[FM13]The Adriatic Adventure [Hajduk Split]

2013-07-10 01:32#119070 Rablador : Janza doesn't look too bad, actually

I'm very happy with him. I'll have to train him to the right side, but a great addition to my side.

Unfortunately, he is now the best paid player at the club, with a salary of 130 000 €/year

Agree with Rab, a good signing for you! Nice to see you stay too

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THIRD DINAMO MATCH FOR BENDIŠ - ATTD: 26 672
DINAMO 2-4 HAJDUK - KIŠ, MILI?EVI? x2, ANDRIJAŠEVI?
Another early morning for Bendiš at his coffee shop as he worked on his team sheet. A few passers by watched the video from the last Dinamo match, played just before the winter break, and, for Hajduk, nothing had changed. Erik Janža would arrive only in September.

Just as he was finishing up, a friend of his, sitting next to him, casually remarked, "Hey Timmy, didn't someone get suspended last match... what with the yellow cards?"

Bendiš looked at the team sheet, and did a double take. His heroes were gone. See, against the penultimate Dinamo match of the season, one of the more important ones, Bendiš had 4 first team suspensions: Radoševi?, Rubil, Jozinovi? and Malo?a. That was, almost entirely, his back line. Goran Milovi? was his only survivor...

So, Bendiš sighed, and covered his head with his hands. But, such was life... And, grudgingly, he pulled out his U19 team sheet. 19 year old Antonio Mili? replaced Radoševi?, while Oremuš dropped back to play full back, to give room for Ivan Mili?evi?.

Wantaway winger, Ton?i Kuko? (leaving for Primorac in June), made an appearance at left back and Ivan Graf replaced Mario Malo?a. The interesting bit was the bench: Josip Baši?, Teo Pesi?, and Toni Topi? (all 16) were there. With Goran Rubil probably retiring soon, Josip Baši? will be Erik Janža's competition.

But for now, Bendiš wasn't thrilled. He had already lost to Dinamo (even without a manager) twice this season, and this bare bones squad was not thrilling. But he had no choice, and flung his pencil into the café, were it landed perfectly in a cup full of pencils. His friend looked up from his newspaper, and, unimpressed, said "do it again".

---

So, Bendiš walked onto the pitch in the evening after the short drive to Zagreb, and within 40 seconds to the start of the match, he took the lead. It was Tomi Kiš again, with a glorious counterattacking effort. The kid was on fire. But, sooner rather than later, Hajduk was down 2-1. And it stayed like that until half, at which point Bendiš promptly lost. his. shit.

The team, specifically Ivan Mili?evi? took those words to heart, and scored twice, before Franko Andrijaševi? scored one to demolish Dinamo 4-2 at the stronghold of Zagreb, Maksimir. Prompting the 25 year old to run screaming on the pitch and hug the head referee. Before cheering with all his players though, he had the courtesy to walk over to the Dinamo match and shake the assistant coach's hand, as he had the manager fired two weeks before... Whether Dinamo can make it to Europe (4th place, 1 point above 5th) this season, remains to be seen.

---

The next morning, Bendiš and the friend from the morning before were sitting at the same place, having a cup of coffee. The café floor was littered with pencils nowhere near the cup, but when Bendiš finally got to the page in the newspaper describing his victory, he set it down in front of his friend and gloated,

To which, only because they are the best of friends, the friend responded, "nice... now do it again"

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MAGNIFICENT HAJDUK TRUMP ITALIAN ODDS 21.II.2013.g.
HAJDUK 2-0 NAPOLI - I. DŽONI, G. MILOVI? - ATTD. 28 316

For the purposes of this article, we'll use the Gazzette dello Sport headline:

"HOW THE HELL DID SOME CHAP NAMED "GORAN" BEAT CAVANI?"
Thanks to a spirited performance by a, frankly, incredible Goran Milovi?, Cavani didn't even get a shot on goal. And, to add insult to injury, the defender dribbled into the box, and, resembling Piqué against Inter a few years ago, placed the ball past Morgan de Sanctis, completely dismantling the Italians.

