Today, the Football Club Vojvodina presented the Manager – Slavoljub Đorđević and the new sports director, Ljubiša Dunđerski.
The press conference in FC Vujadin Boškov was attended by the new coach Slavoljub Đorđević, the new sports director Ljubiša Dunđerski, the president of the club Dragoljub Samardžić and the member of the Board Ljubomir Apro.
– The first thing I have to say is that FK Vojvodina is in an extremely difficult situation. We have lost a great man and an exceptional sports worker, a true visionary – Milan Kosanović. It will be difficult to make up for that and it will take a lot of work and perseverance to succeed, but FK Vojvodina is a great club and we must all overcome all problems together. We don’t have much time, preparations for the new championship start in a few weeks. So far, we have done everything we planned. There is now new energy, youth, something the best we could find at this moment as a solution on our market. The first thing we did was for Ljubiša Dunđerski to return to his club after five years. He comes as someone who had fantastic results, first with us at the club, and then at Spartak. Our friendly club from Subotica understood our difficult situation, people from Spartak helped us to start cooperation with him immediately. We talked with Ljubiša for five minutes and we understood everything immediately – said the president of the club, Dragoljub Samardžić, who then welcomed the arrival of Slavoljub Đorđević.
– He recommended himself by working well with young players in Red Star, where he worked together with Milan Kosanović. He was also recommended for excellent results in our friendly club Radnik. The dice were quickly put together, we openly said what the goals are, what Vojvodina expects and now it is up to us to achieve everything together. It will not be easy, but I am sure that we will succeed in bringing this combination of experience and youth in the next few years, a new vision and progress of our club – President Samardžić pointed out.
Sports director Ljubiša Dunđerski also announced his work as of today and pointed out that he regrets that he did not have the opportunity to cooperate with Milan Kosanović in his Vojvodina.
– When I found out that Miša had returned, I wanted to come and finally cooperate. Unfortunately, he is no more, we have to go further, following his path. I want to thank the former club Spartak who allowed me to return to my city and my club. Today is my birthday, on this day I returned to my club and it is a special gift for me. When I was here for the first time, we made a good team, we beat Sampdoria 4-0, later in Spartak, with the help of people from the club, I created a team that went to Europe. The goals of Vojvodina coincide with my visions. I am eager and ready to enter into a nice fight to get back where we belong. We want to rejuvenate the team and for Vojvodina to make a living from selling its players. Also, I would like to greet the new Manager Slavoljub Đorđević. He was Milan Kosanović’s wish and I accepted the proposal to achieve cooperation. I know that he can respond to all requests and that together we can do a lot – said Dunđerski.
Slavoljub Đorđević signed a two-year contract, and for the beginning he thanked for the indicated trust.
– I want to thank the president, the director and all the people who gave me the chance to lead such a big club. It is an honor and a privilege to be here. We all know what the ambitions of this club are. I am familiar with the situation, with the plan, which was made by my great friend and football genius. I know that they wanted Vojvodina to be a young team, with as many players from their Academy as possible. I worked with young and experienced players, this is a big step forward for me, and I think I have enough knowledge and energy to put everything I need into action. It will certainly take time, but I believe that together we can find the right path. With the support of fans, media, people from the club, players, I think we will be able to raise Vojvodina to an even higher level, to make Novi Sad proud of this club – Slavoljub Đorđević emphasized.
He said that he did not have a dilemma at any moment when he received an invitation from Vojvodina.
– I did everything in my life step by step, I was first in the younger categories, so I went from the Youth Academy of Red Star to Surdulica and I think we made a historic success there. When one such good result is made, it is recognized by other clubs. I had a close cooperation with Milan Kosanović and we heard each other about a month ago. I also had offers from abroad, but when Vojvodina called me, I did not hesitate at any moment. Then you don’t think about finances or other offers. Vojvodina as a club corresponds to my ambitions and that is why I am here. To fight for trophies, to play good and attacking football and to be rivals to Red Star and Partizan. To be competitive, to be able to make another major step forward – Đorđević underlined.
He will have a difficult task on the bench of Vojvodina, to succeed Nenad Lalatović, but he is not afraid of everything that awaits him on the bench of the Old Lady.
– Lala is primarily my friend and a serious coach, who made great results that the fans and this city must be proud of. We will try to overtake those results, but first it is necessary to stabilize the team, to go step by step, to implement everything that was imagined. The most important thing is that we all see Vojvodina on the same path and that we go towards the goal together – says Đorđević.
He took only one assistant with him, because his wish is to have as many people from Vojvodina as possible in the coaching staff, who know the club.
– I brought only one assistant, who has been cooperating with me for three years, Peđa Ranđelović, who had a top career, who later worked independently in the younger categories of Voždovac, in Red Star and now with me in Radnik. My idea was for as many people as possible to be from Vojvodina, because I come to their home. With the help of the director, we created an coaching staff that should help me, on and off the pitch – Đorđević pointed out, and the other members of the coaching staff were announced by director Dunđerski.
– At the request of Milan Kosanović, we promoted Sale Radunović from the Youth Academy, who will now only continue working with young players in the first team. Two fitness coaches remain, the only shift will be that Srđan Žakula will be the new goalkeeper coach. I think we will have a coaching staff full of charisma and people who know Vojvodina – said Dunđerski.
Reinforcements were a special topic, but the new sports director did not want to reveal the names.
– My list is long, but I don’t want to reveal it by name. As soon as we finish the conference, we already have a meeting with all the details, about all the players who will stay, if and who are leaving, and which kids will be in the first team. We will not pile up players, we want as many of our kids as possible. We want a quality and competitive team – Dunđerski points out.
This season, Vojvodina will play in the qualifications for the new competition under the auspices of UEFA, the Conference League, and coach Slavoljub Đorđević points out that he will fight for a place in the group stage.
– When you do sports, you always have the highest goals and we will certainly try everything to enter the group stage. However, it is still early to talk about that topic, because we don’t even know who we are playing with, it is difficult to know at this moment what awaits us. We will do everything we need to try to enter the group stage. We can’t promise to enter, but we can fight to the maximum – said Đorđević, who singled out two players who would be huge reinforcements for the team at this moment.
– Tufegdžić and Makarić are perhaps the two best players who play in our league. I am in contact with Makarić, I read how he said the other day that he would return to Vojvodina at some point. He is tied to Vojvodina, he showed quality here, he confirmed it later in Radnik and if he comes, we would be 50% stronger. Tufa is a midfielder, he grew up in Red Star, he has been playing great for the last two years, he is an extraordinary player. I am sure that we would be much stronger with him as well – Đorđević concluded.
The team of Vojvodina will start preparations for the new season, led by the new Manager and the new sports director, on June 7.
