Ivic and Luzon in place for new season
FOOTBALL Two of Israel’s top three teams have appointed new managers. Vladimir Ivic is the new head coach at Ligat Ha’Al runners-up Maccabi Tel Aviv. The Serb replaces Jordi Cruyff.
Ivic, 41, spent much of his career in Greece where he played as an attacking midfielder for AEK Athens and PAOK Salonika before becoming PAOK’s manager. He led the team to second place in the league and victory in the Greek Cup final in 2016/17.
After winning a hat-trick of league titles, Maccabi have watched Hapoel Beer Sheva achieve the same over the past three seasons and Ivic understands that second place in Ligat Ha’Al means failure.
“Maccabi is the biggest club in Israel and our aim is to win the title, win the cup and do well in Europe,” said Ivic. “My philosophy is to attack but you need a strong all-round squad.”
Guy Luzon has taken charge of thirdplaced finishers Beitar Jerusalem following the departure of Benny BenZaken.
Luzon, 42, joins Beitar following an unsuccessful spell with Maccabi Haifa. With Beitar owner Eli Tabib having put the club up for sale, Luzon, the former Charlton Athletic boss, will struggle to repeat last season’s third-place finish amid the uncertainty.
“I’m delighted to come to a great club like Beitar,” said Luzon. “It is a huge honour and challenge. I wish us all success and I’ll do everything possible to make it happen.”
Hapoel Beer Sheva will play Flora Tallinn in the first qualifying round of the Champions League. The Israeli cham- pions will travel to Estonia on July 10/11, with the return leg in Israel the following week. The winners will play Dinamo Zagreb.
Uefa has penalised Maccabi Tel Aviv for financial fair play violations.
After failing to meet “break-even compliance” over the past two seasons, Maccabi will only be allowed to sign players over the next three seasons after selling others of equal value.
Maccabi will only be able to select a squad of 22 players next season, rather than 25, for the Europa League, and they will also have €1 million docked from their revenue for participating in the competition.
The club are committed to an annual deficit of no more than €10 million by 2021 and the sanctions are a blow to Maccabi’s attempts to wrest the Ligat Ha’Al title back from Hapoel Beer Sheva.