nosrati, Abbas Aghaei & Hossein Kaebi are possibly players set to follow Ashoobi out of Persepolis.

Afshin Ghotbi's return to Persepolis Camp was followed by news that the Emperor is keen on bringing in big players such as Ferydoon Zandi & Rahman Rezaei to the Red Army, as he has already promised Asian Champions League Glory.

Many people believe Afshin Ghotbi will regret his decision to return to Iran, he left as the Emperor, he came, he saw, he Conquered. Like Marcello Lippi did with Italy in 2006, will he too regret his return to the Italian National Team?

Udo Lattek, the legendary German coach once said: "You win the league, you are good. You defend the title, you are one of the best". The pressure will be on Afshin Ghotbi to repeat such feat of last season, something that has not been done in Iran for a very long time, a back to back Championship. Unless we go back to 1992 and 1993 when Firouz Karimi lead Pas FC to a league title and followed it up the season after with another league title and the AFC Champions League title.

The expectations are there, and the pressure from the fans will rise. The return to Asia's biggest club tournament is followed by fans believing their team is ready to take the spot as Asia's biggest club, something Sepahan were very close to achieving in 2007, only losing to Urawa Red's of Japan in the final.

The Emperor has to fight in 3 battles this season, the Hafzi Cup, IPL and the Asian Champions League. Last season's championship was 1 battle won, but it was only the beginning of the war.