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At Poznan's "Lech" camp - a tense time. Before Thursday's UEFA Europa League third qualifying round match against Vilnius "Žalgiris", talks about the dismissal of coach Mariusz Rumak have not subsided.
Poznan "Lech" - Vilnius "Žalgiris" INEA Stadium, 43,000 seats Thursday, 8:00 p.m. Lithuanian time TV: "Polsat Sport" and Polsat Sport HD". Negotiations with Lithuanian television for broadcasting rights
Although it has been reported in the press that the team has not lost any of the three matches in the Polish league this season, and lost 0-1 to Žalgiris in the Europa League, the team's coach will be fired today, "Lech" denied this information in an official press release.
"Coach Rumak has full support from the club's management, so the possibility of his dismissal is not being considered. We do not change coaches because of a few bad results," Lech announces.
Poland mocks footballers' apologies to the crowds
There was also a lot of attention on the Lech players' apologies to their fans. Both in Vilnius after losing to Žalgiris, and on Sunday after a 0-0 draw with Lubin's "Zaglebie", the Poznan team's players marched to the crowded stands of their own fans and listened to criticisms for several minutes.
A special situation occurred in Lithuania, where Lech coach Rumak immediately went to the locker room after the match, but changed his mind and returned after hearing over the loudspeaker that the fans were demanding it. In addition, out of anger, he rudely refused to speak to a journalist from a Polish television station.
"The coach appeared in front of an unfriendly crowd instead of delivering a message to thousands of calmer fans by giving an interview on TV," said TV Polsat commentator Marian Kmita. - The scene where one shaven-headed guy started chanting over the loudspeaker "Where is the coach? Come here!" was truly memorable. Then we saw the sad sight of the Lech players handing over their shirts to aggressive shaven-headed men, and only Manuel Arboleda (a black legionnaire received particularly harsh remarks and refused to do it - ed. note) was strong enough not to do that."
Players are also unhappy
This situation does not please the Lech players themselves. Goalkeeper Krzysztof Kotorowski, who received a lot of criticism for his mistakes, said that chants like "What are you doing, what are you doing?" do not help achieve good results at all.
"Of course, we are concerned about the results and understand the situation very well, because we want to win," said the goalkeeper. - During matches, the fans support us and make us try harder, and we are grateful for that. After the matches, they show their dissatisfaction... Of course, they have the right to do so, but I want to emphasize that it does not help to play better. On the contrary: the blood boils when there should be peace and relaxation. There are many young footballers in the team who are not ready for such stress."
Both the coaches and the players admit that the match against Žalgiris will be of special importance, but there is not enough time to prepare for it, as the players were given a day off after the national championship match on Sunday, and only two training sessions will be held before the match.
In addition, forward Gergő Lovrencsics suffered an injury in the match against Zaglebe. Doctors cannot answer whether he will be able to play on Thursday after appearing on the field for 61 minutes in Vilnius.
