[FM13]The Adriatic Adventure [Hajduk Split]

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TWO BIG INJURIES AS ZADAR AND HAJDUK DRAW
HAJDUK 1-1 ZADAR- ATTD. 18 886
Jonni Cabrera broke his foot, as Tomislav Kiš was sidelined for the next month and a half, while Ivan Graf picked up a mild knock before Mirko Oremuš and Ivan Džoni saved the day.

Hajduk started better off, but Zadar definitely smelled blood, and, after 20 minutes of box to box play, it was Zadar who had the first big chance. Goran Blaževi? had to pull off a magnificent quadruple save before he finally tipped off the fifth consecutive shot wide. It was a stressful moment for the keeper, but the reason he has been called up so frequently to the Croatian national team. Perhaps it is deserved after all.

Zadar did get the opening goal twenty minutes later, just before the first half, as a long free kick met the head of defender, Josip Bilaver. And then, to add insult to injury, a late challenge to GET the ball in the first place, overlooked by the referee, broke the Paraguayan Jonni Cabrera's foot, leaving Hajduk incredibly thin on the defender's front.

Mirko Oremuš did save the day, yet again, with a delightful double pass with Ivan Džoni. Džoni settled a long ball before passing it through the defence for Oremuš to get past the keeper, yet again, and score the 1-1.

Fortunately, Osijek lost to Istra, 1-0, so Hajduk, with the draw, are back in 1st place.

Great story so far, I love it. Keep it up

2013-05-17 18:30#101867 Sonalexwild : Great story so far, I love it. Keep it up

Thank you, I love the attention

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DEBUTANT STEALS SHOW. OSIJEK LOSES. HAJDUK CLEAR 4 POINTS
HAJDUK 4-2 CIBALIA- ATTD. 2 379
Ivan Tomi?i? scored two goals on his senior début, as Hajduk, who are, frankly, having a dismal end-season, clear the top of the table with only 7 games remaining by 4 points. Cibalia actually opened up a 2-0 lead with Bartolovi? providing both goals, before Ivan Tomi?i? struck back just before half-time to bring it to 1-2. A furious Bendiš spurred Hajduk on, and with ?aktaš forcing an own-goal, Oremuš getting a lucky strike in, and Ivan Tomi?i? freeing himself up excellently (getting 3rd place for Goal of the month), Hajduk eventually took the win, fortunately for the dressing room.

Bids are reportedly being reported around Europe for no fewer than 4 of Hajduk's players: Goran Blaževi? seems to be at the center of a 1.7 M € bid, while ?aktaš could go for the slightly less astronomical 1.4 M €. The question is whether Hajduk can sell two of their key players and still remain competitive... even though they aren't proving very competitive even now...

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HAJDUK STILL NOT PERFORMING. TITLE UP FOR GRABS WITH 5 BIG GAMES TO PLAY
HAJDUK 1-2 LOKOMOTIVA- ATTD. 18 818
Josip Radoševi? got a consolation goal in the 86th minute, to prepare for the difficult run-in to the title by throwing away the last lead they had. With Slaven Belupo 2 points off the pace, Rijeka only 6 points off the pace, and Osijek just behind the Dalmatians, Hajduk have to face all three teams, plus an underperforming Dinamo next week... closing out the title with an away match to Osijek.
Only if they quickly get their act together will Bendiš be able to pull off the miracle, although it looks like Dinamo won't be continuing their 7 year reign as title holders. They languish in 7th place, 8 points above the relegation zone.

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HAJDUK BEAT DINAMO WITH GREAT COMEBACK AT THE DEATH
HAJDUK 2-1 DINAMO- ATTD. 29 242
A packed Poljud nearly saw Dinamo take away three points, and almost certainly the title, from Bendiš's grasp. In fact, nothing would have pleased the few Dinamo fans on the stadium more, as they erupted when Arijan Ademi scored the opening goal just before half-time.
But Bendiš wasn't having it. He took off the knocked Mijo ?aktaš in favour of last time's debutant hero, Ivan Tomi?i?, and later, when Goran Rubil got slightly injured, he just threw Ivan Džoni up next to Tomislav Kiš.
It proved to be a masterstroke. Tomi?i? was (by a hair) ruled off-side in what would have been an equalizing goal, but still managed to get on the end of Džoni's cross in the 78th minute and tap home a 1-1. He would score 1 more questionably disallowed goal in the 82nd. But it was Džoni destined to be a hero. The home grown teenager nabbed a beautiful ball from Franko Andrijaševi? before dashing up the middle to score in the 91st minute for 2-1.

