2016–17 Al-Talaba SC season

The 2016–17 season is Al-Talaba Sport Club's 42nd consecutive season in the Iraqi Premier League, the top-flight of Iraqi football. Having finished in 3rd place in the final stage of the previous season, Al-Talaba is competing in the Iraqi Premier League and the Iraq FA Cup.

Al-Talaba

2016–17 season
President Honorary President	Alaa Kadhim Abdul-Razzaq Al-Essa
Manager	Ayoub Odisho
Stadium	Al-Shaab Stadium Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya Stadium
Iraqi Premier League	4th
Top goalscorer	League: Samer Saeed (3 goals) All: Samer Saeed (3 goals)
Home colours Away colours Third colours
← 2015–16 2017–18 →

Season summary

Pre-season

The first step that was taken by the administrative board was to renew Ayoub Odisho's contract for another season, announcing it on their Facebook page on 10 June 2016 with a worth of 300m IQD.^[1][2] With Kareem Salman being taken to the Iraq national under-23 team as an assistant manager, Al-Talaba were left to sign a new assistant, contacting Mudhaffar Jabbar and Saadi Toma, who refused the offer,^[3] and Shaker Mahmoud who approved and was signed on 15 July.^[4]

Al-Talaba announced on 13 June their first six signings.^[5] They signed eight other players including two big names, Ameer Sabah and Mustafa Karim, on 20 June, returning to their home club.^[6][7] The board also renewed the contracts of 12 players including last season's captain, Younis Mahmoud,^[8] second captain Mahdi Karim, and the team's playmaker, Samer Saeed.^[9] Al-Talaba released Mustafa Karim and Ameer Sabah in August, after two months of signing them due to a financial dispute with the board along with signing the three allowed foreign players who were all from Africa.^[10]

September

Al-Talaba started their 2016–17 Iraqi Premier League campaign on 15 September 2016 with a 1–1 draw against their rivals Al-Shorta, equalizing the score just before the end of the first half with a header from the team's captain, Samer Saeed, from a corner after the opponent took advantage of a miscommunication between Ali Abdul-Hassan and Ehab Kadhim and scored the first goal.^[11] In the second round, Al-Talaba managed to get a 1–0 win against the title holders Al-Zawra'a with Samer Saeed's goal from Saad Jassim's cross.^[12] Against the newly promoted club Al-Hussein, Al-Talaba claimed their second win with a goal from Karrar Ali Barri while playing with ten men due to the injury of Muthana Khalid and having no substitutes left.^[13]

October

After their match against Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya was postponed, Al-Talaba faced the newly promoted side Al-Bahri away. The match ended in a 2–2 draw with the goals of Mustafa Al-Ameen, which went in from a deflection in the second minute of the match, and Ehab Kadhim from a penalty in the second half before Al-Bahri equalized in the last minutes with a penalty as well.^[14] Al-Talaba returned to their winning ways with a comfortable 3–0 against Karbalaa at home. Two goals were scored by Yassir Abdul-Mohsen and the last one was scored from a penalty by Mahdi Karim.^[15]

November

Al-Talaba went into their sixth game of the season with no losses to face Al-Naft away. After only 12 seconds, Al-Naft scored and in the 18th minute, they extended the lead, ending the first half at 2–0. In the second half, Samer Saeed pulled one back before the team captain Mahdi Karim equalized from a penalty in the extra time.^[16] On 6 November, the club announced its bankruptcy and decided to stop all of its activities and withdraw from the league.^[17] After two days, they took back their decision after the Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research Abdul-Razzaq Al-Essa promised the club to pay for all of its dues after an interference from the Minister of Youth and Sport Abdul-Hussein Aptan to solve the situation.^[18] In the 8th round, Al-Talaba faced Erbil at home. They dominated the match but Erbil's defense denied them many goals which resulted in a 0–0 draw.^[19]

Players

Squad information

The squad for the season consisted of the players listed in the tables below:

Note 1: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Note 2: Players with squad numbers marked ‡ joined the club during the 2016–17 season via transfer, with more details in the following section.

