Itzik towards | 18/02/2021 07:10
Roni Levy (Itzik Belnitsky)
The fortune finally fell for Alona Barkat. The owner, who has been under a lot of pressure in recent days to appoint a coach to get the team back on track, last night signed coach Roni Levy in a night meeting at the Barkat family’s home in the Tzahala neighborhood that lasted about 4 and a half hours until midnight. The coach who left Betar Jerusalem returns to the Premier League and after the cup game against Maccabi Tel Aviv on Sunday, he will open a difficult challenge in the Negev.
His agent Roni Levy, Avi Nemani, did a lot of work in this connection to Alona Barkat. Levy, 54, signed with Hapoel Beer Sheva for a season and a half and will receive the reins to bring Barkat’s club back to the forefront of the stage and will be the one to build the team for next season, against the background of its return to full day management. “Alona was debating a lot and it was possible to understand her, she knew it was a critical decision for the near-distant future and after many consultations she decided that Roni Levy would be the next coach,” the club said.
It must be said that the new coach of Beer Sheva also had to think carefully about the move and wrestled with his wife Sima, who has a close family in the city. One of the important things that Roni Levy insisted on is to be the highest authority, both in the selection of foreigners and in the selection of Israelis. ONE has learned that Levy is returning by a club abroad with an offer that has been brewing in recent days, so he was not in a hurry with his decision, and the fact that he made quite a living in recent years did not make him tempted by the money.
From a financial point of view, Levy will earn about $ 230,000 per season starting this summer, while for the current season his representative will make the appropriate calculations against Betar Jerusalem.
In the conversations that took place between Roni Levy and Alona Barkat, there was a lot in common. The meetings between her and her husband Eli Lalevi were in a very good spirit and this has already given him credit points. At the meeting, the parties discussed the team’s staff and professional outlook, with Levy saying that he will be teaching the team in the near future and while moving he will point out the weaknesses for next season. “Roni strongly believes in the existing staff and already has a number of plans to strengthen the team in the future,” said a source at the club.
Another credit point for Roni Levy from the days of Maccabi Haifa was the acquaintance with his new assistant coaches, Aliniv Barda and Maor Melikson. Levy knows the two well after coaching them from 2006-2008. This is one of the things that Barkat also took into account when choosing Bruni Levy, the knowledge that he will connect with the existing team smoothly and will be able to work with the two from the very first moment, when Barda and Melixon as system employees will get him involved very quickly.
Levy arrives in Be’er Sheva in another version that can actually be very suitable for a group from the Negev capital. The coach, who incidentally recently became a grandfather, understands that football has changed and he too is making his adjustments. Levy is still a tough coach who is going to get injured from the early hours of the morning at the Red House complex, but has also softened and learned to be more patient in his training environment.
One of the key questions that has arisen around the post of coach in the post-Abacus era, is the collaboration with the Portuguese star of the team Joshua Pashkira. Levy went through several things in his training camp with quite a few football stars, especially in Maccabi Haifa, such as Giovanni Russo, Yaniv Katan, Yossi Benyon and more. His relationship with them was intense and in most cases began rigidly, but very quickly made sure to get closer and connect. Rousseau, for example, started on the left foot with Levy then during the championships in Carmel, but once the Croatian straightened the line – the two have become very close even to this day.
Over the last few days the pressure on Barkat has been tremendous, also to convey to players that no one has given up on the goals left this season and led by the third place leading to the Conference League qualifiers next season. The owner, who returned with full force to Hapoel Beer Sheva, consulted with quite a few factors in Israeli football and received many recommendations about Roni Levy. The fact that, on the other hand, Levy has gained experience in Europe and has experienced degrees in recent years, tightened her decision and convinced her that he would be the coach who would bring Beer Sheva back to the top of Israeli football.
Along with the recommendations, there were those who informed Alona Barkat that Levy is not the type of coach who lets intervene in professional decisions or procurement players. On the one hand, Barkat received an opinion that Levy is very respectful of the opinion of the owner in each group, but also insisted on having full control over the professional decisions in the group and that the responsibility is also on him. Only in the future will we know whether Barkat’s selection of Broni Levy will succeed, but the owner is expected to give him the conditions to build a strong Hapoel Beer Sheva for next season. Barkat will also have to change her attitude a bit and adapt to her new coach, and this will be examined in a few months.
