Drazen Besek has paid the price for Birkirkara’s dismal run after the Croatian was relieved of his duties as head coach of the BOV Premier League club yesterday.
The Birkirkara FC hierarchy, headed by president Adrian Delia, moved swiftly to install a new coach by promoting Nikola Jaros, Besek’s assistant, to the top role.
Contacted by Times of Malta, Dr Delia confirmed that Jaros had accepted to take over the reins of the team on an 18-month deal.
Dr Delia explained that the team’s negative results over the past few weeks, culminating in their shock elimination from the FA Trophy after a 3-0 defeat to St Andrews in what was their first outing in this season’s KO competition, had convinced the club’s committee that a coaching change was needed.
“We firmly believe that, in light of the team’s poor results in recent weeks, the targets we set out before the start of the season were not going to be achieved under Besek’s direction,” Dr Delia said.
The Birkirkara president added that the club decided to hand over the coaching job to Jaros to ensure continuity after the Croatian’s contribution as a key member of Besek’s technical team had impressed players and officials alike.
Besek is the second Birkirkara coach to lose his job in the space of 12 months as the Croatian mentor had replaced the Italian Giovanni Tedesco towards the end of last year.
In summer, Birkirkara wrote a new chapter in the history of Maltese football when they beat Scottish Premiership club Hearts 2-1 away to reach the third qualifying round of the Europa League after a goalless draw in Malta.
However, a 2-0 defeat to Ħamrun Spartans last Sunday proved the final straw for Besek as Birkirkara slipped to fifth in the BOV Premier League standings, eight points behind leaders Hibernians with 14 games played.
Jaros will take charge of his first match as Birkirkara coach on Sunday when the Stripes take on Sliema Wanderers in a league game.
Besek’s dismissal takes the number of coaching changes in the Premier League to seven so far this season.