The Slovak national football team has been without a coach since March 31, when Francesco Calzona’s contract expired. Only now, however, is it officially confirmed that the Italian helmsman will not continue.
On Monday, he came to the headquarters of the Slovak Football Association for a meeting. His assistant Marek Hamšík also took part in it. After the meeting, the union announced that they had not agreed on the length of the contract. Calzon was offered a contract for a two-year cycle, but the coach wanted a longer period.
The 57-year-old coach was negotiated by a four-member committee, which includes Karol Belaník, SFZ vice-president for the national team, Ivan Kozák, SFZ vice-president for professional football, Ján Kocian, member of the executive committee for coaches, and Oto Brunegraf, technical director of the association.
This committee will also be in charge of selecting a new coach. It is not yet officially known if there were any negotiations with other coaches or if the union was waiting for the situation with Calzon to be resolved.
Several possible candidates who could take the vacant seat have already appeared in the media.
Vladimir Weiss
The most inflected name is Vladimír Weiss. It was he who, together with Calzona, recently received the award for coach of the year. At the poll announcement ceremony, it looked like they had settled their past disputes. They spoke about each other with respect, and Calzona called Weiss a Slovak legend.
He is rightfully considered a legend. He was the only one who brought the national team to the World Cup. He advanced to the main stage of the Champions League with two different clubs. In addition, he also reached the groups of the European League and the Conference League.
Soon he will probably celebrate another title with Slovan. However, from his statements, it seems that the ending season was one of the most difficult for him.
About a month ago, he complained that there were people in the club who were against him. Slovan CEO Ivan Kmotrík Jr. said in a statement at the time that he was shocked by these words.
After the weekend derby in Trnava, he was asked about coaching the national team. “I think it’s all a secret. That’s not a question for me at the moment,” he said, adding that he still has a contract with Slovan for one more year.
“Of course, even though the national team is always the pinnacle of coaching. I experienced it twice, either in the Slovak national team or in the Georgian national team. It is, of course, something different, it is a completely different life than on a daily basis, daily stress, especially in Slovan,” he said, but pointed out that for now it is just a rumor and there are many candidates.
Weiss has been in Slovan since 2021 and it is possible that after such a long time he will be inclined to change. This could be a return to the representative bench, which, unlike the club bench, does not require daily work.
The 61-year-old coach could bring vast experience and natural authority to the national team, but also a pragmatic system that might not be too attractive for the fans.
However, since he still has a year left on his contract, the union would have to come to an agreement with Slovan.
Adrian Guľa
Adrián Guľa currently works in Latvian Riga FC, with whom he won the league title last season.
Already during his engagement in Trenčín and Žilina, he was considered a talented and progressive coach who prefers an attractive offensive style. In 2017, he won the league with Žilina and a year later he headed to the bench of the national team.
Subsequently, he led two well-known brands Viktoria Plzeň and Wisla Krakow. However, these stops ended prematurely for him.
After returning to Slovakia, he led Dunajská Streda to second place and finished just two points behind champions Slovan. During the next season, however, he was released due to unsatisfactory results. After a short anabasis in Cyprus, he finally won the title in Latvia.
His advantage is that he knows several mainstays of the current national team from his work in Trenčín, Žilina or 2011. He trained Lobotka, Škriniar, Hancko and Haraslín.
Michal Gašparík
The name of Michal Gašparík is also mentioned very often. The former coach of Spartak Trnava is currently experiencing a very good period in Poland. His Górnik Zabrze is fighting for the championship title and the cup final awaits.
He won the domestic cup three times with Trnava. It shows that he can motivate the team and prepare them tactically for important matches. That is key in the national team. Several experts praise his education and willingness to learn new trends.
However, he has a contract in Poland, he could play in European cups next season. This can be a problem for the Slovak union. The bigger problem is that even Gašparík himself said that he doesn’t feel up to this role yet.
In an interview for Diary of N he said two weeks ago that he will not be the national team coach. He claimed he was only in his sixth season of senior football and had only recently managed the youth team.
According to him, it is still early to become a national team coach and he emphasized that others have more experience than him.
Jaroslav Kentoš
The current coach of the twenty-one team, Jaroslav Kentoš, would appear to be a logical choice. It would probably be the easiest way for the union, since he already works in its structures.
In the past, he led Podbrezová and Žilina at the senior level. He has been the head coach of the twenty-one team since 2020.
It is his long tenure in this category that could weigh. He led players from the current A team such as Suslov, Strelc, Obert, Riga or the Saure brothers.
At last year’s domestic U-21 European Championship, his team played balanced matches against Italy and Spain. Both ended in a loss by a goal, and Slovakia ultimately did not advance from the group.
Marek Hamšík/Simone Bonomi
When the Italian journalist Gianluca di Marzio last week brought informed that Calzona is leaving, he named Marek Hamšík as one of the possible candidates for the vacant post.
The long-time captain of the national team brought Francesco Calzona to Slovakia. He first worked as the manager of the national team and then as Calzon’s assistant.
However, he has never led a senior team as a head coach. He only has experience in coaching youth.
The name of another Calzon assistant, Simone Bonomi, is also mentioned as possible candidates. He has been working with Calzono for many years, but even he has never tried the position of head coach.
It is less likely that the union would choose this path again and promote one of the assistants to the role of national team coach. This step would probably not be perceived positively by the public.
What are the other options
Other candidates are also under consideration. Martin Ševela is currently free. The fifty-year-old coach won two championship titles with Trenčín and one with Slovan. In addition, he also worked in Poland and most recently in Saudi Arabia.
Pavol Staňo from Žilina and coach of Dunajská Streda Branislav Fodrek are also mentioned.
The financial issue will probably be important in the negotiations, as the union is not in good shape. If he were to consider candidates who are under contracts at clubs, it would be more difficult.
Among the aforementioned coaches, Ševela and the couple Hamšík and Bonomi are out of work. Kentoš is also available, who would move up a category within the union.
Source: Postoj
