02.08.2007, 09:35
Gorenje: New Coach and Injuries

Ivica Obrvan has difficult task: the new Gorenje Velenje coach must cope with injuries and prepare his team for the Champions League.

Gorenje: New Coach and Injuries

Slovenian club, Gorenje Velenje, returns to the Champions League after one year. To prepare for the challenges, the club signs new coach and there will be some changes in the team as well.

It was announced only at the end of June that Miro Pozun quits his job at the first team to start work with young handabllers. Director, Jani Zivko, had to react quickly and he signed new coach, Ivica Obrvan, from Croatia.

In the middle of July, the 41-year old, formerly great Croatian player started the preparations with the team for the season. It will be a tough job for him as the team has changed only in few positions and not according to his plans:

"I don't really have good news: we already have injury problems," Obrvan said. Pavel Baskhin, Sebastjan Sovic and also Branko Tamse has problems. The newcomer, Thomas Gautschi from Switzerland, is in bad physical condition after a 7-months stop. The other new Gorenje player, Serbian Uros Lazarevic, also has problems with his fitness.

"Though I came to Velenje when team roster was already completed, I hope we will show our quality during the season," added the coach. On top of all these problems, Gorenje lost one of their most important players, Branko Bedkovic, who signed for Zagreb Croatia Osiguranje.

TEXT: Maja Mastnak, Sportal (http://sportal.siol.net)