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Bendiš could not have been happier, as the team took back 1st place from Slaven Belupo. With 4 games left, Hajduk has 53 points, Slaven 51, and Osijek 50. Dinamo is 7th, with 39 points, just ahead of Zadar and Inter Zapreši? (37, 36) while Zagreb are in the relegation zone with 31.

Hajduk face Slaven Belupo at home, and, with a win, could secure a much bigger gap for 1st place. 3rd place Osijek face 4th placed Rijeka at home

50th comment

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FAR MORE AGGRESSIVE (10 MAN) HAJDUK FINALLY GET BACK IN THE GROOVE
HAJDUK 3-1 SLAVEN BELUPO- ATTD. 14 784
Slaven Belupo didn't stand a chance. It looked as though they might have, when Ivan Tomi?i? got sent off) but Hajduk demolished the team, with Goran Blaževi? and Mirko Oremuš particularly outstanding. Bendiš has used the injury to Josip Radoševi? (18) candidate to Young Player of the Year, to form a far more attacking, and tactically aggressive Hajduk, with far more tackles. Ivan Džoni and Tomislav Kiš form a deadly strikforce when played next to each other, and, so far it has worked.

Hajduk is only three games away from winning the title, and, with a three point cushion on Osijek, they can afford to lose one of the three matches, if they beat or tie with Osijek on the final day...

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SLAVEN BELUPO CAN'T STOP BENDIŠ, AS HAJDUK STORM TO FIRST TITLE IN
OSIJEK 1-1 HAJDUK- ATTD. 4 771
Last week, Slaven Belupo demolished Osijek to put themselves in the 2nd position, ready to overtake Hajduk if they messed up at the final step, but it simply wasn't to be. Ivan Džoni scored the opening goal off of a Tomislav Kiš rebound, while Peroševi? equalized for Osijek just after half-time.
It wasn't a great match, but because Osijek had nothing to play for, as they had already secured Europa League football, and couldn't win the league, it was Hajduk who should have taken three points. 1 point was enough though, and Slaven Belupo finished with 60 points, just off the pace of 61, after the last day of the regular season

MEANWHILE... IN SPLIT
Hajduk lifted their first division trophy in front of their home crowd at their next match, a sell-out 35 000 crowd at the Croatian Cup Final Second Leg. Dinamo carried a 2-1 lead into the match, but Hajduk, fresh off their league success wanted it more, attacking from the first whistle. And at half-time, it looked... well... like it wouldn't work, because it was 0-0. But after a rousing passionate speech from Bendiš, Goran Milovi? headed a corner in in the 50th minute to take the lead, on away goals. Dinamo couldn't get the ball, as 35 000 fans booed their every move, while Hajduk were revelling in the attention, Kiš nearly made it 2, in the 90th minute, but the ball deflected off the keeper. Ivan Džoni however finished the rebound, just as he had in Osijek, to take home a fantastic double, parading around with both trophies on the same day.

It is their second double, their first since 1995.

Lovely double there, Go Hadjuk! What's next? World domination?

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BENDIŠ LEADS HAJDUK TO HELL AND BACK TO END ROLLER COASTER SEASON
SEASON REVIEW- AVG ATT. 18 384
FIRST DIVISION - 1st
CROATIAN CUP - WINNER

It was quite a season for Bendiš, as the young manager kicked it off with winning three months of back-to-back manager of the month awards, losing only one game in the process. The shit hit the fan though, just after the half-way mark of the season, as Ivan Vukovi?, who left the club in December to alleviate the impending financial disaster, couldn't find the target. Bendiš experimented with all sorts of shenanigans up front, at one point playing right winger, Mirko Oremuš as a center forward, but he really got into his tactical groove towards the end: playing Ivan Džoni and Tomislav Kiš, both youth prospects, side by side. While neither of them have a significant amount of goals (between them, only 8) they really only started playing well later in the season, and crowding the box helped the midfielders start the scoring.

But it didn't look like it, with Hajduk - not so much "heading" as in "careening" - to a financial disaster, it didn't look good. Bendiš had to offload more than a million in the January market, just after finishing 2nd in the first 2/3 of the season. But he managed, cutting corners and using charm to get what he wanted in the United States, before coming back to a club that started doing worse than when he left it. Fortunately, so was Osijek, and while Slaven Belupo was catching up, Bendiš got the club going just in time. 1st place for Hajduk at the end of the year, and, after being through all sorts of financial hell this year, a promising strike force, a domestic double, and a Champions League qualification berth could make it all worthwhile.

Bendiš has signed a new contract, for 3 years, taking a massive pay cut to just 23 000 € a year.