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		Iraqi Premier League		Iraq FA Cup
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
2	DF	IRQ	Mustafa Mohammed	2	0	2	0	0	0
3	DF	IRQ	Saad Jasim	6	1	6	1	0	0
4‡	DF	IRQ	Burhan Juma'a	7	0	7	0	0	0
5‡	DF	IRQ	Haider Saadoun	2	0	2	0	0	0
6	MF	IRQ	Mohammed Faisal	3	0	3	0	0	0
7‡	FW	IRQ	Karrar Ali Barri	11	2	11	2	0	0
8	MF	IRQ	Samer Saeed	8	3	8	3	0	0
9	FW	IRQ	Younis Mahmoud	0	0	0	0	0	0
10	MF	IRQ	Mustafa Al-Ameen	11	2	11	2	0	0
13‡	DF	IRQ	Mohammed Saeed Mijbal	1	0	1	0	0	0
14	DF	IRQ	Abbas Ayyad	0	0	0	0	0	0
15‡	DF	IRQ	Muhannad Arzayej	10	0	10	0	0	0
16	FW	IRQ	Yassir Abdul-Mohsen	7	0	7	0	0	0
17	MF	IRQ	Ehab Kadhim	6	1	6	1	0	0
18	DF	IRQ	Mahdi Karim	6	2	6	2	0	0
19‡	FW	IRQ	Ahmed Abdul-Abbas	1	0	1	0	0	0
20	MF	IRQ	Muthana Khalid	5	0	5	0	0	0
22	MF	IRQ	Murtadha Juwad	0	0	0	0	0	0
23	GK	IRQ	Haider Jamal	1	0	1	0	0	0
24	MF	IRQ	Mohammed Ridha	6	1	6	1	0	0
25‡	MF	IRQ	Sattar Yaseen	11	0	11	0	0	0
28‡	FW	NGA	Kabiru Akinsola	3	0	3	0	0	0
29‡	MF	IRQ	Shihab Razzaq Farhan	1	0	1	0	0	0
30‡	FW	CIV	Abou Kone	8	0	8	0	0	0
31‡	MF	IRQ	Omar Adnan	8	0	8	0	0	0
33‡	MF	IRQ	Ahmed Khalid	0	0	0	0	0	0
34‡	DF	SEN	Fallou Sarr	5	0	5	0	0	0
35	GK	IRQ	Ali Abdul-Hassan	10	0	10	0	0	0
39	DF	IRQ	Ahmed Nadhim	8	0	8	0	0	0
–‡	GK	IRQ	Karrar Mahmoud	0	0	0	0	0	0
–‡	DF	IRQ	Samir Salman	0	0	0	0	0	0
–‡	MF	IRQ	Samir Majid	0	0	0	0	0	0
–‡	MF	IRQ	Karrar Nabeel	0	0	0	0	0	0
–‡	MF	IRQ	Hassan Jassim	0	0	0	0	0	0
–‡	FW	IRQ	Ibrahim Bayish	0	0	0	0	0	0

Players In

N	Date	Pos	Player	Moving from	Type	Transfer window
15	13 June 2016	DF	Muhannad Arzayej	Al-Shorta	Transfer	Summer
4	13 June 2016	DF	Burhan Juma'a	Erbil	Transfer	Summer
19	13 June 2016	FW	Ahmed Abdul-Abbas	Al-Kahraba	Transfer	Summer
25	13 June 2016	MF	Sattar Yaseen	Zakho	Transfer	Summer
–	13 June 2016	MF	Samir Majid	Al-Karkh	Transfer	Summer
–	13 June 2016	DF	Ahmed Khalid	Al-Karkh	Transfer	Summer
–	13 June 2016	FW	Ibrahim Bayish	Al-Sinaa	Transfer	Summer
7	14 June 2016	MF	Karrar Ali Barri	Al-Kahraba	Transfer	Summer
–	20 June 2016	FW	Mustafa Karim	Naft Al-Wasat	Transfer	Summer
–	20 June 2016	MF	Ameer Sabah	Al-Shorta	Transfer	Summer
–	20 June 2016	MF	Karrar Nabeel	Diwaniya	Transfer	Summer
–	21 June 2016	DF	Samir Salman	Amanat Baghdad	Transfer	Summer
31	21 June 2016	MF	Omar Adnan	Al-Sinaa	Transfer	Summer
–	29 June 2016	GK	Karrar Mahmoud	Al-Bareed	Transfer	Summer
–	3 July 2016	MF	Hassan Jassim	Al-Jaish	Transfer	Summer
5	5 July 2016	DF	Haider Saadoun	Al-Kahraba	Transfer	Summer
29	13 July 2016	MF	Shihab Razzaq Farhan	Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya	Transfer	Summer
13	17 August 2016	DF	Mohammed Saeed Mijbal	Al-Karkh	Transfer	Summer
28	31 August 2016	FW	Kabiru Akinsola	Mérida	Transfer	Summer
34	31 August 2016	DF	Fallou Sarr	AJEL de Rufisque	Transfer	Summer
30	31 August 2016	FW	Abou Kone	Al-Shabab	Transfer	Summer

