Hibs Euro rivals Legia risk transfer unrest as coach makes 'people in charge know what I don't accept' claim
Video bulletin and up-to-the-minute updates from enemy territory ahead of UEFA Conference League decider
Legia Warsaw’s full focus is on Hibs and a place in the UEFA Conference League. That isn’t in doubt, according to Edward Iordanescu. And yet … and yet.
The Romanian head coach did little to dispel talk of discontent within the Polish club today, despite his best efforts to divert attention away from the thorny issues of transfers, investment – or lack thereof – and its impact on his team’s chances of finishing the job at home to David Gray’s men tomorrow night. In messaging that might have been lifted straight from the media conferences of Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers, the affable and eloquent Iordanescu – fluent in English – made his message clear.
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So, yes, they may be defending a 2-1 lead after last week’s heroics at Easter Road. But is there just a hint of fragility about Legia, who have sold Ryoya Morishita to Blackburn – and are about to pocket 6 million Euros plus add-ons from Roma, who will have to wait until Friday to officially land central defender Jan Ziolkowski?
“There isn’t one coach in the world who is happy to be losing an important player,” said Iordanescu, the veteran coach adding: “And the board always know my position regarding transfers in and out.
“When I came to Legia, I assumed full responsibility for reaching our objectives. I also requested some clear things. Let’s put Legia back in Europe – and then we can discuss more about that.
“I promise you that the people in charge know what I want and what I don’t want, what I accept and what I don’t accept. I want to qualify for Europe and fight for and win the championship because the fans deserve this. For this we need a competitive squad, competitive players and be covered in all positions and have tactical flexibility.
“But our focus is on tomorrow. And our reasons to qualify are very clear. Financially, it is very important for the club. We will have tens of thousands of fans there with us, plus 100,000 at home watching on TV, hoping that we win the game.”
Reports in the Romanian press have suggested that Iordanescu, a former national team manager, feels let down by the Legia board. One detailed bulletin even lays out point-by-point complaints about not just the numbers of players coming in, but the delayed arrival of key signings until AFTER big European games had been played. Iordanescu said today that he has “full respect” for the media in his homeland, and he understands that they’ll always be interested in his career.
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On Ziolkowski’s ability to stay focused when he knows that tomorrow night will be his last game for Legia, meanwhile, the Legia boss said: “The rumours of this deal have been around for more than one month. Jan proved that, although he’s a very young player, he’s very mature and stable.
“So I am happy with how he has delivered in the games. I have full trust in him, 100 per cent. If I picked my first XI based on who might be affected by rumours, I probably would have to play myself!
“I trust my players, trust their characters, trust that they will give everything for Legia. They always do, and I always do. But I also hope that soon the transfer window will close so my job becomes easier without all of these rumours.”
Iordanescu is adamant that his game plan for tomorrow night is to win, rather than to defend their slender lead, saying: “The DNA of Legia is always to try to win. But I still think it is a 50/50 game. If we remember we scored a 3-0 goal in Scotland but the end of the game was just 2-1.
“Even if it was 3-0 I would not say we had qualified but in this situation I would say everything is open. My biggest request to my players is go out and win the game although I am sure it won’t be easy. Winning the game means we are in Europe again.
“To reach high targets you have to set very high targets, we need to be competitive, we need to have a secure defence, stop making mistakes and losing focus at some moments. We need to be fully focused for 90-95 minutes with huge responsibility and not forget Hibernian this European season have drawn with Midtjylland and won 2-0 in Partizan. They have shown us already in away games they can be a big challenge.
“I have been a coach for 15 years now and I have had many important battles in the past. I have fought for leagues and cups and I have achieved most of my objectives.”
Admitting his team were stung by Josh Mulligan’s late goal in Edinburgh, Iordanescu added: “This was part of our analysis, I didn’t like the first six or seven minutes of the game last week. We were expecting it, we had seen it in the past, it is their normal approach at the start of the game.
“So it was not a surprise but I was not happy with how we reacted to this. After six or seven minutes we started to have control, all the statistics were in our favour, we scored two times before half time.
“We had chances to score the third goal, we scored one which was cancelled but we managed the last five minutes badly. So if we can remove the first seven minutes - and the last five – tomorrow, everything is good.”