May God only hope that Napoli manage to overturn a deficit. Although, with Ivan Džoni and Tomislav Kiš now scoring, there may as well be no hope...

Great win vs. Napoli

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LET'S DO IT AGAIN 28.II.2013.g.
NAPOLI 2-3 HAJDUK - I. DŽONI, T. KIŠ, M. MALO?A - ATTD. 38 812
Napoli didn't stand a chance.

But it didn't look like it until the impeccably dressed Hajduk manager ran out of the tunnel shouting "Let's do it again" to rousing cheers from the travelling support and the Hajduk players.

That scared Napoli a bit.

THEN, Bendiš threw on so many teenagers that even the scouts of Napoli had no idea who those players were. Instead of defensive stalwart Goran Rubil, it was 17 year old Josip Baši? who was on the right. And, while Bendiš has been playing with a similar squad all season, it's still difficult to imagine that someone would be so colossally stupid as to field a squad averaging less than 22 years old against Napoli.

Away.

Bendiš, never to far from being called an idiot (although he prefers "eccentric") did exactly that, and it paid off in spades. Josip Baši? (17) crossed to Ivan Džoni (19) in the opening 5 minutes for the first goal, before Cavani managed to nab one back. Tomi Kiš (19) wasn't having it though. After 21 in 34, he made sure that he wouldn't leave empty handed, so he left De Sanctis for dead before Toni Topi? (16) assisted Mario Malo?a (25) for the third goal.

Sure, Napoli pulled one back, but with a team as young and unpredictable as this, who's going to stop Hajduk, who now look forward to taking on Guus Hiddink at Anži...

This is a great read and some impressive results.

Those wins against Napoli are just....brilliant!

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ANŽI TAKE OUT ETERNAL UNDERDOGS 20.III.2013.g.
ANŽI 4-1 (5-2 AGG.) HAJDUK SPLIT - F. ANDRIJAŠEVI? - ATTD. 19 857
After a few strong performances in the Croatian League, bringing them to within 5 points of Istra. But the Europa League was big for Hajduk. And Anži was a big ask.

Bendiš and his coffee shop companion were discussing taking a vacation, but they both agreed that, what with Timmy's schedule, they decided the best option was just to take it one step at a time.

Guus Hiddink was sitting across the way wondering how the hell that young'un managed to hold him at home, and vowed to destroy him in Russia.

And to be honest, it wasn't much of an ask. Bendiš fielded an even younger squad then normal, while Samuel Eto'o was still one of the best paid players in football (20 times the wage of the Hajduk first XI) So, when Anži took the field in Russia, Bendiš didn't stand much of a chance. He conceded 4

But still, he received a heroes welcome when he came back to Split, and after the cheers and the autographs and whatnot, his friend picked him up at the airport and drove him home, talking about anything except for the match

That's an unfortunate loss, but road bids at bigger sides are incredibly tough, but to make it this far in the Champions League is a huge success for you! I am curious to see what kind of tactics were used in both matches, though.

2013-07-12 05:03#119477 ebEliminator : That's an unfortunate loss, but road bids at bigger sides are incredibly tough, but to make it this far in the Champions League is a huge success for you! I am curious to see what kind of tactics were used in both matches, though.

Ah, Europa League. Got knocked out of the CL. Bayern beat Arsenal comfortably, but Tottenham (who were 2nd) got SLAUGHTERED by Real Madrid. 1-5 at White Hart Lane. I on the other hand beat Napoli to make the 2nd Knockout Round, Woo Hooo. Sorry, didn't have a Hajduk Europa League graphic.

Ouch...that seems like a tough and relatively unlucky result. I'm with eb on this one though, to get this far in Europe with Hajduk is a major achievement, well done!

Split was abuzz. There were thousands of fans already in the streets, because this game, this was the big one. Bendiš's café was packed, but fortunately, he had just finished making a little rooftop balcony so that he could use the café in the summer months, and he was sitting with his friend (the one with the nasty comments) on top, just taking in the view of the promenade.