Players Out

Date	Pos	Player	Moving to	Type	Transfer window
23 May 2016	MF	Yousif Nabeel	Unattached	End of contract	Summer
23 May 2016	FW	Mustafa Ali Ni'ma	Unattached	End of contract	Summer
23 May 2016	FW	Karrar Ali Dodah	Unattached	End of contract	Summer
23 May 2016	DF	Haider Ali Abid	Unattached	End of contract	Summer
23 May 2016	DF	Ali Hussein Ali	Unattached	End of contract	Summer
23 May 2016	DF	Haider Ali Kadhim	Unattached	End of contract	Summer
23 May 2016	DF	Hassan Abbas	Unattached	End of contract	Summer
23 May 2016	DF	Saad Hassan	Unattached	End of contract	Summer
23 May 2016	DF	Moayad Al-Khouli	Unattached	End of contract	Summer
23 May 2016	MF	Thaer Kroma	Unattached	End of contract	Summer
23 May 2016	FW	Abdul-Lateef Salqini	Unattached	End of contract	Summer
23 May 2016	FW	James Abban	Unattached	End of contract	Summer
17 June 2016	FW	Alaa Muhsin	Karbalaa	Transfer	Summer
19 June 2016	MF	Aqeel Abbas Jabur	Baghdad	Transfer	Summer
20 June 2016	MF	Ahmed Ali Hussein	Al-Hedood	Transfer	Summer
22 June 2016	FW	Amjad Abbas	Al-Kahraba	Transfer	Summer
4 July 2016	DF	Mohammed Abdul-Zahra	Najaf	Transfer	Summer
7 July 2016	FW	Abdul-Qadir Tariq	Al-Shorta	Transfer	Summer
25 July 2016	GK	Saif Jameel	Al-Kahraba	Transfer	Summer
4 August 2016	FW	Mustafa Karim	Unattached	Released	Summer
24 August 2016	MF	Sajjad Jassim	Unattached	Released	Summer
27 August 2016	MF	Ameer Sabah	Unattached	Released	Summer

Technical staff

Position	Staff
First team manager	Ayoub Odisho
Assistant manager	Shaker Mahmoud Hassan Turki Sadiq Saadoun
Goalkeeping coach	Hisham Ali

Last updated: 15 July 2016
Source: Facebook – ALTalaba Sport Club

Statistics

Overall statistics

	League	Cup	Total Stats
Games played	11	0	11
Games won	5	0	5
Games drawn	6	0	6
Games lost	0	0	0
Goals scored	15	0	15
Goals conceded	7	0	7
Goal difference	+8	0	+8
Clean sheets	5	0	5
Goal by Substitute	1	0	1
Red cards	0	0	0

Last updated: 16 December 2016

Top scorers

Rank	Position	Nationality	Number	Name	Iraqi Premier League	Iraq FA Cup	Total
1	MF		8	Samer Saeed	3	0	3
2	FW		16	Yassir Abdul-Mohsen	2	0	2
	FW		7	Karrar Ali Barri	2	0	2
	DF		18	Mahdi Karim	2	0	2
	MF		10	Mustafa Al-Ameen	2	0	2
3	FW		30	Abou Kone	1	0	1
	MF		17	Ehab Kadhim	1	0	1
	DF		3	Saad Jasim	1	0	1
	MF		24	Mohammed Ridha	1	0	1
TOTALS					15	0	15

Last updated: 11 December 2016

Clean sheets

Rank	Nationality	Number	Name	Iraqi Premier League	Iraq FA Cup	Total
1		35	Ali Abdul-Hassan	6	0	6
TOTALS				6	0	6

