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Al-Hilal and coach Jorge Jesus have parted ways, according to a club announcement early on Saturday.

“The Board of Directors of Al-Hilal Club Company has agreed with the Portuguese head coach of the first football team Jorge Jesus to terminate the contractual relationship between them,” the club posted on social media.

Coach Mohammed Al-Shalhoub will now take over first team duties.

“The Board expressed its appreciation for the efforts made by the technical staff since last season,” the Al-Hilal statement said.

The surprising aspect about Jorge Jesus being dismissed by Al-Hilal is that it is not that surprising. The Portuguese boss took the job for a second time in July 2023 hit the ground running and, a few months later, was leading the Blues to a world-record winning streak of 34 games. It was a phenomenal first season with the Saudi Pro League (SPL) title, the King’s Cup and the Saudi Super Cup. Yet despite the silverware, the bullet had been coming.

Losing the semi-final of the AFC Champions League Elite against Al-Ahli 3-1 in late April was the final straw. The most successful team in the history of Asian football was just 90 minutes away from the final and a real chance of a fifth title, but in the end, the defeat was deserved.

It comes after an uncertain period in which Al-Hilal have not looked like their usual selves. In November came a first league defeat in 18 months, a surprise 3-2 loss to Al-Khaleej. It was even more of a surprise given that the defending champions were 2-0 ahead at the break before throwing it all away in the second-half.

Well, even Al-Hilal have to lose sometime. The next five league games brought the maximum 15 points, 23 goals, and title number 20 still looked to be on the cards but the loss had changed something. Al-Hilal were vulnerable, after all. In the following 13 league games, there were four defeats –including a painful Riyadh Derby loss to Nassr and a 4-1 loss to Ittihad– and four draws. Given Al-Hilal’s high standards, it was a shock. It was also a gift to Al-Ittihad who were able to take control of the title race.   

Not winning the domestic title is always dangerous for a coach of Al-Hilal. Add an exit from Asian competition, then it really is time to worry. Leonardo Jardim was fired early in 2022, just a few weeks after winning the club’s fourth Champions League.

“Things didn't go the way I planned, and when the result is negative, we look for a victim,” said Jesus just before the end. “I am the one who bears responsibility. I am the one who builds the team and sets the match plans, and I am responsible as the coach."

Everything comes from results and the change from a winning machine to a team that was then struggling to put wins together, meant that off the pitch pressures grew. The 70-year-old has come under attack with increasing regularity from ex-players and/or pundits which is never a good sign. There had also been rumours for a few months that some players had grown unhappy with the methods and that there was tension between the boss and some senior and influential players.

As Al-Hilal started to lose the big games, tactics and in-game management were questioned. In the 7-0 thrashing of Gwangju FC in the Champions League quarter-finals, Hilal looked solid at the back and devastating in attack. Yet against Al-Ahli a few days later, Hassan Tambakti, who looked imperious in defence, was benched and in came Ali Al-Bulaihi,who did not have one of his best games. The Jeddah club were finding a lot of space between the lines and causing all kinds of problems but the Portuguese boss did not react quickly enough and by the time he started to do so, Kalidou Koulibaly was red carded and a tough situation became almost impossible.

And there was some disquiet about the public linking of Jesus with the Brazil job. In some ways, this helped his position, initially, at least. How could Al-Hilal think about firing a coach that was being linked with the most successful national team in the world? But the longer it went on, it started to become a bigger story. Carlo Ancelotti was always the front-runner but Real Madrid started to become annoyed at how Brazil were going about trying to get their man, the Al-Hilal hierarchy took note of their man being in the news. The Brazilian media has said that Jesus wanted the job and was actually upset at being the second choice.

It all meant that, with the season petering out at home and overseas, it was not a surprise that Hilal wanted a change. The FIFA Club World Cup, a tournament that Al-Hilal take very seriously, is looming, especially the opener against Real Madrid. Having a new man in charge sooner rather than later makes sense for that competition and also for the next season. Expect a big name.

WASHINGTON: US hiring slowed less than expected in April while the jobless rate remained unchanged, according to government data published Friday, buoying investors navigating the early turbulent months of Donald Trump’s second presidency.
Since returning to office in January, Trump has looked to slash the number of federal employees and embarked on a trade war that many economists warn is likely to cool growth and push up inflation.
With Trump’s tariff plans still in their early stages, their effect has not yet filtered through into hiring: The world’s largest economy added 177,000 jobs last month, down slightly from a revised 185,000 in March, the Department of Labor said in a statement.
However, job creation was still well above the market consensus of 130,000, according to Briefing.com, and remained slightly above the average monthly gain over the past 12 months.
The unemployment rate stayed at 4.2 percent, in line with expectations.
US financial markets closed sharply higher on the news, with all three major Wall Street indices ending the day firmly in the green.
“Markets breathed a sigh of relief this morning,” Northlight Asset Management chief investment officer Chris Zaccarelli wrote in a note to clients.
“While recession fears are still simmering on the back burner, the buy-the-dip dynamic can continue — at least until the tariff pause runs out,” he said, referring to Trump’s recent decision to pause higher levies on dozens of trading partners until July to allow for trade talks.
Trump took to his Truth Social account after the data was published to talk up the “strong” employment figures.
“Just like I said, and we’re only in a TRANSITION STAGE, just getting started!!!” the US president wrote.
“NO INFLATION, THE FED SHOULD LOWER ITS RATE!!!” added Trump, who has been outspoken in his calls for the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates.
The independent central bank has kept its key lending rate at between 4.25 and 4.50 percent for months, as it looks to bring inflation from its current elevated levels to its long-term target of two percent while keeping one eye firmly fixed on the unemployment rate.
Financial markets overwhelmingly expect the Fed to extend its rate cut pause next week, according to data from CME Group.


Sectors that saw job gains last month included health care, transportation and warehousing, financial activities, and social assistance, the Labor Department said.
But federal government employment declined by 9,000 in April, bringing the total decline in the number of government employees since January to 26,000.
The Trump administration is facing legal action after attempting to lay off tens of thousands of federal workers as part of an aggressive cost-cutting drive.
Average hourly earnings grew 0.2 percent to $36.06 in April, the Labor Department said Friday.
“There is nothing to complain about here,” High Frequency Economics chief economist Carl Weinberg wrote in a note to clients. “You cannot find any evidence of a nascent recession in these figures.”
While traders may breathe easier today, many analysts have stressed that it is still early days for the new administration, and warned they still expect tariffs to cool job creation in the future.
“It will be extraordinary if employment is unscathed this year by the jump in tariffs on imports, the drop in asset prices and the extreme economic policy uncertainty,” economists at Pantheon Macroeconomics wrote in an investor note published on Monday.
These factors are likely “causing many businesses to defer non-essential spending,” they added, noting that they had not yet seen any significant changes in the payroll data they track.