Savo Milošević submitted his resignation as head of the coaching staff at FK Željezničar, and on this occasion, together with director Haris Slato, he addressed the public.
- After, I must say, a longer period of deliberation that has been going on for weeks, I have made the decision to submit my resignation as head of the coaching staff of FK Željezničar. I will briefly explain this decision. It did not, as I said, come overnight. In accordance with what I discussed with the management at the beginning, before I came to FK Željezničar, we had an agreement on long-term cooperation and a project that was supposed to elevate this club to a higher level in the coming period. That was the biggest reason why I accepted to enter a very delicate and difficult moment for the club and try to rehabilitate the situation until June, and then from June start working on a new project - said Milošević.
Certain stability
He added that they reached a situation where, at the end of the season and the beginning of a new one, neither the people from the club nor he can plan anything concrete from June onward, so it becomes pointless to continue cooperation.
- I must above all think about my future, and the club must also find solutions, which, I presume, will be very difficult in the period that is coming. The director will say something about that later. I must say that I am extremely sorry about all of this, because it was truly my intention, and the director can confirm this, to work here long-term. That was the plan and the project. I sincerely believed that it could be achieved, regardless of the obstacles we all face in these parts, and that it is possible to create a quality system and return FK Željezničar to the place that belongs to it in Bosnian-Herzegovinian football, and in the region as well. Unfortunately, this time too, some things have gotten in the way and we will not be able to implement that plan, or at least I will not. It remains for me to sincerely thank everyone for the cooperation, starting with Mr. Mirvić. Haris was with us for three months and can testify to what kind of period we went through to bring the club to at least a certain stability. I think we succeeded in that - he said.
He stressed that it is a satisfaction for him personally as well as for all the people in the club.
- Given the difficulties we encountered in the previous period, we managed to overcome all of that and bring the club to the safe zone. This represents great satisfaction for me, because everything would have been much harder if we were still in a difficult situation. This way I can say that I managed to do what I promised when I came to the position of coach of FK Željezničar. At the end, I want to thank the management, the people in the club and the small number of staff members who were with us, but primarily the players, who bore the greatest burden in an exceptionally difficult period. Believe me, the situation in which we found the team, psychologically, mentally and physically, was extremely difficult. The guys managed to bear it with character and enormous will, beyond their real capabilities. We owe them great gratitude, because if we had not set out on the right path then, everything would have been much more complicated and difficult. I also thank the coaching staff, the medical team and all the people around the team. Everyone gave their maximum to get everything moving in the right direction. I am grateful to every person who in the previous three months gave everything of themselves so that we could come to the light of day. I particularly want to highlight the fans of this club. It is difficult to explain, but these are truly special fans. I played in many clubs and all fans say about themselves that they are the best and the greatest, but these are special. Regardless of the situation, the state of the table and the state of the team, they were with us sincerely and unconditionally. That pressure could have been much greater and harder given the results. We were lucky that the fans recognized the situation and gave us support both at home and away. That helped us a lot to overcome all the problems. Željezničar truly has special fans. At the end, I want to thank all the people of Sarajevo who welcomed me here in a truly special way. In part, I expected that, but in some situations I was also surprised. Because of that, I am even more sorry. It would have been an honor and pleasure for me to stay and live in Sarajevo and work at this club. But, well, perhaps some other time. Unfortunately, the reason for this address is not pleasant - Milošević emphasized.
Everything is now in question
Haris Slato said he is very disappointed with Savo Milošević's decision, but that he fully understands it, as does Mirvić.
- Simply, we were not in a position to provide the coach with conditions to continue working in our club, because we could not guarantee that we would fulfill what we agreed upon. The problem that burdens our club is the statute, which has still not been resolved. Because of that, I express great regret that our coach is leaving, although we had serious plans for him to stay here, work and help us in the development of the club. The coach came at, as he himself said, the most delicate moment for our club. I think this was one of the most difficult periods in the history of Željezničar. That is why great thanks to the coach, you, Nenad and Branko for coming and managing to elevate us to a higher level, achieving victories, scoring goals and ultimately securing survival so that our club would not be in the threatened zone. In the previous three months we did everything that was in our power, both administratively and organizationally, to unblock the processes that had been set in motion. I am additionally disappointed because I know how much effort we invested, both economically and in sports terms, to make progress. You saw that last week we were together in Hrasnica, where we discussed potential opportunities for relocating our sports development segment and developing a sports academy.
However, now all of that is called into question. I am especially sad because I know how much effort we have invested in all these segments in the last two months, and now I must say that the entire strategic partnership project is on the brink of collapse. Because of that, from today I am placing my mandate at the disposal, together with coach Savo Milošević. We will decide about my future in the next day or two, together with the other members and management bodies of the club, after which we will provide more information - Slato concluded.