Last updated: 16 December 2016

Friendlies

  Win   Draw   Loss

Al-Talaba v Al-Hedood

28 July 2016 Friendly	Al-Talaba	2–0	Al-Hedood	University of Baghdad, Baghdad
17:45 AST				Stadium: Al-Burj Stadium

Al-Talaba v Iraq U20

3 August 2016 Friendly	Al-Talaba	0–0	Iraq U20	University of Baghdad, Baghdad
17:30 AST				Stadium: Al-Burj Stadium

Al-Talaba v Naft Maysan

15 August 2016 Friendly	Al-Talaba	2–1	Naft Maysan	University of Baghdad, Baghdad
17:00 AST	Kadhim (pen.) Abdul-Abbas		Hamid	Stadium: Al-Burj Stadium

Al-Talaba v Al-Hedood

18 August 2016 Friendly	Al-Talaba	2–2	Al-Hedood	University of Baghdad, Baghdad
17:00 AST	Barri Sabah			Stadium: Al-Burj Stadium

Al-Talaba v Al-Shorta

20 August 2016 Friendly	Al-Talaba	0–0	Al-Shorta	University of Baghdad, Baghdad
17:00 AST				Stadium: Al-Burj Stadium

Al-Talaba v Karbalaa

30 August 2016 Friendly	Al-Talaba	1–1	Karbalaa	University of Baghdad, Baghdad
17:00 AST	Kadhim (pen.)		Kareem (pen.)	Stadium: Al-Burj Stadium

Al-Naft v Al-Talaba

3 September 2016 Friendly	Al-Naft	1–0	Al-Talaba	Baghdad
16:00 AST	Ali 89'			Stadium: Al Naft Stadium

Amanat Baghdad v Al-Talaba

5 September 2016 Friendly	Amanat Baghdad	1–0	Al-Talaba	Baghdad
16:30 AST	Hussein (pen.)			Stadium: Amanat Baghdad Stadium

Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya v Al-Talaba

9 September 2016 Friendly	Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya	1–1	Al-Talaba	Baghdad
16:30 AST	Radhi (pen.)		Kadhim (pen.)	Stadium: Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya Stadium

Al-Zawra'a v Al-Talaba

2 October 2016 Friendly	Al-Zawra'a	1–2	Al-Talaba	Baghdad
15:30 AST	Salah		Karim Abdul-Abbas	Stadium: Al-Shalchiya Stadium

Competitions

Overview

Competition	Record
	G	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Win %
Iraqi Premier League	11	5	6	0	15	7	+8	045.45
Iraq FA Cup	0	0	0	0	0	0	+0	!—
Total	11	5	6	0	15	7	+8	045.45

Updated to match played 16 December 2016
Source: Competitions

Iraqi Premier League

Main article: 2016–17 Iraqi Premier League

League table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
5	Naft Al-Wasat	36	19	11	6	45	26	+19	68
6	Al-Minaa	36	18	12	6	40	24	+16	66
7	Al-Talaba	36	14	12	10	51	38	+13	54
8	Amanat Baghdad	36	12	15	9	26	21	+5	51
9	Al-Najaf	36	12	13	11	41	38	+3	49

Source: Goalzz
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

Results summary

Overall								Home						Away
Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
11	5	6	0	15	7	+8	21	3	3	0	7	1	+6	2	3	0	8	6	+2

Last updated: 16 December 2016.
Source: Kooora

Results by matchday

Matchday	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	37	38
Ground	H	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	H
Result	D	W	W	P	D	W	D	D	D	W	W	D
Position	10	2	3	4	4	4	5	5	6	6	4	5

Updated to match(es) played on 16 December 2016. Source: Kooora
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss; P = Postponed

Matches

Al-Talaba v Al-Shorta

15 September 2016 1	Al-Talaba	1–1	Al-Shorta	Baghdad
18:00 AST	Saeed 45+3'		Waleed 37'	Stadium: Al-Shaab Stadium Referee: Wathiq Mohammed

Al-Zawra'a v Al-Talaba

20 September 2016 2	Al-Zawra'a	0–1	Al-Talaba	Baghdad
18:00 AST	Fadhel  34'  82'		Saeed 37'	Stadium: Al-Shaab Stadium Referee: Muhannad Qasim

Al-Talaba v Al-Hussein

25 September 2016 3	Al-Talaba	1–0	Al-Hussein	Baghdad
15:30 AST	Barri 75'			Stadium: Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya Stadium

Al-Talaba v Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya

15 October 2016 4	Al-Talaba	v	Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya	Baghdad
AST

Al-Bahri v Al-Talaba

20 October 2016 5	Al-Bahri	2–2	Al-Talaba	Basra
15:00 AST	Hadi 28' Hussein 70' (pen.)		Al-Ameen 2' Kadhim 52' (pen.)	Stadium: Al-Zubair Stadium Referee: Sabah Abid

