Buducnost T-Mobile Prepare with Tone Tiselj

Buducnost T-Mobile began the preparation for the 13th consecutive participation in the EHF Champions League. The Montenegrin champion have no serious rivals in the domestic competitions, as it was the case in the former Serbia and Montenegro championships, accordingly, the club’s major aim is to achieve something good in Europe. But this year there will be no pressure on the team because Buducnost T-Mobile will play with a rejuvenated team, composed mostly of domestic players with few experienced ones such as Sanja Jovovic, Dragica Milickovic-Orlandic and the captain Snezana Damjanac.

Buducnost T-Mobile will be led by a new coach, Tone Tiselj, one of the best coaches in Europe and the most successful Slovenian handball coach of all times. He won Champions League twice with Krim Mercator (2001, 2003). Tiselj signed a three-year contract with Buducnost, after one season coaching away from Slovenia at the Danish club, Kif Vejen.

In an exclusive interview to Eurohandball.com, Tone Tiselj talks about the new season.

Eurohandball.com: Why did you choose Buducnost T-Mobile for a new experience?

Tone Tiselj: Former manager of the club, Nikola Petrovic, contacted me about the job in Buducnost a few years ago, but at the time I didn’t think about it because I had a contract with Krim. After six years in Krim, with ups and downs and lot of successes, I decided to go abroad to Denmark and I signed for Kif Vejen. That was not the very best solution for my family. Kif Vejen also had no chance to make improvements and the place in the Cup Winners’ Cup was the biggest goal for the club.

I received the call from the president of Buducnost, Predrag Boskovic, who offered me a job which I accepted. Buducnost is a big challenge, because it is the only women’s team of former Yugoslavia that never won the Champions League, although they reached the semi-finals six times.

Buducnost have a new and very young team now, composed mainly of players who won the bronze medal at the Youth European Championship a few years ago. I’m satisfied with the ambitions of Buducnost. The club wants to try to come back on the top, at least to be near the top places in Europe. But Buducnost want to do it step by step, with a good long term project. I have great cooperation with the management and with all the people in the club.

Eurohandball.com: What role did your family play in the decision to come to Montenegro?

Tone Tiselj: Montenegro is not far from Slovenia and the good traffic connections between Podgorica and Ljubljana also influenced my decision. Now I will be closer to my family than in Denmark. In addition, the independent Montenegro is in the same situation Slovenia was 16 years ago. That will give new and extra impulse to all of us.

Eurohandball.com: Six players left Buducnost T-Mobile at the end of the season: Burmistrova, Dmitrieva, Vasileva, Knezovic, Vojcic and Tanase. Buducnost signed three new players: two goalkeepers, Mirjana Milenkovic (from the Serbian side, Knjaz Milos) and Itana Perovic from Montenegrin team Niksic arrived together with pivot Ivana Mladenovic, who played in Slagelse DT last season. What is your impression of your new team?

Tone Tiselj: Buducnost is weaker that last year, because some high-class and experienced players left the club. Those players were very important in winning the Cup Winner’s Cup two years ago with former coach, Nikola Petrovic. The management of the club decided to take a new course with the young players and the main objective is to test them and see who is ready to be part of the team to reach the top places in Europe. To be honest, I don’t yet know what the players are capable of. I have seen a few games, there are many talents, and this year I will see what the real potential of the players is. The most important is that the girls get used to my work, which must be serious and professional.

Eurohandball.com: In the previous season, Buducnost finished last in their CL group without any points. This year, the Montenegrin side will be in one group with Viborg, FTC Budapest and probably Oltchim. What are your expectations for the coming season?

Tone Tiselj: It is difficult to say now. Viborg are a very strong team. Together with the reinforcements, they have probably the strongest roster in Europe. We expect Oltchim in the group; they are nearly the Romanian national team, because many players returned from all over the Europe. The last team, FTC Budapest may not be so strong, but still a high-quality team with a long tradition. Last season they finished in front of Győrin the Hungarian championship.

In fact, I’m not interested in our opponents, I am only thinking about the work and the play of my team. It is important that the girls do not disappoint me in terms of effort, discipline and reciprocal relationships. If all goes well, we can cause some surprise. Our first objective is to do better than last year, to gain at least one victory. The second is to finish in the first three places so that we can continue playing in Europe. If it is possible, we want beat every opponent. As a coach, I never put pressure on my team to win a match, but my players must fight every game, play and work with discipline and with a good team spirit. If they do that, I will be satisfied; otherwise I will not be satisfied even if we win.

Eurohandball.com: During the preparation period, Buducnost T-Mobile will play three tournaments: in Hungary, Croatia and Slovenia. Is it enough before the start of the new season?

Tone Tiselj: All the tournaments are very strong, with the best European teams. That matches will be a good opportunity to see how our players react against some great teams. Also, we will probably play some more matches in Hungary and a few in Podgorica against Kometal. I think we will play between 10 and 15 games, which is enough to see our abilities before the start of the Champions league.

Eurohandball.com: You are also the new coach of the women’ national team of Montenegro.

Tone Tiselj: It was not my wish, but I think that was part of the plan made by the management of the club and the former Buducnost coach, Nikola Petrovic. He is the most successful Montenegrin coach, now the head coach of the national team. The plan is that the coach of Buducnost should be at the same time the coach of the senior national team, because 90 percent of the national players are coming from Buducnost. This is a big honour for me, because Montenegro has great handball traditions with a lot of good players and coaches. Now as the independent state, Montenegro has the opportunity to promote the country through handball.

Buducnost has to be the engine of the development of Montenegrin handball, because there are lots of talents, not only in Podgorica, and we have just to find them.