Then he got back to work. Dinamo required his full attention. Dinamo beat Hajduk in both of the meetings in the first half of the season, but then Hajduk made a comeback, just beating them in Zagreb. Now was an even more important time to get it right. See, while Istra, who has held the lead in the First Division, since (Jesus) match day 8 has slowly been tiring, Hajduk has inexplicably gotten some of their energy back. The stop of three matches a week (Europa League, League, Cup) has given the team time to rest, and a win against Dinamo... well, that could bring them to 2 points behind, only 4 weeks before the Istra match.

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TEN-MAN HAJDUK SHOW HOW IT'S DONE - ATTD: 29 992
HAJDUK 6-2 DINAMO - I. MILI?EVI?, M. OREMUŠ, T. KIŠ x2, M. ?AKTAŠ, T. MUJAN
"AND HE'S DONE IT!

"There is the man of the hour, the man who has made it happen, TIIIIIIIMMMMY BEEENDIIIIIŠŠŠŠ!!!!

And the rarely subdued manager walked out, spread his arms, and the crowd greeted him accordingly. There were 18 heroes on the pitch, and Bendiš, well, he was there to lead him through.

Ivan Mili?evi? and Mirko Oremuš opened the scoring fast, but Dinamo came from two behind to level just before half time. With Bendiš furious in the locker room, especially after Josip Radoševi?'s red card, Hajduk went on a 20 minute blitz. Tomi Kiš finally got his 14th and 15th goals of the season, and this might be enough for him to move up to become a 20 goal player, before Mijo ?aktaš took 5-2.

And, when everyone else thought it was done, Hajduk buried Dinamo when 18 year old Ton?i Mujan scored from the right. 6-2, as Hajduk march on the North for the title.

Roy Feren?ina hasn't been doing to well in his new role as Dinamo manager. But Bendiš, well, Bendiš is living the dream. By day, a star football manager, by night, he plays the piano at his jazz café until the small hours of the morning. If he can keep the finances in check, his new contract next year will be nothing short of extraordinary. And, because he's only 25, the list of celebrities visiting the bachelor only grows with his every success.

Wow, what an excellent win! (By the way, you should check out how last season ended in my story!)

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OUT OF PAMI?'S HANDS - ATTD 6 500
ŠIBENIK 1-4 HAJDUK - I. DŽONI, T. MUJAN x2, M. ?AKTAŠ
RNK SPLIT 4-3 NK ISTRA
44 year old Igor Pami? looked at the screen at the stadium longingly. His team had managed an inspired performance in the second half, but, at the end of the day, it wasn't enough. Split - Istra, 4-3.

And he watched, until the result from the Hajduk match came through, and saw that in the space of two weeks, he had managed to throw away the closest thing he had to success, away.

Early next morning, he woke up at his hotel and took a stroll down the promenade in Split. He figured he'd rest in the city until the next morning... give the team a day off training, before making his way back home. And, then he saw it. Just at the middle of the street was a little Fiat in front of a small café with a tall man sitting, reading his newspaper. One of Macklemore's less famous songs was playing in the background, unusual for this part of the world - but the owner of the café was eccentric - and Hajduk's thrashing of Šibenik was on TV (an 18 year old, Ton?i Mujan, got the man of the match, scoring two goals).

Pami? paused, and then continued walking towards the café. Once he was some 10 meters away, the man sitting down looked from his paper and recognized Pami?. Although far from it, he greeted him like old friends, and Pami? sat down. Macklemore stopped, and some Herbie Hancock started, a fishing boat rolled past into the harbor, and the two managers started talking.

Then, a few minutes of small talk later, they stopped, and Igor Pami? congratulated Bendiš on his 2nd title in two years. He got up and walked back to the hotel before starting the long, sad, drive home, where all he could think about was how this 25 year old kid had outsmarted every single manager in Croatia, and some of the best managers in the world...

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