Maribor fans constantly criticize him, but Marko Šuler responds that the criticisms don’t affect him: “I know what I’m doing!”
Photo: Miloš Vujinović / Sportida
That the role of the sporting director of Maribor is one of the most demanding in Slovenian football is without doubt. Not only because Maribor is a giant, where expectations are always the highest. A significant contribution to this was made by Zlatko Zahović, who undoubtedly redefined the guidelines for sporting directors’ work in Slovenia with his actions. In the eyes of many Maribor fans, Marko Šuler is not up to the task he holds, but the former Slovenian international responds that the criticisms don’t affect him. Moreover, Marko Šuler is convinced that the facts speak in his favor.
“I knew what I was getting into. At the very first meeting with the board, I said that we would face two tough years. It was necessary to replace a generation that had achieved the greatest successes in the club’s history. Handanović, Tavares, Rajčević, Viler, Ibraimi, even myself, we were all ending our careers, and we had spent many years in Maribor. Our team also needed time to achieve the greatest successes. This transition, if smooth, is of course easier. But we missed that period. Therefore, we had to choose a harder path, which is very ungrateful in sports. Unfortunately, we lost that DNA or Maribor’s competitiveness. We are now rebuilding it, but we know who has the most significant influence on the team, and that is the coach,” Marko Šuler explained in an interview with Sportklub, and added regarding Ante Šimundža: “With Ante, we got someone who brought the club’s idea back to the pitch. This was my wish all along. The players accepted this, and now we have six players in the league’s ideal eleven. And these are not newcomers; they too have heard that they are not the quality for Maribor. I believed in them and stood by them in the toughest moments.”
Marko Šuler: “I do not wish for peace”
As for the criticisms directed at him, 41-year-old Marko Šuler made it clear that they don’t bother him much. “For me, criticisms are normal, the sporting director is the one who hears them the most when things don’t go as planned and is the least visible when everything is going well. With this role, you accept these things. It doesn’t affect me because it didn’t as a player either. I know what I’m doing, I know what shoes I stepped into, I know what the appetites are in Maribor and what the environment is like. For me, this is a privilege, I do not wish for peace. This is Maribor, the standards are set differently here. Both in the media and among the fans, but that’s what we want. Upon professional analysis of the events, we realize that it would be difficult to take a different path. Perhaps that first title came even too early, considering the path we had to take,” concluded Marko Šuler.
This text was automatically translated using AI.
Author: editorial Football Planet
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