The fatal tactics employed at Apoel FC followed by humiliating defeats at the hands of Odense and Twente Enschede have shown that many of the transfers carried out by Maaskant and Valckx have proved to be way off.

Hajto, who played 62-times for Poland and enjoyed eight successful seasons at Schalke and Nuremberg in the Bundesliga, blames Wisla’s Presiden

Bogdan Basalaj for the mess the team currently finds itself in. Basalaj, he says, made a big mistake by bringing in the Dutch pair Robert Maaskant as coach and Stan Valckx as his director of sport. 

Writing in his blog, parts of which have been quoted in the online website sport.pl, Hajto says the concept of bringing in a coach and director of sport from abroad worked only for one season in the Ekstraklasa, during which Wisla won the championship. But since then it has backfired mark.”

Hajto points the finger at seven Wisla players who he says are just not good enough for the European level, naming Jirsak, Kirm, Lamey, Chavez, Bunoza, Nunez and Boguski. He accuses them of not pulling their weight and questions whether they are worth their high earnings. Although not all of them were brought in by the Dutch pair, Hajto believes Wisla could save themselves a lot of money by relying less on expensive foreign imports.

“When are Maaskant and Valckx going to get off their backsides and look at some of the talented players in the lower leagues?” Wisla have recently gained a reputation for fielding sides made up almost entirely of foreign-born players.

The hens now seem to be coming home to roost and Wisla’s problems are being shown up even in the Ekstraklasa itself. Despite Maaskant’s after-match comments that the Krakovians were the better team, last Sunday’s 0-2 defeat at Legia showed that even within the small pond of Polish football, the weaknesses in the White Star’s defense and midfield in particular are being exposed.

There were echoes of the recent European debacles where, despite making a good early start, they gradually fell apart as the game went on.

On present form it looks like club President Basalaj is going to have to face the problem head-on sooner than later. Wisla’s next opponent in the Europa League, Fulham, are in rampant form and last weekend they took Queens Park Rangers apart 6-0 in the English Premier League. Wisla meet them in their next Europa League match knowing that nothing less than a win will give them a chance of progressing into the knock-out stage.

But another humiliating defeat may not only end the Krakovians European adventure for this season. It may also seal a similar fate for Maaskant and Valckx.