Dinamo is stable in both the financial and management segments, and the Board, coach, players, and all club bodies are jointly focused on getting out of the result crisis. It results from a detailed presentation presented to the media by the President of the Management Board Zvonimir Manenica, coach Sandro Perković and the duo of the staff and most experienced players – captain Arijan Ademi and Bruno Petković. President Velimir Zajec, Vice President Dubravko Skender, and Board members Darko Podnar and Hrvoje Puhalo also attended the meeting with the media. It was an opportunity for Dinamo’s management and players to provide a detailed overview of the club’s current affairs and reaction to numerous media articles, and all this in the prelude to the championship match against Osijek in Maksimir, scheduled for Saturday at 6:45 p.m. Petković himself offered a special “spice” in this media appearance in his peculiar, sharp and witty style.

The management of the club is stable and will remain so, no worries. It does not say that there are clan conflicts. Of course we don’t agree on everything, but in the end we sit down, come to an agreement and make decisions for the benefit of Dinamo. Here, we have President Zajec, Vice President Skender and members of the IO with us, there is no conflict. There is a crisis and that is why Cannavaro was replaced.

What about the athletic director?

The sports director is very important for the club, we broke the deadlines, but want to choose an adequate person for Dinamo. We have a top candidate, we will not name him today due to technical circumstances.

Isn’t it frivolous to announce it by the end of March and not release it until the middle of April?

Circumstances change daily, it was an extraordinary situation, so other topics came into focus. We are very close to finishing it, but we do not consider it frivolous. We were solving other things, the issue of the coach was in focus. And very soon we will appoint the sports director.

If Dinamo doesn’t become champion, you don’t fill the pipes. Will you make the mandates available?

In the end, we will evaluate everything, I am not thinking about resigning, I can’t say about others. We do not shy away from responsibility. Everyone will be ready to accept responsibility, I don’t run away from responsibility either.

Zajec said that Cannavaro would manage the match with Osijek, and the next day, you fired him!

In those moments, that decision was not made. And when it was, the next day, we presented it to President Zajec as well. At the time of Zajec’s statement, the coach had not been dismissed.

Did you contact Boban?

He gave his support to the club, and we will do everything in our power to do what is best for the club.

Are you ready to call for elections?

We’ll do anything. There will not necessarily be new elections. We don’t know exactly how he wants to come.

Cannavaro said goodbye by announcing that players should appear more often!? What does it mean?

Cannavaro should be asked. I haven’t experienced that someone didn’t show up. I don’t know what the author wanted to say.

Is this the construction of the camp about Champions League money?

No.

Is there a sports committee in the club?

It doesn’t exist.

On what basis do you select a sports director?

Visions, experiences, knowledge.

Will it be foreign or local?

You will see. We don’t see a problem with him being a foreigner, but he will work with the local team, he will have a Croatian assistant, no problem.

What about the trainer?

He will be the sports director’s choice. And so is the decision whether Perković will lead the team until the end of the season.

What about Ćorluka?

We spoke with Ćorluka a few weeks ago, we would like him to join and develop, we did not offer him the position of first coach.

Did you talk to Boban?

No.

Are you planning?

That is a question for the Executive Board and the president.

That was all from the President of the Management Board, it was the turn of the Acting Director. coach. Sandro Perković did not specifically talk about his moves or the future:

We will do everything to dig ourselves out of the hole we are in. I believe that the team will show a reaction to what was happening.

Bruno Petković said:

A lot happened, we read all kinds of things and it affects the team, the psyche. Regardless of the destabilization attempts and everything that happens in and around the club, I blame myself the most, I should have defended the team more, been supportive. Maybe I should calm down the situation in Pula, and not bring additional unrest. Everyone has to start on their own. That’s the only way we can end the season with our heads held high. Nothing is finished until the math says otherwise. Every whistle from the fans hurts, a lot of harsh words hurt me first, the captain even more, but those situations lifted me up. I have to take responsibility and we only owe the fans justifications and apologies. And we will not tarnish the face and reputation of the club.

