From Renard to Donis: is Saudi Arabia killing its dreams at the hands of its coaches?

Twenty-three years without a trophy. No silverware, no deep World Cup runs, just qualification followed by swift exits, and finals lost in Asia and the Gulf. That was the state of the Saudi national team before Greek coach Giorgos Donis arrived.

Donis ended that dark chapter in Saudi football history, leading Saudi Arabia to glory at the Arabian Gulf Cup "Gulf 27". It was the country's first title in 23 full years, since it last lifted the same trophy back in 2003.

Now Donis finds himself on a hot tin roof. His name dominates every media outlet, with questions swirling over whether he could be sacked as head coach of the Saudi national team just one month after that achievement.

The problem runs deeper than the dismissal of Donis, who had proved his understanding of the Saudi national team. It lies in the choice of his replacement. All fingers point to Spaniard Roberto Martinez, the former head coach of Portugal.

Martinez took charge of two sides as big as Belgium and Portugal, both blessed with golden generations. Yet he never got the best out of the glittering names at his disposal, and he won nothing with either.

So why consider sacking Donis in the first place? And what process led to a coach like Roberto Martinez being lined up to take the Saudi national team into the 2027 AFC Asian Cup?

The biggest crisis facing Saudi Arabia is not just the dismissal of Dunis, nor the constant chopping and changing of coaching philosophies over short spells, nor the lack of stability and its impact on the players.

Consider the timing of this decision, though, and the crisis looks even greater. The Saudi Arabian Football Federation have denied the possibility of sacking the Greek coach for a second time, insisting he will stay in his post over the coming period.

Saudi media figure Abdulrahman Al-Humaidi, presenter of the "Nadina" programme on "MBC 1", tells a different story. He confirmed the decision will come after the end of the international break next March.

Should that information prove correct, the new coach will have only three international breaks before the start of the 2027 AFC Asian Cup next December. One of those is relatively long.

Whoever gets the job, then, will walk into the Asian Cup without being fully prepared to lead Saudi Arabia. He won't know all the players, and they won't know him.

Cast your mind back more than a year, to October, when French coach Hervé Renard steered Saudi Arabia to qualification for the 2026 World Cup finals.

Even then, some voices called for his head, demanding a new manager to lead the Green Falcons at the World Cup. The Saudi federation flatly refused.

Every match brought fresh demands for his dismissal. And every time, the Saudi Arabian Football Federation hit back, insisting Renard would be the man in the dugout at the World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

Then came the bombshell. Last April, just two months before the tournament kicked off, the federation sacked the Frenchman and handed the job to Donis.

The outcome was no surprise. For all his efforts, Donis could not turn things around. Saudi Arabia crashed out at the group stage, finishing bottom of Group Eight with just two points.

Now Saudi fans dread a repeat with Donis himself. Denials are issued, he clings on for a few months, then he walks shortly before the Asian tournament, leaving the dream of glory in tatters.

Forty-eight teams, the top two from each group going through, plus the eight best third-placed sides out of 12. Fail to qualify from that and you have failed, with no excuses.

You might have said as much before the last Arabian Gulf Cup, "Gulf 27", where Saudi Arabia looked a completely different side to the one that turned up at the 2026 World Cup.

Five matches, five wins. Saudi Arabia scored eight goals, conceded none, and swept the awards for best player, best goalkeeper and top scorer.

That kind of total control revealed another face of the Saudi national team, one their supporters had not seen in years. It underlined Dionísio's work and proved he simply needed more time to have his side firing at the World Cup.

So with all that now clear, it is strange that the Saudi federation might repeat the same mistake, even with new officials in place, and expect a different outcome. The result would only confirm the problem never lay with Dionísio or Renard. It lay with the system.