(Main photo: Oded Karni, league director)
More than a year and a half after he left, Danny Franco will make his new debut as coach of Hapoel Tel Aviv tonight (Monday) at 20:00, when he will meet Hapoel Haifa in a difficult away game. As is well known, Franco got into the shoes of Yannis Castritis, who was fired last Friday, after the home loss to Bnei Herzliya that stuck Hapoel Tel Aviv to the bottom, with one more victory than Nahariya and Maccabi Haifa, which are below the red line.
The new coach, who is well acquainted with the system, has quite a bit of work to do in the new role – and tonight he will be missing the injured JP Tokoto. John Dibler will register in his place and will try to be more effective than he was against Herzliya. In practice, by the way, they are looking for a replacement for Tokoto, even if for a temporary period.
Franco’s job tonight will be doubly difficult, as he meets the team with the best home balance in the league: 1: 6. Haifa’s last victory in Romema was particularly impressive, against Hapoel Jerusalem thanks to a clutch basket by Keenan Evans. In fact, Hapoel Tel Aviv won this season in Romema, but in the Balkan league.
