1. The dismissal of Yannis Sapropoulos from Maccabi Tel Aviv was the 14th time in the last 32 years that the team has issued a notice of termination of the contract with the coach. The average dismissal once every two years is quite high, but after a season in which five coaches were employed (16/17), Sapropoulos' relatively long term indicates patience with the most stressful job in Israeli sports and the most difficult in European basketball.
2. The attached table leads to a certain paradox in the conduct of the club.
On the one hand, the index of the team is the Euroleague.
If Maccabi once said that the league and the trophy are the bread and butter, then the creators have turned upside down.
The Euroleague on its derivatives (subscribers, viewing booths, broadcasting rights, sponsors) brings to the team most of the revenue, and its participation in the plant does not depend on the local arena as it was in the previous millennium.
From the "bread and butter" only the knife that decapitates the coaches remains.
Of the 14 coaches fired since 1990, 11 (!) Were after a league game or relegation to the National Cup.
This is despite the fact that the building of the team at Maccabi is mainly for struggles in the Euroleague, and in the summer of 2018 two teams were announced: Maccabi A that will play in the Euroleague, and Maccabi B that will be based on young players who will play in the league and cup.
Efi Birenbaum, who was fired after two months in the position after a defeat in Malcha, explained: "My losses were unrelated. Because it was impossible to coach Maccabi then, when Pini Gershon was sitting on the fence at his peak. I am the only Maccabi coach who did not lose to Yad Eliyahu."
Birnbaum continued: "Overall, Maccabi showed patience. No coach would have stayed after three losses in 50 days in a derby, something that did not happen even in the 1960s under Mapai's rule.
Maccabi reached districts that embarrassed the entire crowd. "
5. Zvika Sharaf, who has been called to the flag three times, tries to explain the paradox: "For me, the league was important as well. When you lose and lose in the Euroleague, there was no consensus in the management to fire a coach. ".
6. Maccabi in a trap.
On the one hand, no serious coach wants to reach three months and then join the list below, while Maccabi wants to sign proven Euroleague coaches in the summer, more than those on the shelf.
On the other hand, not bringing in a coach now may be interpreted by fans as a waiver of the season.
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