Al-Talaba v Karbalaa

27 October 2016 6	Al-Talaba	3–0	Karbalaa	Baghdad
14:30 AST	Abdul-Mohsen 33', 56' Karim 66' (pen.)			Stadium: Al Quwa Al Jawiya Stadium Referee: Zaid Thamir

Al-Naft v Al-Talaba

3 November 2016 7	Al-Naft	2–2	Al-Talaba	Baghdad
14:30 AST	Fayad 1' Jawda 18'		Saeed 56' Karim 90+5' (pen.)	Stadium: Al Naft Stadium Referee: Haitham Mohammed

Al-Talaba v Erbil

25 November 2016 8	Al-Talaba	0–0	Erbil	Baghdad
16:00 AST				Stadium: Al-Shaab Stadium Referee: Wathiq Mohammed

Al-Samawa v Al-Talaba

30 November 2016 9	Al-Samawa	1–1	Al-Talaba	Samawa
14:00 AST	Sillal 45'		Jasim 56'	Stadium: Al-Samawah Stadium

Al-Talaba v Naft Al-Janoob

6 December 2016 10	Al-Talaba	2–0	Naft Al-Janoob	Baghdad
14:00 AST	Barri 32' Ridha 84'			Stadium: Al Quwa Al Jawiya Stadium Referee: Zaid Thamir

Naft Maysan v Al-Talaba

11 December 2016 11	Naft Maysan	1–2	Al-Talaba	Amarah
14:00 AST	Mhaisin 50'		Al-Ameen 39' Kone 59' (pen.)	Stadium: Al-Maimouna Stadium

Al-Talaba v Amanat Baghdad

16 December 2016 12	Al-Talaba	0–0	Amanat Baghdad	Baghdad
14:00 AST				Stadium: Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya Stadium

Al-Karkh v Al-Talaba

20 December 2016 13	Al-Karkh	v	Al-Talaba	Baghdad
AST

Al-Talaba v Naft Al-Wasat

26 December 2016 14	Al-Talaba	v	Naft Al-Wasat	Baghdad
AST

Al-Hedood v Al-Talaba

30 December 2016 15	Al-Hedood	v	Al-Talaba	Baghdad
AST

Al-Talaba v Al-Najaf

5 January 2017 16	Al-Talaba	v	Al-Najaf	Baghdad
AST

Zakho v Al-Talaba

10 January 2017 17	Zakho	v	Al-Talaba	Zakho
AST

Al-Mina'a v Al-Talaba

16 January 2017 18	Al-Mina'a	v	Al-Talaba	Basra
AST

Al-Talaba v Al-Kahraba

21 January 2017 19	Al-Talaba	v	Al-Kahraba	Baghdad
AST

References

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2. رسميا .. أوديشو مدربا لفريق الطلبة (in Arabic). Alsumaria. 11 June 2016.
3. تايم اوت - الحلقة الخامسة عشر. Youtube (in Arabic). Almada TV. 21 June 2016.
4. رسمياً .. إنضمام الكابتن شاكر محمود للكادر التدريبي لنادي الطلبة (in Arabic). Sportgram. 15 July 2016.
5. الطلبة يستقطب 6 لاعبين جدد (in Arabic). Kooora. 14 June 2016.
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12. فوز الطلبة على الزوراء بهدف نظيف في دوري الكرة الممتاز (in Arabic). Alsumaria. 20 September 2016.
13. الطلاب يجتازون امتحان الدور الثالث بالفوز على الحسين (in Arabic). Sportgram. 25 September 2016.
14. طلاب الانيق يخطفون نقطة من معقل البحري في البصرة (in Arabic). Sportgram. 20 October 2016.
15. "الانيق يواصل نتائجه المميزة و يلحق بكربلاء الخسارة الثالثة توالياً". Iraqi Premier League. 27 October 2016. Archived from the original on 28 October 2016. Retrieved 28 October 2016.
16. الطلبة يرفض الخسارة ويخرج بنقطة ثمينة من ميدان النفط (in Arabic). Sportgram. 3 November 2016.
17. نادي الطلبة يوقف نشاطاته وينسحب من الدوري الكروي (in Arabic). Alsumaria. 6 November 2016.
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