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TagsIn football money can buy success, there have been many examples down the years, probably the most famous of all is the story of Juventus FC.
The Italian club had won just one scudetto, in 1905, when Fiat owner Edoardo Agnelli took them over in 1923. Within 12 years they had added six more titles and today they are still the most successful side in Serie A history with 27 championship wins.
Two more recent examples of this have been the rise of Chelsea from London’s number three club to one of Europe’s giants, and Shakhtar Donetsk FC, from an obscure provincial Ukranian club, to UEFA Cup winners. There is absolutely no doubt that in both cases the clubs owe their rapid rise to the money that has been invested in them by their respective billionaire owners, Roman Abramovich and Rinat Akhmetov.Will Polish football experience a similar phenomenon with Jozef Wojciechowski and Polonia Warszawa? To start with, the 14th richest Pole is only a millionaire and not a billionaire like the Russian and Ukrainian. However with a fortune estimated at €340 million, he is rich enough and is obviously prepared to spend enough, to push the Konwiktorska club up among the big boys of the Ekstraklasa, and keep them there.
He has also pulled off, what is by Polish football standards, some exciting signings such as bringing Jose Maria Bakero the former FC Barcelona midfielder in as coach. The Spaniard was followed to the Polish capital by his fellow countryman midfielder Andreu Guerao Mayoral who has La Liga experience with Sporting Gijon. Poland is used to seeing South Americans coming here to get a foothold in European football, but Spaniards including one who’s CV lists one of the world’s true giants, is something else.
During the close season Wojciechowski’s club lured 23 year old international defender Jakub Tosik away from PGE GKS Belchatow and the 24 year old Brazilian Bruno from cup-winners Jagiellonia. But Wojciechowski’s greatest coup has been to entice Ebi Smolarek back to the Ekstraklasa after his 10 years of seeking fame and fortune in western and southern Europe. He came close to it as well at both Borussia Dortmund and in Spain with Santander, where he enjoyed some good spells, but was unable to sustain his form.
Critics may argue that Ebi had nowhere else to go after sliding down the clubs scale, spending a season warming lowly Bolton Wanderers FC subs bench in the English Premier League, and then with mediocre Greek outfit AO Kavala FC.
But he is a player of proven ability with 43 international games and 19 goals to his credit and he is still only 29. It is for this reason that Wojciechowski has dug deep into his pocket to pay, what is again by Polish standards, a high salary of close to €400,000 pa.
Will Smolarek find a new lease of life back in his homeland? He has certainly started off with a bang scoring a magnificent headed goal only a few minutes after coming off that familiar subs bench in only his second match for the black shirts. Their resounding 3-0 defeat of city rivals Legia, puts Polonia on top of the Ekstraklasa, with two convincing wins out of two and no goals conceded. But it’s the way they played against a team who managed to put five goals past Arsenal only a week before, albeit in a friendly, which will make the other teams sit up and take notice.
Bakero showed that he is no respecter of reputations or earnings by making Smolarek again wait over 70 minutes before sending him on, saying afterward.
“His disposition is improving. He scored a lovely goal. But at this moment he is not ready to play a full game, however I’m sure he’ll be in peak form again soon.”
In this Bakero has displayed an independence and demonstration that he is in charge of the team.
