Wednesday, 11th June 2014
Brussels Airport
"Life starts at the end of your comfort zone."
The two and a half hour layover I had at Brussels Airport allowed me to run through the notes I'd put together after researching the current playing staff and the likelihood of them challenging at the correct end of the table. Much of the squad were youngsters with little experience of playing in the games that really mattered. A couple of them had the potential to make it big while the majority of them would probably fade into obscurity.
Let me explain a little.
NK Olimpija Ljubljana were formed in 2005 following the dissolution of the historic club playing under the same name. The club successfully navigated from the fifth tier to the PrvaLiga (Slovenia's top tier) in consecutive seasons after formation until 2009. Olimpija have since opened the Stozice Stadium which also plays host to the Slovenian national team.
While early success was common, the club are yet to win the PrvaLiga and finished as runners-up twice before falling off the pace last season. Maribor have dominated Slovenian football in recent times, winning five of the past six titles.
I've held constructive talks with the clubs board on a couple of occasions and am finally flying out to the Slovenian capital for a final interview before my potential unveiling.
It looks like my connecting flight to Ljubljana is boarding. I best not be late.
I appreciate the OP isn't very long, I've had the idea playing on my mind recently and wanted to just get the wheels rolling. My posts may vary in length from time-to-time, based entirely on free time. Feedback is welcomed.
Friday, 13th June 2014
Ljubljana, Central Slovenia
I woke up to a beautiful early morning in the Slovenian capital. Ljubljana is far more alluring than I had imagined and expected. The past 48 hours have been a whirlwind and I would have liked nothing more than to relax in bed for an extra couple of hours, though, it seems that there really is no rest for the wicked.
My interview was over and the contract was signed by the time I stumbled into bed late Wednesday night. Yesterday consisted of meeting the players, observing the first training session of the season and meeting the local press.
Today I faced a meeting with one of the clubs Directors, Ljubomir Grlic, regarding our pre-season schedule. We had little under a month to prepare for the PrvaLiga which kicks off on the 12th of July. A pre-season schedule was sent to me yesterday morning consisting of 4 friendly matches all to be staged at our home stadium against lower league Slovenian opposition. It was clear the schedule wouldn't provide us with adequate opposition or be financially sound.
I was to suggest scrapping those plans and venturing north into Austria instead. I had done a little homework and figured some of the country's bigger clubs, such as RB Salzburg and Rapid Wien, were available within the next month and may warm kindly to a friendly proposition.
It might also prove worthwhile to organise at least one friendly when we arrive back in Slovenia to allow us to train a little closer to home as we gather momentum towards the first game of the PrvaLiga season.
I'm going for a run to clear my head before I begin preparation for the meeting. Wish me good luck.
Sunday, 15th June 2014
Maribor, Northern Slovenia
We were stuck in standstill traffic on the outskirts of Maribor. Our journey so far had been visually stunning through the Slovenian countryside - I don't think I'd given the country enough credit before I arrived. It's approximately another hour coach ride along the A2 before we arrive in the city of Graz, the first stop on our rescheduled pre-season trip.
I'd convinced Grlic to organise a four game trip of Austria. SK Sturm Graz, based in the south, were to be our first opposition. They finished mid-table last season and were probably the easiest team we'd face away from home. A trip to Vienna would then allow us to play SK Rapid Wien and FK Austria Wien just three days apart. We would conclude our tour against last years Austrian champions, RB Salzburg. All four teams were stronger and, technically speaking, better than us but financially we would reap rewards. It will also be a good test to get us prepared against some quality opposition.
After returning from Austria, we would host a further two friendlies. A third tier side named NK Brezice would be the first to travel to our home stadium, before Croatian giants Hajduk Split rolled into town.
Over the past day or two I was starting to get a tighter grasp on who were the better equipt players in the team. Matic Fink, for example, had relatively average coach reports in comparison to the rest of the squad but stood out to me in training as a calm and reassuring midfielder. Whenever he had the ball at his feet in training, I didn't feel like it was going to go anywhere he didn't want it to.
I've brought quite a large squad which includes a number of youngsters along to Austria with us for two reasons. First, I want to analyse everyone I have at my disposal and second, we need as many numbers as we can get as the friendlies are packed quite tightly together.
The traffic seems to be moving better now, and we're not far from the Austrian border.
