Katalinic splits with Hajduk
Wednesday, 25 August 2004Hajduk Split coach Ivan Katalinic resigned yesterday after his team's poor start to the defence of their Croatian title and will be replaced by Bosnia coach Blaz Sliskovic, newspapers reported today. Split were also sensationally dumped out of the UEFA Champions League at the second qualifying round by eircom League champions Shelbourne in July.
"I'm doing this for the sake of the club. Now the responsibility is on the players to prove they can do better than they have so far," Katalinic told Jutarnji List daily.
Former Hajduk player Sliskovic, who takes over today will also carry on as Bosnia coach, the newspaper said.
Katalinic took over with three games left at the end of last season, just as rivals Dinamo Zagreb were threatening to leapfrog them at the top of the standings, and steered the club to its fifth title since Croatia's 1991 independence.
Hajduk have taken just seven points from their first five matches this season but the biggest blow came when they were knocked out of the Champions League by Shelbourne.
Filed by Mark O'Neill-Cummins
