Germany's Jens Wissing appears to have found his first casualty at Al-Ittihad, and it has taken the new manager just three matches into the 2026-2027 season to do it.
Al-Ittihad travelled to face Al-Najma on Tuesday at the King Abdullah Sports City Stadium in Buraidah, in the round of 32 of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Cup.
Then came the shock. In the 26th minute, Wissing hauled off Serbian defender Jan-Carlo Simic and sent on right-back Ahmed Al-Julaidan in his place.
A picture soon did the rounds on social media, showing the Serbian defender marching straight down the tunnel towards the dressing rooms. His anger at being pulled off so early was plain to see.
Life under Wissing has not been kind to Simic since the German arrived at Al-Inma Stadium. The coach keeps deploying him at right-back, even though his real strength lies at centre-back.
He started against the UAE's Al-Jazira in the AFC Champions League Elite play-off, only for Wissing to withdraw him in the second half. The manager then left him out of the squad altogether for the Roshn League opener against Al-Khaleej.
At 21, Simic finds himself in a tough spot. He has done little to justify his place since joining Al-Ittihad from Belgium's Anderlecht in the last winter transfer window.
The numbers tell the story. Simic has managed just 17 appearances for Al-Ittihad, failing to score and providing a single assist.