An uncommon fiery action from Al-Badri in the Red Devils' 2-0 friendly defeat to Bayer Leverkusen drew criticism from Egyptian media.

The 49-year-old, who was Jose's assistant during the past five years, refused to leave the pitch after being sent off by the referee for dissent early in the second half.

Leverkusen's general manager Rudi Voller intervened to calm him down as Al-Badri eventually accepted the referee's decision and sat in the stands.

Several pundits said Al-Badri was trying to replicate the actions Jose used to do during his highly successful spell with Ahli to impose his personality on the players.

But he firmly denied their accusations.

"I protested against the referee's decisions because he treated my players very badly. That's all," Al-Badri told Al-Hayat TV.

"I'm very calm but sometimes the coach is forced to respond to any weird decisions that way.

"I respect Jose very much but I do not follow in his footsteps, I do things my own way.

"For example, Jose used to play with a traditional 3-5-2 formation but I changed it to 4-4-2 because our opponents became very familiar with out tactics."

Al-Badri was appointed as Ahli coach following the sudden departure of Portuguese tactician Nelo Vingada, who spent few days at the club before leaving for 'family reasons'.