Football club Vojvodina today officially presented the new coaching staff led by Radoslav Batak.
Before the match of the 24th round of the Mozzart Bet Super League of Serbia, new members of the coaching staff were presented at the media conference today – Radoslav Batak and his assistants Milan Stepanov, Dušan Bajić and conditioning coach Aleksandar Jovančević, while Nikola Kovačević remained a member of the previous coaching staff.
Sports director Marko Jovanović first thanked the previous coaching staff for their cooperation so far.
– First of all, I want to thank the former coaching staff, headed by Milan Rastavac, whom we appreciate, but after these two draws, the club made a decision to bring a change and shock therapy. As a coaching staff, they brought a lot of good things, but that’s football. We wish them the best of luck in their career – said Marko Jovanović.
He then presented the new coaching staff led by Radoslav Batak.
– The new Manager will be Radoslav Batak, who is also my former teammate, we also collaborated in Niš as sports director and head coach. With him in the coaching staff is our former teammate Milan Stepanov, which I am extremely happy about. We are not giving up on our goal, which is third place by the end of the season, and I think we still have a chance to fight for it. We wish the new coahing staff all the luck and much success on that path – said Marko Jovanović.
Radoslav Batak expressed great satisfaction at his return to the club and thanked the president Dragoljub Zbiljić and the Board of Directors for the courage to bring him.
– I returned to my city and my club where I grew up and passed all the selections and where I left as a coach in 2017. I returned to Dragoljub Zbiljić’s call and that call was not rejected. I want to thank the President and the Board of Directors for having the confidence and courage to bring me and my coaching staff. Regarding results and tasks, it is clear to all of us where we are and that this was not in any plan at the beginning of the season. Sixth place does not satisfy Vojvodina. This is a team that, according to its tradition, conditions, players, city, fans, deserves and must play in Europe every year. Of course, it won’t be easy for us from this perspective, but we wouldn’t be here if we didn’t believe in this whole project and we are here to get players who have quality and knowledge back on the right track – said Radoslav Batak.
Another well-known name in the coaching staff is the former captain and ace of Vojvodina Milan Stepanov, who is proud to try himself in a completely different role.
– This is a challenge for me and this is a new role in my life. I went through many things with Radoslav as a player. I would like to take this opportunity to thank him for the trust he has shown and I will do my best to justify it. We died together for this club as players and we got that opportunity to die again, in some awkward moment that I think Vojvodina does not deserve. We wouldn’t be here if we were afraid of challenges and not ready to fight anything. We came here and stood in front of the club to fulfill the task and we will do our best to fulfill it. You all know how in football everything can happen overnight and we will do our best to stay as long as possible and live up to expectations. That’s it from me, as you know, I prefer to talk on the field – said Stepanov.
Dušan Bajić, the former coach of the youth team of Vojvodina, is also a well-known name in the coaching staff. He will now have the opportunity to work with many former players.
– I am pleased to be here. This may not be the best moment for Vojvodina, but if it wasn’t like that, then we wouldn’t be in this place either. I think we are all aware of the situation, that the players have to be even more aware. I am also pleased that I will be working with the players I trained at the Youth Academy of Vojvodina. I am especially emotionally attached to those players and I have a special motive and desire that they, like all future players from the Youth Academy, be the mainstay of the team. I will try to use some of my experience working in the Super League to help us fulfill our goals and return Vojvodina to Europe – emphasizes Bajić.
The new conditioning coach will be Aleksandar Jovančević, who until now performed the same function in the Vojvodina Volleyball Club.
– This is my first time in a football team, I have many years of experience in individual work with football players, however, I could not refuse Dragoljub Zbiljić’s invitation and offer to help here as well. There are two people that I greatly appreciate, apart from Dragoljub Zbiljić, it is also Radoslav Batak whom I have known for many years, but we did not have the opportunity to cooperate. We have exactly the same temperament and it gives me great pleasure to channel our energy into something big. We will bring something new and we will bring a lot of work, and that always brings results – Jovančević pointed out.
The new coaching staff will have the opportunity to debut already on Tuesday at 4:00 p.m., when Vojvodina will face Radnički from Niš. Radoslav Batak has already held a meeting with the players and said that returning to the place that leads to Europe is an obligation of this team.
– I discussed with the players what we need to fix as soon as possible. I think the feedback was positive, today we will train before the game and I think they are aware of the moment we are in. We had a short but direct meeting. I told them things they knew, but I will repeat them every day. They are part of a big club, they have more than good salaries for our conditions, they have a serious organization within the club and they have to give it back. I also said that in life as well as in football, two things are important – giving and giving up, because we can’t just take. We know why we are here and what our goal is. After this game, we can already return to the position that leads us to Europe and we only want to improve even more in the table and not to think about the position below the fifth that does not lead to Europe – stressed Batak.
He is aware that the home team also has an obligation to improve the impression from the previous matches.
– Radnički did not score a goal in the last three games. We know a coach who was also in Vojvodina, my colleague Nenad Lalatović, about whom I have my own opinion. I think that he achieved results in certain clubs and we cannot forget that he won the Serbian Cup with Vojvodina and that is why we have great respect. However, our goal is to come back with three points after this game – says Batak.
The new Manager also explained why this administration had the “boldness” to appoint him to the position of coach of Vojvodina.
– My name was floated several times, so my appointment required courage. I was greeted by something that was not the case in 2017, and I have already said that, the conditions and organization and team quality and expertise, everything is different and we must not forget for a single moment where we are. Some things are inside the four walls and we want to keep some tactical and personal things to ourselves, and one that I can point out, and we have to fix it, is the discipline in the game – concluded Radoslav Batak.
