Slišković v. Blažević, pt. 1

Well, you can’t complain that the world of Bosnian football is boring. The latest media firestorm erupted over some choice comments made by our former manager Blaž “Baka” Slišković about current boss Miroslav “Ćiro” Blažević. The media bickering has since then escalated to include veteran striker Marko Topić and Slišković’s predecessor Drago “Mišo” Smajlović. Allegations include gambling, alcoholism, selling away EURO 2008 qualifiers and throwing cleats at the coaching staff. You might want to brush up on your Bosnian football history, but I’ll try and summarize what’s going on either way.

So, to begin with, outside observers are probably wondering “Who the hell is Blaž ‘Baka’ Slišković and why do all Bosnian coaches have four-letter nicknames?” Let’s focus on that first question. Slišković is, first and foremost, the archetype of wasted Yugoslav football talent. He was a beloved hometown midfielder for Mostar’s FK Velež, who shined in Yugoslavia’s Prva liga with his fantastic technique, audacious beard and masterful dribbling skills. Unfortunately, he lacked any sense of professionalism, and became just as famous for his gambling and drinking habits. After a series of brief, relatively unsuccessful stints with foreign clubs in his later years, Slišković eventually entered managerial waters. He was in charge of the national team from 2002 to 2006, in a time marked by fantastic talent, on-field disappointments and, above all, total corruption and incompetence on the part of the Bosnian FA.

Slišković’s role in the whole circus is somewhat ambiguous. There’s no denying that plenty of questionable call-ups went in and out through the national team’s revolving doors in those years, but it’s hard to say whether Slišković was just obeying orders or behind some of the shady dealings himself. Many of his former players have nothing but good things to say about him, but fans were by and large fed up with the man, especially given his notoriously erratic tactics and playing formations (he infamously put Sergej Barbarez in at libero).

Since he left the national team at the onset the catastrophic Euro 2008 qualifiers, Slišković has managed a number of small Balkan clubs, ranging from Mostar’s Zrinjski to KF Tirana. The Bosnian press occasionally reports on his career, noting his arrivals, early successes and then nosediving failures. For the most part, however, Slišković had largely stayed out of the media spotlight in the past few years, confined to the inside pages of various sports-focused publications.

Then this:

Translation: Slišković claimed during a radio interview in Mostar that Blažević was bringing in players to the national team for money. He specifically mentioned Marko Topić, last season’s second-leading scorer in the Russian league. Topić, a Bosnian Croat, was one of the first non-Bosniaks (Bosnian Muslims) to play for the national team after the war. He has been a fan favorite throughout, but suddenly disappeared from the national team in the six years that Slišković was coach. Slišković also claimed that certain players betrayed him and sold away the crucial EURO 2008 home qualifiers against Hungary and Greece. Naturally, Bosnia’s major sports media outlets quickly ran his remarks as front-page news.

So what has happened in this media war since this opening shot? Well, first Blažević immediately denied the charges, saying that he had great respect for Slišković, but that the man was probably drunk and looking for attention after being chased out of Tirana (Blažević’s words, not mine). Blažević also claimed that he would call Topić up again for the next match, while Topić himself had his own interview in which he called Slišković sick and threatened legal action. Captain Emir Spahić also chimed in, expressing surprise that Slišković would say something like that, and adamantly maintaining that no one “sold” the above-mentioned EURO 2008 qualifying games. Slišković then reappeared in the media, claiming that his words were being manipulated and taken out of context, but that he stood by his earlier accusations nonetheless. He also added some new ones, claiming that he decided not to call up Topić after he saw the striker throw his cleat at former coach Mišo Smajlović during a training session. Topić angrily countered that the reason he didn’t play in the national team for six years was that Slišković and former director Ahmet Pašalić were asking him to pay them under the table for a call up. Smajlović himself has now come out and denied Slišković’s charges about an altercation between him and Topić.

Crazy, huh?

Personally, although I’m no great fan of Blažević, I think Slišković is just bitter over the success and adoration that Ćiro has had in his tenure at the helm of the national team. These are pretty heavy accusations flying around, but I don’t think anyone in Bosnia is actually taking them seriously, and more than likely they’ll blow over long before our next qualifier against Armenia comes up. Far more exciting right now is the Bundesliga table, with Edin Džeko and Zvjezdan Misimović spearheading Wolfsburg’s push for its first ever title.