Bosnian Football’s False Dawn

“Thank God that’s over!,” was the first thought I had after watching on TV what must have been the tenth interview in the past few weeks of the new manager of the Bosnia and Herzegovina national football team, Safet Susic, aka Pape.

Before we go further I must give a little background and add that like most people in the region, I see Susic as one of the best players to have emerged from BiH, and that in his day he was one of the best playmakers in Europe. To borrow a line from Zabranjeno Pusenje, the legendary Bosnian Rock band, “Everyone attacks, but there is only one” Pape.

But, while during his playing career he boasted of playing for clubs such as Paris St Germain, his professional coaching record lists only such “giants” as Konyaspor, Ankaragücü and Çaykur Rizespor.

Susic’s selection as the new coach of Bosnia’s national team comes fresh after the country’s failure to beat Portugal in a playoff in the qualification for the World Cup in South Africa, and the sacking of Miroslav Ciro Blazevic.  

In truth, while there were several options about who would replace Ciro, it was only ever going to be Pape, for the simple reason that he was the most suitable. I use this word in the worst possible sense, by which I mean that out of all the other options, he was probably the only manager not to have raised his voice against the criminal governing body of football in the country.

Recently, the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which deals only with the most complex war crimes and organized crime cases, sentenced Munib Usanovic, the current secretary general of the Football Association of BiH and Miodrag Kures, secretary for finance and marketing, to five years’ prison  for evasion of taxes on products and services.

The situation in the Football Association of BiH and subsequently in the national team got so bad that two years ago the 12 most influential players started a boycott to force changes. The boycott was supported by former playing greats such as Sergej Barbarez and Blaz Sliskovic – both candidates for the position of head coach. Pape remained silent. But the changes never came and when Ciro Blazevic took over and started getting results, the boycott was forgotten.

For all those who believed Pape was only being wise when not siding with the players two years ago, and who wanted him to give the benefit of the doubt, his words in his first interview must have been devastating. “I’m not sure what formation we will be playing, and I’m not sure we have enough depth in the squad to succeed,” he said. “But be sure I’ll take my time and study everything and make a plan for the next qualification!” he added, when asked about his plans for the national team.

So, you have no plan for the team and no idea of how you will restructure the team to succeed?” is what I would have asked. But the elderly anchorman on state television merely asked: “Have you watched the last games and the playoff matches, and can you tell us what you think about the squad?” The answer to this was almost comical: “Well I have only gotten the tapes now, and I plan to study them, and go from there”.

To be fair I must add that later in the show – or shows, I should say – Susic promised to lead Bosnia’s team to the next European championship, but coming from a man who has no plan and has not seen our last games, this seemed an empty promise.

The appointment of Susic is especially disappointing because of its timing. Bosnia and Herzegovina probably now has its best group of players ever, with stars such as Edin Dzeko and Zvjezdan Misimovic from German champions Wolfsburg, Miralem Pjanic from Lyon and Captain Emir Spahic from Montpellier.

In the last qualification, the team for the first time finished in second place and qualified for playoffs. The time was ripe to take another step forward and cement Bosnia and Herzegovina’s place on the map of world football.

One of the most worrying admissions Susic has made is that he would be willing to “listen to advice and pick uncapped players for the team”. For years, before Blazevic’s reign, the national team was a haven for criminal so-called managers and agents who used their connections to force inadequate players onto the team. Susic’s time – to my sorrow and that of the general public – appears more reminiscent of the national team of old than the team we all want to see succeed and qualify for a big tournament.

Since taking over in the past few days Susic has been ever present in the media but this doesn’t mean he has had anything substantial to say. Instead, he has been full of meaningless phrases, referring to the “crowd as the 13th player” and to “togetherness”. These phrases mean even less coming from a man who, on his own admission, cannot name the 13 players in our squad.