Omer Boxenbaum entered the position of professional manager of Hapoel Tel Aviv with high expectations. His dizzying success with the youth department, which he nurtured for four years and led to impressive achievements, caused Hapoel Tel Aviv to place high hopes in him also regarding the senior department from the fans to the owners.
“Buksa” received the position of professional manager already in the middle of last season, but actually entered it four months ago, a period that his associates say is characterized mainly by a lack of sleep hours. “He’s a total guy. Whether it looks like it on the outside or not, he takes the start of the season hard and doesn’t take it easy. Let’s just say that it’s not just the fans who don’t sleep at night after losses,” share those close to the professional manager.
“Buksa has a personal charm and the right business and professional thinking”, officials at the club share and add: “His success with the youth department did not come thanks to a huge budget, but a lot thanks to his personal abilities, abilities which we hope he will be able to bring to the senior team over time.”
In Hapoel they say that the former director of the youth department managed to entice young players to move to the red side through attractive contracts that guarantee them an easy option to go abroad along with an opportunity to integrate into the senior team at a relatively young age. “It’s not all about money. Boxa has its own ways of convincing players that Hapoel is the right place for them,” an insider pointed out.
But we also have to admit, and this is understood now more than ever by all involved parties, that the professional management of a youth department is a completely different role from the professional manager of an adult team. While in youth it is easy to lure actors with choppers of little economic significance, in adults it is already a different opera, and money plays a more significant role, if not the most significant.
“He has a budget limit, as in every club, and he is aware of it and believes that he will be able to succeed within the limits given to him. Otherwise he would not have taken the position in the first place,” emphasizes Hapoel Tel Aviv, “and even now he constantly emphasizes that if he sees that it is not working and he is not manages to bring his ‘I believe in’ to the graduates, either because of a budget or because he doesn’t have sufficient freedom of action, he simply won’t be here.”
At the moment, judging by the results on the grass, it doesn’t seem to be exactly succeeding. Before the seventh round, Hapoel Tel Aviv has only three points, after one win and five losses. “People are impatient. Omar took office only four months ago and the changes he is trying to instill are long-term and rather something that will be reflected in the next cycle on the field. For example, he upgraded and renovated the gym of the training complex,” share club sources.
In the meantime, Boksa is dealing with what is called ‘birth pains’, with the help of Itzik Nisanov, to whom he is very close. It is possible to get confused and think that Itzik is the one who makes the decisions exclusively, but in practice the word of Omer Buxenbaum is counted and determines. An example of this can be seen in the story of the Montenegrin brakeman Marko Tucci who surprisingly landed at the training complex one bright day.
Officials at the club share that Tucci arrived at the request of Itzik Nisanov, who thought it was a real ‘bargain’, while Boksa opposed the addition of and thought he was not up to par. Nisanov continued to press, and was behind bringing the stopper to Israel to impress, as Boksa continued to insist that it was not a proper signing. In the end, it was Buxa that “won”, and the brakeman left a day after his arrival.
On the other hand, there are also areas where Boxa has no influence. The most prominent of them is regarding the sale of players. The professional manager was happy to continue enjoying the talent of Davide and Leidner, but this was not subject to his discretion, while at the same time he was not exactly opposed to the move, emphasizing that players cannot be left in force when they wish to advance.
“When the decision was made to appoint him, it was known that it might involve the payment of a certain ‘tuition,’ and they took that into account,” shared a member of the club’s management, “like anyone who enters a new position, Omar also needs to learn how to perform it to the best of his ability. Manager A professional is not an easy position and you don’t learn it instantly, even though he came with previous experience. You have to give him that time. You have to let him work. He didn’t build the youth in four months either. If those who run the club believe in him as much as those who are inside the club, We will all soon gain a professional manager from the best in the field.”