Best of luck, looks well written and keep those updates coming
Monday, 16th June 2014
Graz, Southern Austria
We arrived into the city of Graz yesterday evening and immediately checked in at the Hotel Gollner which wasn't far from the centre. The city is far more beautiful than I had imagined - and that's something I seem to be saying everywhere I go in this region.
The players and staff ate our evening meal together and strolled around the city for a couple of hours to relax. We observed the breathtaking sunset from the Murinsel, a striking steel strucutre connecting both sides of the city over the River Mur. As we arrived back to the hotel, some senior staff from SK Sturm Graz visited to exchange pleasantries.
We trained lightly this morning at some local facilities as I made my final touches to the starting eleven for tonights match. I decided we would begin using a simple 4-3-3 formation with the wingers cutting inside and the lone forward linking up play. The main task for the midfield three was to retain possession and use the width of the pitch to their full advantage. The decision was made between myself and my recently appointed assistant Aleksander Petrovic, snatched from league rivals Zavrc, to start the game with argualy our strongest eleven and phase in the other players as the game advanced. It was plain in my mind that, while fitness is the priority in pre-season, growing into a losing habit isn't something I want this early in my career.
The players warmed up on the bobbly surface at the UPC-Arena until we pulled them in to announce the team not long before kick-off.
NK Olimpija Ljubljana: Aleksander Seliga, Boban Jovic, Antonio Delamea Mlinar, Nemanja Mitrovic, Kenan Bajiric, Miha Zajc, Matic Fink, Nik Kapun, Marko Vukcevic, Rok Baskera, Andraz Sporar.
Substitutes: Darko Brljak, Aleksandar Lazevski, Darijan Matic, Miran Burgic, Matija Skarabot, Josip Golubar, Aleksandar Rodic, Aris Zarifovic, Blaz Bozic, Luka Gajic, Hrvoje Spahija, Kruno Ivancic.
The crowd of around 4,000 cheered their respective teams as the referee blew for kick-off.
Our hosts were clearly fired up and looking to impress their home support. They zipped the ball around leaving us consitently a yard behind. The first chance fell to highly-rated youngster Donis Avdijaj, on loan from Bundesliga side Schalke. We failed to fully clear a free-kick and when the ball dropped to the Under-19 German international inside the area, I expected nothing less than a goal. Somehow Seliga got his fingertips to Avdijaj's tame effort, knocking the ball onto the bar and behind for a corner.
It tooks us approximately quarter of an hour to settle into the game and after some neat passing between Vukcevic and Zajc, Sporar was chopped down on the edge of the area. Kapun stepped up, hitting an emaculate left-foot shot onto the underside of the crossbar and across the line sending the 200 or so travelling Olimpjia fans into delirium.
Not 10 minutes later, our lead was doubled. Right-back Jovic strided down the flank, cutting the ball back to Vukcevic who laid the ball to his left into the path of Zajc. The young midfielder's shot deflected off of Sporar's back and rippled Sturm Graz's net.
As the first half wound down, the party section - also known as the away fans - were silenced. Promising left-back, Bajiric, had already been booked early on for arguing with the referee and was beaten on the inside by his man. Keen to make amends, Bajiric raced to keep up - though, he only succeeded in tripping his man. I thought the referee may have shown lenancy in such a game, but I was wrong. It was a stupid mistake and I made a mental note of his attitude with the referee. He trudged past me as I remained still, arms folded.
The half-time team talk was very much "more of the same", as Matic Fink slotted into left-back as cover while we made five substitutions.
I don't think the players quite understood "more of the same" in the way I had meant it. Instead of more attacking football, we only offered more idiotic mistakes. Three late goals meant we ended up on the losing side, despite being two goals to the good at half-time.
Analysing the three goals could be done tomorrow. For now, the players had to understand they couldn't be so lifeless and collapse like that ever again. It's not acceptable, and it never will be.
There was no time for socialising after tonights game, either: the players were to wake up two hours earlier than originally planned tomorrow to run off their idiotic tendancies displayed tonight.
SK Sturm Graz 3-2 NK Olimpija Ljubljana
Jer: The feedback is appreciated, hopefully I can get you hooked!
Shame to lose that 2-0 lead..
Nice start to your story, Slovenia is really untouched by many on FM, including myself, so I'm keen to see what it's like. Good luck with the rest of your friendlies.
