What symbolism.
Precisely at the height of the Maccabi Tel Aviv crisis and when its coach is swaying - Yotam Halperin, a product of the Yellows, stands in front of her as a coach.
On Saturday, Halperin will lead Hapoel Jerusalem against Maccabi Tel Aviv in the Clasico, which has a lot of prestige, but can have several meanings beyond.
Will Maccabi Tel Aviv's crisis deepen further? Will its coach survive in the event of a loss? Will Jerusalem inflict a second consecutive league loss on it? Will Hapoel provide a statement that it is the best in the country? The regular season?
The one who can give all the answers is actually Halperin, who was the flesh and blood of Maccabi, with the definition that not everyone is used to yet - a coach.
What will be Halperin's answer at the end of the evening?
Photo: Liron Moldovan,
Halperin became a red symbol after growing up in Maccabi, rose to prominence in the early 2000s and played for it (except for one season) until 2008. When he came to Jerusalem he was a partner with Lior Eliyahu for the big change at the club.
At the end of October, the Hapoel Jerusalem management announced that Halperin had been "appointed as a temporary coach until a new coach was signed."
Tomorrow will begin the year 2022. New coach - no.
Halperin made the temporary determinant.
He took a team in a major professional crisis and made it the best team in the country, right now.
From one who never coached or opened the season, he became the rotation coach.
Shortly before being appointed to the role Halperin completed a coaching course, but standing on the lines was not in his planning.
Reality dictates things, and so he finds himself the coach of Hapoel Jerusalem until the end of the season, and who knows, maybe beyond that.
By the way, to this day Jerusalem has not announced that Halperin has become a permanent coach.
Probably should not.
From a lifeline he became a coach, for all that that implies.
Halperin is proof that a hundred exercise books will not help if you do not have the ability to reach players.
The composure, quietness and confidence he radiates are amazing, certainly for anyone who has never been in this position.
The story of the season in Israeli basketball.
However, it must be said that Halperin in his role as athletic director was responsible for the team’s poor construction and mistakes made in the summer.
When he got down to the lines he became a season that started on the left foot and made a change of one hundred and eighty degrees in it.
After making a mistake in the summer when he was in the offices, on the lines he is hardly wrong.
Since eight he has lost only once in all competitions, his team is the first-round champion, and the European season he has managed to save.
No one, including Yotam, would say he foresaw such a scenario.
Now the question is - is what this season has become temporary to determine, also a start of a career.
Will Yotam Halperin take off his suit and switch to sweatshirts regularly.
Last time it ended in a yellow victory, Photo: Alan Shiver,
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