Arijan Ademi:

It is not easy for us, we brought ourselves into this situation. We are at the bottom, we can get out, I’m sure and you have to believe, throw yourself on the head, forgive with honor, although I’m an optimist and I don’t want to talk about forgiveness.

Is the team in favor of Perković staying as the coach?

We’ve been with him for a long time; we respect and stand behind him. It’s not easy when changes happen, and every coach has his methods. Maybe we didn’t adapt the best either. We should have been more adaptable. It was easier to privatize it, and we weren’t the right ones, answered Petković.

Bruno, are you ready?

I have been ready for a long time but miss the game’s rhythm. My worst performance in Pula is proof of that, but I’m physically fit.

Did you go alone from Pula by car and not by bus with the team?

Let the bus driver respond! Sometimes, the media is fascinating to me. I didn’t have a good relationship with a lot of journalists. Sometimes, I make a mistake in how I say something, but in a sea of problems, wherever you touch in the club, you haven’t made a mistake, and you invent false information based on hearsay. It never happened that I didn’t come back from the team, except from Vienna after Rapid because I had a ruptured eardrum so that I couldn’t fly. But boycotting coaches and not coming to training are invented. You can criticize me, the coach, or anyone because we are in such a situation, and things that have nothing to do with the relationship are being written. I don’t know if it’s a personal attack on me or destabilizing the club. I don’t know. The only disagreement between Fabio and me was when he didn’t allow me to come to the press conference when I was “beaten and bruised” because I asked to be there to defend my reputation. We will prove it in court, but whether it was an attempt to destabilize the club or me through the club is irrelevant. We compared the budgets of Dinamo and Istria, but why not Dinamo and City, from which we had more points? The only appeal is to be realistic. It’s our fault, but we don’t need unverified information. We can win eight games in a row. I have no doubts about my team; we have the best roster since day one, but it’s a different matter on the pitch.

Is the dressing room divided?

We read that the problem with Baturina is due to the contract, so the senators are a problem. Why should I punch Cannavaro if I can fire the coach?! Baturina will end up in a big club; he brings more class to the entire dressing room, and there is no gap between us. 15-20 years ago, at the age of 17, you were a water carrier in the team, and now young and foreign players have maximum support from older players; there are no disagreements. On the contrary, there were more of them in previous years. Usually, players who do not play are not satisfied. When it doesn’t work, blame is sought, but there is very little truth in many writings.

Why did you take the penalty in Varaždin when Cannavaro said a day earlier that Baturina was the performer? Did he say that to you players?

On the board in the dressing room, it is written who takes the penalty. It was written by Pjaca. He was not in the game then. There is no need to write that I am some kind of sheriff; Pjaca was not in the game…

Where is the key to a bad season?

We did a great job last season. If you enter the Champions League, you may neglect the championship at that moment. You think, ‘We’ll do it easily, we’ll solve it,’ and that’s the beginning of a negative series, and then it’s tough to get out. We didn’t know how to react to some situations, we changed three coaches, we need to adapt, maybe we should have given more credit to Jakirović, maybe Bjelica too, perhaps we should have let Cannavaro go. Many things went wrong, some injuries, crises of the game… During my career, it happened to me that I played 4 to 5 games poorly, so you are right to insult me. Such things happened to some players this season. Earlier, we had talent and quality that made the difference; this season, we didn’t, which got us into this situation. I talk well, right? But it needs to be shown on the field. Tomorrow is the yardstick. Ademi and I were passing by a graffiti: “What if we succeed?”…

What happened to that beating case? Will you clarify now what you wanted then?

In that moment, the focus was on me; now, the focus is on Dinamo. I don’t know if it was the destabilization of me or the club, that fabrication of two characters. I should have stepped forward, but the coach thought I didn’t. That topic is over until the court.

Ademi added:

We, the older ones, should have been even stronger. Many showed us how to bring order to the dressing room; we should have been tougher!

After Istra 1961, did you players shut up in the locker room and talk?

There is no need; one meeting does not solve anything. You should be tense every day and think only of the better.