Biram Kiel He is without a doubt the one who symbolizes most of all the turning point of Bnei Sakhnin, which has become a team that usually fights for its life in the Premier League and makes headlines, especially after changing several coaches during the season, to a company at the top of Israeli football.
Tomorrow (Saturday, 19:50) the veteran midfielder will try to carry his team to a great achievement, when it comes from third place to the home meeting (at the stadium in Netanya) against the ex, Maccabi Haifa, which is one place above them in the table.
On the eve of the meeting, Kiel opens, quite rarely, and in an extensive interview with ONE simply talks about everything: the successes and disappointments in his amazing career on the British Isles, the comparison between Roni Levy and Barak Bachar, the decisions of Willy Rotensteiner in the Israeli national team. In the country and what his friend Mons Dabour is going through, since that post is remembered during Operation Wall Guard.
The comeback that did not happen
I want to bring you back to the first game of the season against Maccabi Haifa in the second round. Yaakov Shachar gives you a framed shirt with the number 23 and tells you ‘when you retire you are welcome to sit next to me in the podium’. With your hand on your heart, did you not think that you might hear something different from tomorrow, maybe that you would return and finish your career at the club where you grew up?
At that moment, I did not delve into what Yaakov Shachar said. Lots of people sent me after the game what bothered them what Shahar said, but for me I concentrate on what I do. I always said that Maccabi Haifa is a club that gave me a lot and that is where I achieved a lot in my career. I think I was an excellent ambassador of Haifa and the Arab sector abroad. What Yaakov Shachar thinks or what the professional team thinks, whether I should wear the green shirt again, is not something that comes to mind. The very fact that the fans and Maccabi Haifa praised and respected me, I say “Thank you very much. Shahar knows what I contributed to Maccabi Haifa when with me players like Lior Rapalov and others brought the club to the Champions League. I am sure that Shahar knows what I contributed.”
You really wanted to return to Maccabi Haifa and did not hesitate to send messages through an interview on ONE. They for their own reasons decided not to bring you back and in retrospect they seemed to be right there, because they celebrated a championship even without your help.
“Every time I am asked what about Maccabi Haifa. Say it once and for all – I left Maccabi Haifa and played on the British Isles, I achieved everything a player wants to achieve, I went through good and less good days. The thought of returning to Israel was that I would do it at Maccabi Haifa. We talked at the end of my last season at Brighton, I wanted to come back but we did not get along, neither in terms of years nor in terms of salary, and all this happened even before Barak Bachar was appointed coach. At that time I was waiting for a different offer and at the same time I heard more offers. In the end Bachar signed and decided he wanted another back-up. It’s his right and I respect that. The fact that Maccabi Haifa won the championship without me is clear that if they did not take it, it would be a failure. Haifa had a great season. I’m sure I could have helped them and Haifa would have taken a double with me. “
Weren’t you disappointed that they preferred someone else over you?
“Where I am at the moment, nothing is disappointing me. My family and I went through a lot. I went through less good things and good things, like being a player of the season in Brighton. Nothing disappoints me and nothing I take personally. The very thought was to return to Maccabi Haifa, everyone chose their side. Today is good for me and it is fun for me to return to Israel and do my best. “
Just before your return to Israel, and without harming Sakhnin, was it not difficult to come to terms with the fact that you are leaving the top and coming to Doha? Extreme transition.
“I had full options but we came to the conclusion, my wife and I, that it was time to return to Israel and the family framework was important to us. We touched the top and knew within ourselves that this was it. I’m towards the last line and it’s time to go home, enjoy. I had suggestions full of little places. “If it was the beginning of my career, I might have thought differently and looked for another challenge, but I fulfilled everything I wanted and it was time to think about the family and the children and return to Israel.”
Weren’t you afraid to finish like big stars, Eyal Berkovich and Yossi Benyon, for example, who returned to Israel and maybe somewhere they made a mistake?
“I was never afraid to take steps, even when I went to Brighton which was at the bottom of the championship. I remember my dad saying to me ‘Are you leaving Celtic for Brighton?’ And since then we have progressed to the top and we have risen to the Premier League. In every decision I made I knew there were risks and I was not afraid. My move to Sakhnin was with quite a few worries, because I did not know where I was going and today I understand that I arrived at a place that was fun for me and that is the most important thing for me. “
What does the meeting with Maccabi Haifa do for you?
