CRISIS IN VESZPREM: A warning letter of club’s chairman Bartha
The performance and results of the Champions League group stage fell short of expectations.
A 50-year-old club with a strong tradition and a solid background cannot afford to act like this. I have to draw a line now.
I think that in the summer of 2024, knowing the situation at that time, hiring a three-time Champions League-winning head coach was a good and guiding first step. We were able to build consciously and create stability. In the first year, we won the Hungarian and Club World Cup titles, played in the final of the Hungarian Cup, and missed the Champions League Final Four by only one goal. Although not good as an entry, it is an acceptable series of results. Only one series from the second season ended, we lost in the final of the Club World Championship after two extra times, but we fulfilled the basic expectation by reaching the final.
The most important period is coming, the final phase of the Hungarian Cup, the Hungarian Championship and the Champions League is still ahead of us. We have embarked on an extremely difficult path because we performed poorly in the group stage. We have put ourselves in a much more difficult situation than we expected. But we still have a chance. Our almost 50-year-old club, with its history, may still be able to achieve its goals. However, I cannot accept that the team’s work and success will continue in this vein.
It is important to emphasize that the professional management is carried out according to the instructions of the head coach and the sports director. Last summer, in consultation with the ownership background, we undertook the extra expenses for the transfers. The squad changed in seventeen places, 16 of which were at the request of the professional staff. The departure of Ludovic Fabregas is the exception, for which no one is responsible. Everything else, whether it is the termination of live contracts with compensation, the release of players with expiring contracts, and the signing of new ones for free or with a transfer fee, is the request of the staff and therefore its responsibility.
I feel that direct, strong intervention is now needed from my part, but still not in relation to tactics or training. In this spirit, I have made the management decision to apply collective responsibility and strong punishment after the possible failure to meet the goals jointly set at the beginning of the season, of which I have also informed the members of the team and the professional staff.
The first task now is to successfully complete the Champions League play-off against PSG.
The expectation could be a stronger decision, even the formation of the professional staff. I think that we have to go through the season first, and we can finally evaluate it depending on the results. Maybe, due to the lack of results, we will have to make more serious decisions in the summer. I am applying pressure now, and if the team does not meet this, there will be further consequences.
I know our fans are disappointed with our results, I understand the emotions. Veszprém has always been characterized by fighting, working, and standing up for each other. We have always been strong when the team and its worldwide envied audience were united. Our goal is not only to deal with the crisis, but we want to restore the reputation of the stable, strong, and internationally competitive club that has always characterized Építő. But we can’t do this alone. For this, we need our fans, we need you too! So that the game shown on the field and the results are worthy of our traditions.
Come on, Veszprém!
Dr. Csaba Bartha
Veszprém Handball Co.
