Oded Katash is expected to soon become the new coach of Panathinaikos. Katsh will leave Hapoel Jerusalem, but not before coaching it this coming Wednesday in a game against Ankara in the Champions League. In any case, the apparent deal has made headlines not only in the sports media in Israel, but also in Greece – as Pau is known to be one of the country’s luxury teams, and Katsch will return to serve it some 20 years after winning the European Championship with it.
The Sport 24 website, one of the leading media in the country, cooled the enthusiasm: “Everyone is waiting for Katsch’s appointment, but it should be made clear – Katsch is not the Messiah. He is not the man to change the situation dramatically. He has no required Euroleague experience. “The first of the coaches. This is also the reason why he has not left Israel to this day. The staff is also not expected to undergo changes, at least not in the near future, which will make his task very difficult.”
A long article written on the “sport fm” website under the headline “Oded Katash – the man born to overcome obstacles” – also observes a difficult life for an Israeli. “Katsch seems ready to jump a grade to the Euroleague, but his task will be very difficult, almost a suicide mission. Luckily, he has proven in the past that he was born to face difficulties. He is also able to overcome the difficulties that await him in Athens.”
Meanwhile, Alex Triggs, a Greek journalist from the media “Sport 24”, appeared last night (Thursday) for an interview on the program “Open Ground” on the sports channel – and provided some new details regarding the expected deal. “The contract has a bilateral exit clause, that means any of the parties can go in any direction he wants this summer,” Triggs revealed. “I guess if there are no problems in the next few hours, on Friday we can expect an official announcement from Panathinaikos.”
Katsch’s highlight as a player was when he led Panathinaikos to win the European Championship after defeating Maccabi Tel Aviv in the final of the 1999/2000 season. However, he also left the club at the time in jarring tones — somewhat due to controversy on the financial side. “If you ask me, no one remembers a bad thing. He is one of the most beloved players who ever played for Panathinaikos,” the Greek journalist claimed, adding: “The fact that he played there has a big part in wanting to sign him as a coach.”
Asked if Katsch was Panathinaikos’ first priority after the dismissal of Georgios Wobaras, Triggs replied: “The number one priority was the coach of Kazan (Dimitris Priptis), because he is Greek and knows a lot about basketball. After Pao realized that Kazan was not ready to talk about his release, she left. About Oded Katash. ” Asked if Hapoel Holon coach Stefanos Dadas was indeed also among the candidates for the job, he said: “I can not comment on another journalist’s job, maybe he was offered to Panathinaikos. From what I know, they tried to bring in Priptis, who was not available, and then They moved to Katsch. “