Nir Klinger: The latest hand songs

A little over a year after Moshe Sinai appointed Nir Klinger coach of Hapoel Tel Aviv from the bottom, on the way to recovery and a top playoff, trouble returned to Wolfson: a return to the lowest place in the Premier League. Sinai has already been fired, and tonight Klinger Last season (3: 0, 3: 0, 2: 0, 3: 0). A reality that would hardly have survived if there had been a crowd in the stadium.

Klinger describes the current period as the most difficult in his coaching career, and there have been quite a few. For example, the relegation with MS Ashdod, the fall as a professional manager at Maccabi Shaarim from League A, or the Zobor who went through Betar Jerusalem and ended with a catheterization. Now, due to the club’s difficult management problems, the coach sometimes seems exhausted and helpless. Quite a bit of frustration and resentment.

It is not for nothing that Hapoel Tel Aviv closes the table. Until the last game in Sakhnin, it failed to score a goal for more than 11 hours; it has only nine points (25 percent success); it has four right goals (only two of them from a regular game) – data Which constitute breaking negative records in the history of the club, and everything is recorded on Klinger.

The fall of Hapoel Tel Aviv began after the loss in the semi-finals of the State Cup to Maccabi Petah Tikva. Back then the club still had fantasies about some young players that would form the basis of successes. But in the age of football without a crowd, in the top playoffs and without any pressure, this of course was not a real indication of their abilities. With the exception of Osher Davida and perhaps Doron Leidner, it’s hard to talk about an integration that has stood a serious test. Shai Eisen is still in matters, but Ilai Tamam, for example, has already been returned to the youth group.

Sinai and Klinger received a ridiculous budget in terms of a “big club” – only eight million shekels for players’ salaries. And yet, they talked about the current team being of better quality than last season. Obviously, the owners play a large part in the situation, but the statements that they are the ones who determined the staff are not true to say the least. Klinger, for example, was the one who insisted on leaving mediocre players like Iyad Abu-Abid or Roi Zikri. With the possible exception of Omar Brown, the inside midfielder who was in any case planned to be the sixth foreigner on the team, Sinai and Klinger gave the green light to the arrival of all the other foreigners.

Ernestas Shtakos is of course an anchor, Emanuel Boateng was part of the squad despite trying to find a team to absorb him. South African stopper Sianda Zulu was the choice of Sinai and Klinger, and as for the remaining two there are disagreements as to the responsibility of bringing them in.

It turns out that the owners offered to land the Georgian striker to Ban Kotalia, and received a green light for it, but Sinai claimed that he did not know at all that he came as a signed player and not for the tests. The owners, for their part, made it clear that in case they wanted to be released from his contract, there would be no problem, but the professional staff decided to keep him.

Armando Cooper was signed as early as last year, but arrived only in the summer. Klinger was skeptical about his abilities, but was told that the internal connection was in great demand in the country, and that if he did not want it after the start of the season he would be released immediately. However, at first the coach made it clear that he was happy with him, but about two weeks ago he released him (to Maccabi Petah Tikva). “Owners can set policies,” he said in an interview. “But in the end only one person is responsible for the professional side – and that is Klinger. We saw where that led. “

Ahead of last Wednesday’s game in Sakhnin, a move has already been made for Frida Mecklinger, at least on the part of some of the owners. After the defeat to Be’er Sheva, they realized that the coach did not really believe in the staff and that an urgent shock was needed, but decided to give Doha another chance nonetheless. Shahar Hirsch’s winning goal (0: 1), the first after almost eight games, provided the coach with an oxygen balloon for the coming period.

With all due respect to tonight’s derby (20:45), the Reds’ game of the season will be on Saturday against the penultimate, Hapoel Kfar Saba. Klinger claimed he considered leaving with Sinai, but this prompted him to remain in office. However, it is clear that the coach, who under his contract will receive a salary until the end of the season if he is fired, does not intend to leave of his own free will and give up.

Hapoel Tel Aviv fans also disagree about Klinger’s abilities in the survival campaign. On the one hand, the team looks trained in most games, and has one of the six stable defenses in the league, but is clearly unbalanced. The lack of decisive players is especially noticeable. Certainly when captain Omri Altman not only does not recover His abilities from last season, but also seems resentful of him staying at the club at all.In the situation that has arisen, the attacking game depends on a rookie like Davida and a player without numbers like Zikri.

“The passion and feeling that we are playing with a rope around our necks has returned to us. We are in real danger of death and should behave accordingly,” Klinger said yesterday. “The derby is a different opera. It’s a different pressure on both teams, and a lot of prestige. The less we talk, and we only talk on the pitch – the better for us. We have to behave as we did in Sakhnin.”

Hapoel Tel Aviv has four games left until the transfer window opens (the derby, Kfar Saba, Ashdod and Hapoel Haifa). Klinger has already agreed with the owner that apart from Gil Yitzhak, who signed recently, three or four more players will be added. Which he coached at Betar Jerusalem. Talk of a midfielder, whose last game was five months ago, has drawn criticism at the club, because in his position are young players who grew up in Wolfson.

Nico Olsk, who plays for the Dutch BRCs, is also in the spotlight, and owner Sharon Nisnov is in talks with a number of teams in the Premier League who are interested in Barz Shlomo. One of them is Maccabi Tel Aviv, with Ben Bitton, Nick Blackman, Matan Hozman, Eduardo Guerrero and Matan Balteksa among the names raised as part of a possible deal. But first of all, after the flood of goals he suffered from the city rival last season, he will try to “return home in peace” tonight. .