After the training held this morning (Sunday) by Hapoel Hadera, Assaf Niemani spoke with the club leaders, said that he decided to take responsibility for the crisis the team was in, and resigned. After 10 games without a win, of which nine were in the league, Niemani understood that the intention was to say goodbye to him and chose to precede the decision makers with his own departure notice. “I tried everything, but unfortunately things didn’t go well,” he said, “sometimes you have to know how to make difficult decisions. I’m very grateful to Oren Golan for the opportunity, I thank the team and the fans and of course the players. I really believe in them and wish them success.”
Professional advisor Oren Golan responded: “We thank Asaf for a beautiful time in the team. It’s unfortunate that it ended this way, but this is football. We wish Asaf much success in the future.” As published last night in Walla! Sport, Menachem Koretsky, who coached Hadera last season and was fired not long ago from Kiryat Shmona, was named as the leading candidate to be appointed as Nimani’s replacement, while the names of Niso Avitan and Sharon Mimar were also mentioned. The latter, as written here, may soon end its journey in Bnei Rayna.
In Hadera they were very disappointed with the negative streak the team is in, which last beat Maccabi Netanya somewhere in early November, and last night slipped to eighth place following the 2:0 home loss to MS. Ashdod. Although only three points separate Hadera from the top playoffs, at the same time their distance from the red line is only five points and the club is increasingly worried about relegation.
As of writing these lines, Hapoel Hadera is having trouble finding funding sources in order to add new reinforcement players, in addition to the signing of Stav Nachmani who is expected to make his debut in the upcoming season in Teddy against Beitar Jerusalem, the team he came from.