Vladimír Růžička: The Potential New Head Coach of Slovan Bratislava

In yesterday’s issue, we wrote that Slovan Bratislava has a list of six coaching names that they are considering for the post of head coach after Ján Pardava. The list is said to have been reduced to two Czech personalities.

Vladimír Růžička is probably closer to the post. The coaching legend should also come today for a personal meeting with the management of Slovan Bratislava. According to our information, the Czech coach is interested in coming to the club. He was close to an agreement with this already at the end of his performance in the KHL in 2019. He was still leading HC Slovan Ústí nad Labem on Wednesday evening, but on Thursday the club announced that it had a new coach. “I don’t want to comment on that yet,” the coach told idnes.cz yesterday.

Růžička is one of the greatest figures in Czech history. At the club level, he coached five teams in the Czech Republic. He led Slavia Prague for fifteen years, worked in Chomutov, Hradec Králové and most recently in Litvínov, where he finished last season. He won the Czech titles with Slavia in 2003 and 2008. He was also very successful with the Czech national team, which he led to the title of world champions in 2005 and 2010. He retired from the national team in 2014. He was also excellent as a player, as he has a complete collection of medals from the World Championships and was the captain of the legendary Czech team that surprised the world by winning the Olympic Games in Nagano in 1998. He also played 233 games in the NHL. He is linked to Slovakia by the fact that he was in the military in Trenčín, where he played two seasons in the Czechoslovak league under the former regime.

HE HAS NOT DONE FAR IN RECENT YEARS

In recent years, he did not do well with clubs. In the 2020/2021 season, he played in the playoffs with Hradec Králové, but then in two seasons he failed to advance to the knockout stage with Litvínov. Pavel Ryšavý, an expert from the Czech daily Sport, also offered us his perspective on Růžička: “He did not succeed in his last two engagements in the extra league. The aftertaste of him remained especially in Hradec Králové. He started with great fame in Litvínov, where he replaced Vladimír Országh. In the end, he won 42% of the matches with the club, Ružička only 37%. In the next season, he was recalled after fourteen games.

The Czech journalist also offered us a more detailed look at what he thinks about the current coaching qualities of the renowned coach. “It has been said for a long time that wherever he comes, everyone will stand up and the team will start winning. But that is definitely gone. There is no interest in him in the Czech extra league, currently I cannot imagine a team that would approach him. The clubs are worried that Vladimír Růžička would not move them anywhere,” assessed Ryšavý negatively, but also added a positive part.

“However, in my opinion, he still has a chance to be a successful coach, he just needs to follow a similar path as Ivan Hlinka or Vladimír Vůjtek once did. However, he would have to surround himself with young, educated coaches who are completely different from him and who are starting a coaching career. He would leave them free and he would just coach and add his details that he notices in the game. After that, I am convinced that he would have achieved great things. He still sees hockey well, you won’t forget that. The question is whether he would like to work like this on his own and whether there would be a club that would have the courage to take a similar step.” added Pavel Ryšavý.

news-item-description">What might have been expected after last season came at the beginning of the new year. A bad start, when Slovan Bratislava lost three out of four games, cost not only the job of coach Ján Pardavý, but also sports director Oto Haščák.

GRAŇÁK: PRIORITY DEFENSIVE HOCKEY

For many years, Dominik Graňák played under Růžiček, whom the Czech coach once brought to Slavia Praha and later led him to Hradec Králové. “I respect him very much, if it wasn’t for him, I might not be playing professional hockey. Fifteen, twenty years ago, he was a progressive coach, but he hasn’t changed much. With his hard nature, he usually does not compromise on his opinions. He has an incredible feeling for players, he has the courage to give space to young people. He likes to decide everything. He is dominant. He is still a hockey fanatic, he follows all leagues in the world. I don’t dare to say whether it will work out in Slovan. However, he can cope with pressure. It would be interesting to see. His priority is defensive, honest, physical hockey,” said Graňák.

We also asked Litvín’s captain Matúš Sukeľ, who worked under him last year, to evaluate Růžička’s work. “We didn’t do well, it wasn’t the coach’s fault, but all of us. Of course, he has great authority and natural respect, but I wouldn’t say that he would be extra hard on us at all.” spoke the Slovakian representative, who also answered the question of the possible engagement of a successful coach with the Slovans in the past. “I think his vast experience could help Slovan and give him a kick,” added Matúš Sukeľ, who wore the white jersey in the past in the KHL.

THEY TALKED ABOUT JANDAČ WITH HAŠČÁK

In addition to the two-time world coaching champion, the name of Josef Jandač is also mentioned in Slovan. He was Růžiček’s assistant during the 2010 world championship title and was later the head coach of the Czech national team. Most of his career he led Sparta Prague, where he also worked in the year before last. He also led Liberec, Pardubice and KHL Lev Praha and Metallurg Magnitogorsk.

We talked about the situation with the agent of 54-year-old Jandač, Robert Spálenka. “There is currently anarchy in Slovan. First, it is necessary to have a manager so that communication can take place. I talked to Oto Haščák, but the club called him back. No one else contacted me from Slovan,” Jandač’s agent told us on the phone.

If the Bratislava club agreed with a new coach today, it would probably only be until the end of this season. It would not be a long-term contract, as the dismissed Ján Pardavý had.

2023-09-28 08:45:00
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