2013-05-20 18:50#103075 Louis O. : Lovely double there, Go Hadjuk! What's next? World domination?

Taking over the boardroom...

BUT WAIT

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HAJDUK RELEASE FINANCIAL INFORMATION FOR 2013
HNK HAJDUK SPLIT S.S.D. have released their financial information since Timmy Ivo Bendiš has taken charge of the club, and, while not dazzling, it's certainly very pretty.

Hajduk have been through some rather catastrophic dire straits recently, but the turnover for the club looked to be massive, as they won the First Division and the Croatian Cup. While this isn't a big deal immediately, from a finance perspective, it does give Hajduk a shout at qualifying for the Champions League.

And Hajduk's fans helped a boatload, as the main income over the year was a truly inspiring 5M €, raising the turnover to a whopping 9.25M €. And, with Hajduk's pre-season TV earnings and whatnot still to come, Hajduk could be out of the red for the first time in at least 3 years.

Bendiš left the clubs facilities the day before pre-season ended, and gave an impromptu statement.

"When I took over the club, our main directive was to try to get the club out of the red. There was no title in mind, no cup to look forward to. The board was honestly considering having a clear-out sale and playing with the U19s to try and restructure the debt. The problem with that was, without any titles, caps, or awards, the players weren't worth that much to the market. Only a few players would've brought in more than a couple hundred thousand. Altogether, if we sold everyone, we would have made, 2, maybe3 million euros.

"And that wasn't even close to enough. We needed 20, and it wasn't happening. So, I told the board: listen, if we can hold off for six months, and win in the meantime, we can get more money. The fans will keep coming, we'll have a shout at winning this league. 'We can do this. We can beat the bank'. And, after a meeting with the Club Director, we managed to stave off the jackals for just a little bit. Fortunately, that's all we needed. The club is projected for -5.2M € at the end of next season, but that's unrealistic. We should be getting a massive windfall for the Champions League which we hope to qualify for, and we still have the TV money coming at the beginning of the season. Last year, that was almost 10 million, so we should...

"I don't believe it... wait a second..".

*shuffles through papers* "can I borrow a pen" *scribbles*

"Yes, as of the end of next year, Hajduk will have money. In fact, we might even be able to buy back our stadium. Welcome to the new era ladies and gentlemen. We've been to hell and back, but now it's time to take our rightful place among football Gods"

Great updates once again and great season
Keep it up!

What an awesome season! Winning the division and the cup has had an awesome impact on your finances well done! Now you can build for Europe

It is quite the start to the new season, isn't it

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RUTHLESS HAJDUK STUN FAVORITES IN FRONT OF CAPACITY ST. JAKOBSPARK
BASEL 3-5 HAJDUK ATTD. 37 438
Basel looked to go through, after being made easy favorites for the tie against the Croatian champions, but they had another thing coming. Ivan Džoni nearly scored in the opening 15 seconds, as a sign for things to come, before Tomislav Kiš got onto the end of a brilliant long ball and scored before the end of the second minute. Basel clawed the equalizer off of a lucky free-kick in the 5th minute. But Hajduk had the momentum, and the tactic, and they used it.

Mijo ?aktaš got his first goal of the night in the 39th minute, to give Hajduk the lead before halftime, and just after, Andrijaševi? struck again, a long range effort into the top corner, before he assisted to ?aktaš for 4-1. Hajduk nearly lost it though, as Alex Frei (still inexplicably playing very well) and Matías Mier both scored (74', and 79') to bring it nearly level, but, when Hajduk went an attacked again, Ivan Džoni got clattered to the ground in the box, letting Franko Andrijaševi? complete the rout with a penalty in the 84th minute. An excellent 5-3 away win for the underdogs, as Basel now need to score AT LEAST 3 at the Adriatic fortress that is Poljud.

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HAJDUK DOWN ISTRA AWAY TO PREPARE FOR BASEL
ISTRA 0-2 HAJDUK ATTD. 3 358
It seemed like Hajduk revelled in St. Jakobspark, and European glory, as they failed to find the net early on against a much less daunting Istra side. However, Franko Andrijaševi? quickly rectified that. With 33 year old Filippo Carrobio no longer in contention for a first team space, it was Mijo ?aktaš who fired a corner to the young midfielder's foot for the first goal, just before the half. And, in the second half, ?aktaš skipped the middleman, to justify his ever-rising value on the left wing for Hajduk, with a well-taken goal.

2-0 for Hajduk against what could have been a difficult away team, in preparation for Basel at Poljud. A win this Wednesday could fix all of Hajduk's financial troubles, if they kept the pace up for the play-off