In the end, the last conviction was missing. And even a world champion couldn’t convey that to him.
Ex-96 coach Mirko Slomka (54) is giving up his coaching job at Poldi-Klub Gornik Zabrze. “I canceled this morning,” said Slomka when asked by BILD on Tuesday.
Slomka cancels in Poland!
Photo: Andrzej Grygiel / dpa
” data-zoom-src=”https://bilder.bild.de/fotos/weltmeister-lukas-podolski-spielt-sein-2021-bei-gornik-zabrze-bb83476ad2cc4a34842ea8861535bb8d-80470528/Bild/6.bild.jpg” /> World champion Lukas Podolski will play at Gornik Zabrze in 2021Photo: Andrzej Grygiel / dpa
The job as coach of cult world champion Lukas Podolski (37/130 international matches, 49 goals) would have appealed to him – and after his dismissal at 96 in November 2019 would have been an opportunity to return to the coaching bench. Slomka flew to Poland with adviser Stefan Backs on Sunday. He got an idea on site, looked at the stadium and club grounds and met with the Gornik bosses. “We had a great conversation,” says the football coach.
Gornik is something like the “Schalke of Poland”. Incredible heritage, huge fan support, 14-time champions – but they’ve been chasing their 15th title for 34 years. Last season only 8th place, 27 points behind champion Lech Poznan. That’s why coach Jan Urban (60) was fired last week.
Nevertheless, Poldi (nine goals in 27 games) extended his contract by a year a month ago. But he could not convince dream coach Slomka. “I spoke to Poldi for a long time,” says Slomka. “But in the end I didn’t feel like it was 100 percent right.”
After Slomka’s cancellation, Bartosch Gaul (Mainz II) and Michal Gasparik (Trnava) are now under discussion as coaches.