“Meeting the green audience for me is crazy. The songs that were sung to me in Kiryat Eliezer are something that my family and I take with us throughout our careers. There will be a crazy atmosphere and for me it is no longer a meeting. This is a meeting that takes me back many years. There are people I grew up with. ”
In the previous meeting, you were angry that Haifa did not return a ball to you when you were lying on the grass and you had complaints against the court. Do you think the big teams get the privilege from the judges?
“I was there and I think so. In the last game against Maccabi Haifa, the one who was lying on the grass was me, and not for a show. I did not believe that Haifa would not return the ball to us. It is their decision and we have heard that they do not return balls when players are lying on the grass. I do not think it was sporty on the part of Maccabi Haifa, because we took out the ball and expected them to return the ball to us. There was a 97 minute game and they could have won without the same act, they already did that last year. We took out the ball so I could get treatment. Sportingly, everywhere in the world it is customary to return the ball, in England it would not happen. In the game now everyone will see that we will not come to cancel. I said that Maccabi Haifa has an excellent staff, but we have our goals and we will strive to win. Of course the fans in the green will not like to hear it, but that is our goal. “
Your son plays for Maccabi Haifa.
“This club is the biggest club in the country. You will not find such a place in the country and I am in the best training ground, and if I do not take my children to the best place in the country, then where will I take? It is important to me that my children are successful and that they have a good time. “
You are indeed in third place, but it is not unreasonable to say that the battle for the title is between Maccabi Haifa and Hapoel Beer Sheva, how do you see this race?
BS made a change, especially in the back. Something strong was built there with a staff of six with a lot of experience. There is a strong team there, against Maccabi Haifa with an excellent staff of its own. Of course I could be part of BS who wanted me and talked to my wife and my agent, Dudu Dahan, and we met in front of Alona Barkat and it was a very good meeting. In the end, it didn’t work out and I preferred to continue the project in Sakhnin, what’s more, the management and Sakhnin did everything to keep me going. “
Landlord
You played at the highest levels. Could it happen that a player as big as he is will decide on issues such as the future of the coach or the return to Ihab Ghanaim’s squad for example?
“If my recommendations were going to a negative place then the first one to get all the fire is me. But once it goes to a good place, then I have no problem influencing. Sharon Mimar does an excellent job and takes care of everything. He is in good contact with the players, there is a good connection there. My job is to connect them all but I know how to make separations and I will never get into methods and compositions. It is no secret that the media talked about the future of Sharon Mimar, who knew how to make a separation. In Sakhnin they asked my opinion and I said that continuity should be given, because this is a good coach who knows how to connect the players. Of course at a certain point when we lost the way in losses to KS and Netanya, I said we are the players to blame and not the coach. It was not a matter of football, but a matter of attitude.
You did great seasons overseas but the general feeling that you were not as appreciated as other legionnaires. Why?
No exiles, no cooking. drudgery. Role 50:50. Being so long, five years at Celtic and five years at Brighton, it means a lot. I will not forget the words of Roni Levy when before Celtic he told me ‘as a coach when I see belonging to the club, that’s what buys me and makes the difference’. I had fun and won a lot of appreciation in England and Scotland, I was captain at Celtic. I always aspired for more too to get exposure, but what I won I say thank you. Today I see less good leagues where Israeli players play and broadcast them. I always said that I had not been seen enough in the country. Today we see the Austrian league which is less good than the Scottish and less interesting. I did not feel good about being at the top of football and the audience in the country does not see me. It was not fun because a lot of people wanted to see, but I could not change anything. “
You are doing something great in Sakhnin this year professionally, but you fall into other things, in the conduct around as happened in Doha in front of Betar Jerusalem. How can this conduct be improved?
“In front of Betar the crowd was in a frenzy. Every player wants to play in such an atmosphere. We won and in the end what you hear is the things around when the police create huge traffic jams for the game, still out of town. People come and just suffer. You come to Doha and there is a whole mess.” With approval and without approval. Not only the Sakhnin management can be blamed. The police, the administration and we also have responsibility for what happens. The management and I work hard to improve the situation, because it is an experience to play in Doha and beat Maccabi Tel Aviv and Betar Irresponsible people we are punished.It does not add to the atmosphere and it hurts us and the club.
