Only days before their Europa League match against Manchester City, Lech Poznan seem to have found their feet at last. Following four successive defeats, which left the reigning Polish league champions only two places off the foot of the Ekstraklasa ladder, the ‘Kolejorz’ (or ‘Railwaymen’) hit top gear with a bang.
Lech tore Wisla Krakow, who themselves haven’t made the greatest start to the season, to shreds winning 4-1. And with Manchester City making a mess of things at lowly Wolverhampton Wanders at the weekend, self-confidence has returned to the newly-rebuilt Bulgarska Stadium. And that will be reflected by a very passionate crowd who will pass those feelings along to the Mancunians.
But it seemed like the nightmare was still continuing when Lech fell behind to an early second-half goal from Wisla’s international striker Pawel Brozek. Yet within seven minutes they were ahead, when following a thunderbolt volley from Dimitrej Injac, Belorussian Sergiej Kriwiec treated the Poznan faithful to their first excuse for celebration in ages. And it didn’t end there as Semir Stilic and Mateusz Mozdzen wrapped up the three points in the last ten minutes.
The Blues had to pay a price for their victory though, when Joel Tschibamba was carried off in the dying minutes after a heavy clash with Cleber, who received a yellow card for his trouble. The Congolese’s exit trip did not end in the dressing room however, but continued through to the casualty department of the local hospital where he was treated for a spinal injury.
But whereas the city of Poznan should be looking forward to their big encounter against perhaps the richest club in the world with a feeling that things are going right for them at last – it turns out the bad news still hasn’t ended. Because with only 48 hours left to the Europa League clash, the club decided to dismiss coach Jacek Zielinski – it seems that the marvellous win over Wisla just wasn’t enough to save his skin.
Although Zielinski’s replacement hasn’t been named – the money is on former Barcelona great Jose Bakero, who had a spell with Polonia Warsaw before he himself was relieved of his post by the capital side’s zloty billionaire owner Jozef Wojciechowski.
If this expected appointment does materialise, it is obvious why the ambitious Wielkopolska club have decided to capitalise on Polonia’s move. With that wonderful new stadium and fanatical following, they just can’t wait to bring in a coach who has scaled the heights of European football – albeit as a player and not yet as a manager.
