The experienced specialist will remain working at the club as a sports director
Head coach Zari Yuri Koval spoke about his future at the Luhansk club, and also announced that he would focus on his work as a sports director.
“There is no need to dramatize the situation. The club president and I are in constant contact and from the very beginning we understood that my role as head coach was temporary, the search for a long-term coach never stopped. Zorya should not fall below a certain level – the zone of struggle for European cups. If the team lacks emotions – it needs to be shaken up. At the very least, Mladen Bartulovic will do this in the next match. Then an adequate decision will be made regarding the candidacy of a new coach.”
“Me? I’ll remain in the position of sporting director, which I combined with leading the first team. I’ll continue to work with the U-19s and will oversee the relationship between the youngsters and the Zorya team. It’s simple. There are no good or bad coaches. There are those who achieve results and those who don’t. It wasn’t me who said that. It was Franz Beckenbauer.”
“Why isn’t Evgeniy Geller considering Mladen Bartulovic as the head coach? Who told you he isn’t considering him? Bartulovic is one of the candidates and perhaps the main figure on the list. We played in tandem, sharing the responsibilities equally. Personally, I believe in him. Along with Rotan, Shandruk, Ashur, Kobin, Ponomarev and Lupashko, he represents a generation of young specialists – with their own ideas, fresh energy and good emotions.”
“Do I have a feeling that the team did not fight hard enough for me in the last matches? It’s a stereotype. Nowadays, not a single player plays for a coach. Everyone has a personal contract. If someone is not motivated, the coach’s job is to feel it and make a rotation. I didn’t trust my intuition somewhere – the result suffered. But the responsibility was on me. So I don’t hold a grudge against the players.”
Yuri Koval took over Zorya in the 2023/24 season after the resignation of Valeri Kriventsov. The 66-year-old specialist worked in tandem with Mladen Bartulovic.
Zorya has scored six points in four opening matches of the UPL. In their last game, the Luhansk team suffered a crushing defeat to Rukh (0:3) away. Zorya will play their next match on August 30 away against Obolon.
Source: Sportarena
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