Thetownend.com

Shana Haji became the first Iranian football player to sign with a Scottish Premier League (SPL) club last month when he joined Hibernian FC (Hibs) in the capital city Edinburgh.  I have met the 18 year old Shana twice since he joined Hibs and can see that he is a star in the making, he is practicing hard and is ready to play in the club’s next reserve match.  The following is a background to Shana’s football career; quite an impressive resume already may I add for an 18 year old player.

 
Shahnam Hajmollah Ahmad Naraji better known as Shana Haji in Europe was born in Barrow-in-furness in Cumbria (England) in 1988 to an Iranian father and British mother but he is very much Iranian as Shana’s family moved to Iran soon after his birth where Shana grew up in Tehran.  Like every kid in Iran he played football on asphalt in his street using bricks to mark goalposts.  But Shana took his football seriously from an early age and joined the football academy run by the former Iranian international striker Mr Hassan Rowshan who played against Scotland in world cup 78 finals.


Shana joined Esteghlal FC of Tehran at an early age (youth level) where his talent was spotted in due course by the Spanish Club Real Zaragoza when he was 17, Shana signed a one year deal with the Spanish Primera Division side and played for Real Zaragoza youth team in season 2005/2006 where he was a regular first team playe, he gained valuable experience in Spain.

 

Shana who plays in a right winger position then had a four day trial at Norwegian Premier League club Tromso where he was offered a contract, at the time the transfer window was closed and Shana returned to Esteghlal, however Tromso kept the offer open, after careful consideration though Shana decided against joining Tromso with the intention of playing in an European club with a stronger football infrastructure and higher standards of the game.
 

Then came the trial at Hibernian FC in the Scottish capital city Edinburgh where Shana impressed Hibs boss John Collins.  Shana was signed for the rest of this season on March 13th 2007 where he is focusing on his training and is expected to play in Hibernian’s next reserve match.  During my two meetings with Shana he emphasised that he is fully committed to the club and that he will do the talking on the pitch, he will give it 100% and hopes to fit in with John Collins’ plans for the team.

"For his age he is well-developed, powerfully-built, very quick and skilful," he said.

"He looks promising for 18 and he can play wide right or left.

"The fact is that, as a club, we can't go out and buy the finished article.

"We have to look at players whom we can develop.

"We saw something in Shana in training which we liked and, having seen enough in a couple of sessions, we had to sign him to see more."

Wide right. Great we need one of them.  :D

Oh for fuck sake Rich, don't be such a miserable cunt  :-))(

Says on the OS that hes playing in our reserves for Cheltenham tonight as triallist?!!!!!!!!!

Anyone can see I meant for the game against Cheltenham.

Wayy to many smart asses on here.

You can get around the word filter you know:

Malpas out!

You can get around the word filter you know:

Malpas out!

What, so that I can't get around the word filter?

Ace....takes me back to the mid 70's when Swindon College specialised in Iranian blokes.  They tended to be the offspring of pro Shah western types, with a fair bit of money.

  There were a fair number of local birds, with a taste for the exotic, who either signed up or would have signed up for a life in Tehran.   They all suddenly disappeared when the Ayatollah took over  :shock:

Real-ly?

No they didn't! There were still a few there in the early to mid '80's when I was there. They never seemed to leave or gain any qualifications. They just went on year after year signing up for different courses. Who knows where they all ended up.

half of ours are called fucking united though.

real means royal and it was all tied in with the spanish royal family and franco stregthened the ties.

sorry reg what do you mean?

just spoke to a mate who went to cheltenham tonight and he said Haji was shite, he is a cheltenham fan tho

it was a wierd one reg, franco restored the monarchy after the 2ww, but would not let juan carlos ascend to the throne, he was all pally pally with them but he took the role of king, Juan carlos son also named juan carlos became king 2 days after franco died in 1975.

Who is everyone's favourite monarch?

Mine is probably George V.

 Elizabeth I.  She was great in Blackadder.

   Neville will be proud of you.  I've always thought it a bit crap that half the clubs in Spain are called Real.  I'm sure there's a good reason for it, but you'd expect more imagination from the Iberians.

What Reg said

Reject who couldnt even get in Hibernians team

IF THEY AIN'T FROM UNITED, CHELSEA, MADRID OR MILAN THEY AIN'T GOOD ENOUGH. MALPAS OUT

Okay then, anyone got any songs to go with "Hajmollah Ahmad Naraji"??

I was thinking the theme tune to home and away maybe.

Reject who couldnt even get in Hibernians team

Okay then, anyone got any songs to go with "Hajmollah Ahmad Naraji"??

I was thinking the theme tune to home and away maybe.

He's been told he has no future here according to the adver...