Eyal Berkowitz’s New Challenge

When Eyal Berkowitz called Sagi Shiner, chairman of the “Blue” fan association that acquired Hapoel Petah Tikva, two months ago, Sagi was moved. “It surprised me. We decided very quickly to meet and discuss, “said Shiner, 48, the son of former international judge Jacob Shiner.

Two months and five meetings later, the agreement was signed. Barko’s first week at the club was used to watch the team’s training under the guidance of Haim Shabu at the training ground in Kfar Sirkin to see the players who are supposed to prevent diving into the first division.

“What made us happy was the passion that Berkowitz brings,” Shiner continues, and how did Berkowitz see the essay? Just as described in Hapoel Petah Tikva, a passion. A challenge that stems from his character to do unexpected things, in the hope that they will give him a lot of satisfaction. Even more than that) seriousness.

Berkowitz arrives at the Mother of the Colonies as a TV and radio star. He often told his associates: “Not that I don’t like what I do in the studios, but I miss football.” He examined possibilities and decided on Hapoel Petah Tikva.

First of all, the respect for the club’s big name, with five championships in the 50s and 60s, did it for him. The memory of Menachem Stelmach, perhaps the greatest Hapoel Petah Tikva player of all time, also added to the passion. The late Stelmach died in Spain as the assistant coach of Shlomo Sharaf’s team during a spy mission after the Austrian team. Berkowitz was then one of the stars in the team of Sharaf and Stelmach, and he has a lot of sentiments and memories from “The Golden Head”.

Among the partners in the pre-signing talks, he met Avi Yechiel, CEO of Hapoel Petah Tikva, his partner in the failed “Galacticos” team of Maccabi Tel Aviv in 2005. Shiner says that before Barko, Hapoel Petah Tikva had several options, but when Berkovich called “It was not too difficult to decide,” he says. For Hapoel Petah Tikva, the question of public disagreements at times about Berkowitz was not on the agenda. “It is a fact that we hear mostly positive feedback from the fans,” said Shiner.

The group’s audience potential also winked at Berkowitz. Sagi Shiner said: “If we were in a good professional position, we could bring 5,000 spectators to the game. And that’s just a small fraction of the club’s fans.”

Berkowitz has discovered, among other things, a positive horizon in a group that is going through a particularly bad period, relative to its glorious heritage and in general. In the first meeting with the players, he told them: “You are much better players compared to your situation in the league.” He’s sure of it. In conversations with the management, he joked: “I also want to give you back on the double, championship and cup that we did, Maccabi Haifa, during his time against you in 1991.” The people who were at the Ramat Gan stadium then will not forget Maccabi Haifa’s victory over Hapoel Petah Tikva, 1: 3, after Petah Tikva defender Guy Gat was sent off in the second minute (!) Due to an injury to … Eyal Berkovich. Kind of closing a circle.

For Hapoel Petah Tikva and its glorious history, relegation to the first division is a crossing of a red line. From a football club in its heyday, during the period of foreign coaches, led by the famous Jack Gibbons, engraved on its banner the slogan “The best defense is attack”, a team remained in The 19 games so far have scored only 11 goals. One does not have to be a genius to understand that in such a balance a striker’s next is required. There are already several candidates and negotiations are underway.

Coach Haim Shabu’s team has no known names. The most prominent players are: the brakeman Paz Ben-Ari who played for Bnei Yehuda and grew up in Petah Tikva. Goalkeeper Omer Katz, who was successful in previous years at Betar Tel Aviv / Bat Yam, the experienced striker Gal Tzruya, whose second term at the club, is considered one of the forces that can save The foreigners.The foreigners are the winger of the Liberia national team Terence Tisdale and the Brazilian midfielder Higur Vidal.The tendency meanwhile is to keep the two.

At the end of the five meetings that took place over a period of two months, the agreement was signed between Berkowitz and the club. Among his commitments, as reported by the Petah Tikva leaders, are to try and bring in sponsors who will improve the economic situation. “This time it is only the alumni group and not touching the youth departments because he should be focused on something that is important to us: not relegation,” says CEO Avi Yechiel. (41), who played for the club for 7 years and made four appearances for the national team. Yechiel is remembered as the one who scored the shrinking goal against Ireland as part of the World Cup campaign against Ireland, 2: 2 away.

At Hapoel Petah Tikva, it turns out, the treatment of the municipal rival, Maccabi, in the youth departments is highly valued and we want to succeed on this side as well. “We only look at ourselves and cultivate achievements in the youth department. The youth team is a candidate for promotion to the Premier League, and the youth teams are fighting for the district championships. The department is headed by Zavik Zeltzer, one of the most prominent experts in the country for youth, and Doron Raz. “This is another reason why Barco is not required to be present in the future of the club,” says chairman Shiner.

Berkowitz will begin his journey as a professional manager with my brother Nazareth, and Sheiner is sure: “Eyal is the right man in the right place, it probably won’t be boring.”