The fact that Maciej Stolarczyk will not continue to lead the youth club has been talked about for some time. Theoretically, the U-21 team still has a chance to play in the UEFA European Youth Championship play-offs, but not everything depends only on the results of their matches. Besides, the trainer is one of the candidates for the new trainer Pogon Szczecin. The first attempts at a new U-21 coach are already in place. Among them there are the names of: Maciej Bartoszek, Jacek Magiera and Marcin Brosz.
The youngster still has the opportunity to perform at the tournament organized next year by Romania and Georgia (June 9 – July 2, 2023). The road to this, however, is very winding and long. The situation in the White-Reds qualifying group is as follows:
- Germany 8 21 26-8
- Israel 8 16 17–9
- POLAND 8 15 20–7
- Hungary 8 11 14–13
- Latvia 8 4 4–17
- San Marino 8 1 0–27
There are two rounds of matches left to the end of the tournament. The schedule, especially of other matches, is not optimal for Poles:
June 2: Latvia-Israel, San Marino-Poland and June 3: Germany-Hungary,
June 7: Latvia – Hungary, Poland – Germany, Israel – San Marino.
The U-21 team: You have to count on stumbling blocks of others
Germany is already one step away from being promoted directly. 53 teams in nine groups take part in the qualifications. Group champions and the best runner-up team will win MME passes straight away. The other eight teams from second place will play play-offs against each other. The players of our youth team must count on stumbles: Germany with Hungary and then a possible win with our western neighbors in the last round, or Israel losing points in confrontations with Latvia and Israel, i.e. the weakest teams in the group. At the same time, the team Maciej Stolarczyk she would have to win the last elimination match against Germany. All this is still theoretically possible. However, many circumstances and results would have to be adapted to our staff.
Pogoń Szczecin: Maciej Stolarczyk can replace Kosta Runjaic
It seems, however, that even in the Polish Football Association they do not fully believe in the ultimate success of the youth team, because the environment has begun to search for a new coach for the second-oldest team. Perhaps it is also related to the fact that Maciej Stolarczyk is one of the replacement options Kosty Runjaicia in Pogoń Szczecin. The German coach himself announced on March 24 that he would not extend his contract (expires on June 30) with the Duma of Pomerania. We wrote about it, on Weszło, that the nearly 51-year-old coach is in agreement with Legia Warsaw. Similarly, two of his assistants from Pogoń – Robert Kolendowicz and Andrzej Krzyształowicz.
For Stolarczyk it would be a return to Szczecin. He has already worked in Pogoń in various capacities. In the years 2009-10 he was an assistant to Piotr Mandrysz. From August 2010 to November this year, he was an independent trainer. Later, from March 2013 to December 2014, he was a collaborator of Dariusz Wdowczyk, and later Jan Kocian. From January 2015 to June 2018, he was the sports director of the Szczecin club. The 50-year-old knows the realities of Pogoń very well. Over the years, he also cooperated with the main decision-makers in the Duma of Pomerania. President Jarosław Mroczek and director of the sports division Dariusz Adamczuk know perfectly well what kind of workshop he has.
Stolarczyk is not the only coach considered by the Pogoń authorities. As we hear, his choice, however, is one of the most likely.
Coach Bartoszek was to meet with president Kulesza
When it comes to choosing a new U-21 team general manager, a name appears in the context of running this representation Maciej Bartoszek. The recent coach of Wisła Płock (he was removed from the team on February 28) was seen a few days ago in the Polish Football Association and reportedly even talked to the president Cezary Kulesza. In the Polish Football Association, however, they still do not make any decisions, because they are waiting … for the situation with coach Stolarczyk to develop. In the headquarters of the union at Bitwy Warszawskiej it is said that the current coach of the youth team is at the exit, but it is not only influenced by the results. It must be remembered that Stolarczyk was “inherited” by the current PZPN authorities after the governments Zbigniew Bonek. President Kulesza and the current union management will want to choose a new man for the second most important representation. Any specific proposal from Pogoń to coach Stolarczyk may accelerate all subsequent movements.
Brooch and Magiera also considered?
In addition to Maciej Bartoszek, two other Polish trainers will be selected for the U-21 team. It is said that this group also includes Jacek Magiera (Śląsk Wrocław until March 8) and Marcin Brosz. The latter is currently under contract in PZPN, because in January he became the coach of the U-19 national team. He would only need to be moved to the senior staff.
So as you can see, the name exchange on the trainers’ merry-go-round is starting to boom. Certainly, at the end of the season in Ekstraklasa, there will be several vacancies on the market, which will also mean that some professionals will be looking for a job.
MACIEJ WĄSOWSKI, SZYMON JANCZYK
MORE ABOUT THE CHASE OF SZCZECIN AND THE POLISH U-21 TEAM:
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