January 4, 2021 – The latest HNL news, as Gorica brings on a new coach, and Hajduk a new sports director.
Siniša Oreščanin was named the new coach of Gorica on Sunday.
Namely, the third-placed HNL team lost coach Valdas Dambrauskas, who went to Ludogorets, Bulgaria, and sports director Mindaugas Nikoličius, who terminated his contract with Gorica and signed with Hajduk Split.
Index.hr reports that the first wish of the President of Gorica, Nenad Črnek, was the former Osijek coach Zoran Zekić, who recently returned from the Moldovan club Sheriff. On Saturday night, Črnko met with Zekić and Oreščanin and offered them his terms. Zekić asked for time to think, then turned down the offer on Sunday. It was then clear that the new coach would be Siniša Oreščanin, who should sign a contract until the summer of 2022 with the option to extend for another year.
Oreščanin should introduce himself to the team on Monday at 1 pm and immediately start preparations for the continuation of the season and a visit to Pula on January 19 near Istria.
Hajduk announced Mindaugas Nikoličius as the new sports director on Monday. Born on October 5, 1983, in Neringa, Lithuania, he has 16 years of experience in football and signed a contract with Hajduk until the summer of 2024.
He started his first job in football by working for the Lithuanian Football Federation in 2005. In 2006, the Scottish Heart of Midlothian hired him as a sports director and he remained in that position until 2008. Then, in 2010, he accepted the invitation of the Lithuanian club Zalgiris, in which he held the position of sports director and member of the Management Board for seven years.
He spent the last three years in the position of sports director and member of the Management Board of HNK Gorica, with which he terminated his contract and accepted Hajduk’s invitation.
During his career as a sports director in these clubs, he won a total of 17 different trophies. He is a lawyer by profession and is fluent in Lithuanian, English, German, and Russian. He speaks and knows the basics of the Croatian language, Hajduk explained on their website of Nikoličius.
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