With winter break quickly approaching the Croatian Championship, it appears that the usual changes that take place during midseason hiatus are already in motion. Speculation is rife in Croatia that Hajduk Split may be looking to part ways with coach Edy Reja in favor of current NK Zagreb manager Igor Štimac. Štimac is in charge of basement club NK Zagreb who only have two wins all season. Reja's response to the news was abbivalence claiming that a move to Lazio could be easily arranged for him in winter.
Meanwhile, HNK Rijeka have also turned against their coach Zoran Vulić who has lost just two in his six games in charge with a 2-2-2 record. Vulić has not made one signing and has been left with a threadbare squad due to injuries. However, negative chants from the crowd have forced out the 48 year old who is succeeded by Nenad Gracan. Gracan's appointment now leaves a vacancy at Croatia Sesvete who appear to be heading back to the Croatian second division. As well as losing Gracan, Sesvete have let go the four players whom they laid all their hope with. Vedran Celisčak, Tomislav Labudurović, Stjepan Jukić and Renato Filipović are all now on the market and would make excellant signings for a number of teams. Celisčak particularly had been in outstanding form and this would now suggest Sesvete have thrown in the towel for the season and are preparing for life in the lower division on a smaller wagebill.
More positive news appears to be coming out of Istra 1961 who seem to be on the brink of a major cash injection from a unnamed Russian resource who proposing to give them 1 million Euro every season. If the Pula based club can avoid relegation this promises to make them one of the biggest clubs in Croatia. A new and improved ground has also been proposed, whilst Goran Vlaovic is tipped to take over as coach from Valdi Sumberac in the winter. The news would increase the chances of important players such as Asim Sehic, Khallilou Traore and Marijan Markovic stayed on at the club, with possible reinforcements like Matias Chago expected to be on their way.
During international break, several Vatreni members have been expressing their shock at the suicide of German international goalkeeper Robert Enke. Players such as Ivica Olić, Mladen Petrić, Ivan Klasnić and Josip Šimunić have all played against Enke. Šimunić said, "What can I say? I have no words. Tradegy, it is a tragedy". The only Croatian to have recently played and worked alongside Enke was Lokeron's luckless forward Tomo Šokota. Šokota, who is same age as Enke, was a close friend of the Hanover keeper from their time together at Benfica, where they both witnessed the death of Hungarian forward Miklos Feher.
"About Robert I can only say all the best, not only that we were teammates, but we kept privately. He was a great guy and a real pro, a good, decent, communicative person" said Šokota. Enke lost a daughter at the age of two, but his wife expressed the player had also been unsettled by experiences in football. The player sought psychiatrict help after being pelted by his own fans whilst playing in Turkey and was discomforted by losing his national team jersey due to illness and injury. Enke's recent form had been so good that he was voted last season's best Bundesliga keeper and starred in Germany's successful World Cup qualifying campaign.
Germany has now postponed their friendly with Chile as several players were not emotionally able to perform. Chile, who were almost in line to meet Croatia in a friendly will return home. Chile are presently playing without the Croatian league's best player Pedro Morales, as they feel they are performing sufficently with other players. Morales has 10 goals in 12 Croatian league matches this season. Morales may have to reach his scoring ratio to Eduardo-esque proportions to change the view of Chilean boss Marcelo Bielsa as things now stand.