Must create a plan with the fans how to take the club to better places. Muhammad Abu Yunis is one of the most important people. Abu Yunis is a fan of the club, every year he loses money and comes out of love and I hope that together with him we will change our patterns of conduct. Sakhnin’s ardent fans are not just from Sakhnin and come from everywhere and I think together we can improve. Once there is success everyone wants to be a partner. Sakhnin is a place that does something different for Israeli football. People identify with Sakhnin and what is happening at the club because of the sympathy we have for them. There are good things alongside less good things. “
There were quite a few who called for the closure of Doha.
“I hope that Doha will only close when Sakhnin has a proper and new stadium. Doha is the home of Sakhnin, which needs a new stadium in a more worthy place. Closing Doha now is a disrespect to the place and the city. If we do and think differently, we can congratulate. Think you’re in your house and they tell you to get out of the house. This is neither acceptable nor respectable. Everyone saw what happened to our goalkeeper, Gad Amos, in Bloomfield, he felt threatened. It is clear that when it comes to Sakhnin the headlines are bigger. We also saw in Haifa what was happening. There are a handful in each group and you need to know how to enjoy the good. ”
“When I received the summons to the broad foil, I laughed”
We will move to the Israeli team. How is it that after recovering from the injury Willie Rotensteiner did not find a place to return you to the squad? Which led you to announce your retirement from the national uniform.
“I was waiting for a summons, but as soon as I received a summons for the general staff, as someone who had already done something in the team, I laughed at it and did not bother to look at the messages. I did not even do tests. Somewhere I was hurt, if you do not want to summon then do not schedule everything right, but invite me to the broad staff? Willie had to think differently. If I’m not on the staff it’s his right. I felt I deserved it but in my head I wanted to end the campaign and announce that I was taking off my uniform.
It comes more mentally because everyone today sees that I am at the peak of fitness. I decided to leave because the kids wanted me at home and it was time to say thank you. I have a good relationship with Willie and everything is fine. The campaign with Andy Herzog in the Nations Cup was my best time on the team. I was not able to influence the team over the years, mainly because I suffered quite a few injuries. I gave my all but mentally I feel this is it ”.
During Herzog’s time a number of players from the sector came out under the heading “We are the bosses”. This thing created a lot of noise and division in the staff.
“At that time you finished me off when you brought it up. No matter whose idea it is. I will not overthrow people, we had full conversations and you know I say what I think and I think you exaggerated in this passage and the translation was not correct. I was full of messages and all in all we were photographed by several team players from the sector as there are Jewish players taking pictures together. We wrote that we are the big ones, we did not write that we are the bosses. The only mistake was that it was translated incorrectly. There was an amazing atmosphere in the team. We got all the fire. Everything has passed since then, but it is clear that such a picture has come and gone. The translation was incorrect because it concerns the song in Arabic. “
Talk to me about what Mons Dabour is going through, that the audience does not forget the post he put out and calls him contempt every time he touches the ball. By the way, did Dabour apologize?
Dabour did not apologize but I tell you that professionally Dabour is proving his abilities. Dabour took something from the Koran that we read every day. Why is it that anyone who reads and takes verses from the Bible and above is fine and Dabour is not? “Dabour will prove to everyone, despite the whistles, what he is worth and the fact that he remains, shows strength on his part. Dabour will know mentally what to do and what decision to make if they continue to whistle against him.
Foreign coach or Barak Bachar for the team?
“Foreign coach. I think a foreigner will be more suitable for the team. There were Israelis and there were foreigners who did not succeed. “A stranger moves away from the media, Willy did a good job in this section and took the media out of the team’s locker room.”
Assuming you decide to go for an Israeli coach, Roni Levy or Barak Bachar for the team?
Roni Levy, for me, is the best Israeli coach in the country. A coach who upgraded players who trained under him. I do not know Barak Bachar but I remember the period of Roni Levy who coached me. I felt at the time that he was strong with the young players. “Look at how he managed to get me and Lior Rapalov to Europe and make us good players.”
Where do you see yourself when you retire. As a professional manager or coach?
“I am today at 33 and as long as the body gives it to me, I will continue to play. Once I can not do everything to help Sakhnin keep moving forward, I will stop. Once I, my father and my wife decided to take Sakhnin’s offer, I decided to retire in Sakhnin. I have no intention of being a coach, maybe a professional manager. I love and watch football. A coach is not something that interests and challenges me. The world of coaches is different. I can help around. ”
.