September 26, 2024 – Nenad Bjelica is the coach of Dinamo, again.
As was speculated all week, Nenad Bjelica has returned to the Dinamo bench after Sergej Jakirovic was sacked last week.
Bjelica has been unemployed since May, after his sacking from Union Berlin last season. He was under contract with them until yesterday. The German club kept him on the payroll so that they would not have to pay him severance, but now that obstacle has been resolved. Bjelica previously led Dinamo from 2018 to 2020 and under him, they became a respectable European club.
Dinamo has agreed on the details of cooperation with Bjelica, who will soon sign a contract at Maksimir, and the plan is to conduct training today from 6 pm. Before officially introducing the coach, Dinamo posted a video on social media showing two chairs next to the press box at Maksimir. Bjelica sat in that place for the first time during the match against Benfica in the Europa League round of 16 in 2019 when he was suspended.
In his first term, Bjelica managed Dinamo from May 15, 2018, to April 16, 2020, and won two Croatian championship titles, the Cup and the Super Cup. At the same time, he also had notable European successes. He has also managed FC Kärnten, Lustenau, WAC, Austria Vienna, Spezia, Lech, Osijek and Trabzonspor.
Bjelica left Dinamo on April 16, 2020. The contract was then mutually terminated after a meeting that lasted three and a half hours. Bjelica had a contract for another 15 months and was supposed to earn a little less than two million euros in that period.
The conflict between Zdravko Mamić, the chief of Dinamo who is currently a fugitive hiding out in Medjugorje, and Bjelica began after the club’s shocking elimination from the Champions League against Shakhtar and culminated after Bjelica and the players refused to cut their wages during the COVID-19 pandemic. Mamić even revealed on Facebook the income of Nenad Bjelica and the coaching staff, whom he had fired a few days earlier.
Bjelica takes over in moments of crisis at Maksimir. After four games without a win (against Rijeka, Bayern, Hajduk, and Slaven Belupo), Dinamo beat Banjole 3:1 in the round of 16 of the SuperSport Cup on Wednesday.
