Gjoko Hadzievski is the favorite to become the new head coach of Lokomotiv Sofia. The 71-year-old specialist is expected at the stadium in “Nadezhda” today for final talks, after which, if an agreement is reached, he is expected to sign a contract and be officially presented, reports Tema Sport and Sportal.
Hadzievski is without a club after leaving Spartak Varna shortly after the start of the season. During the previous championship, he helped the team from Varna preserve its place in the top flight, while at the beginning of the current campaign Spartak defeated Cherno More 3:0 in Varna.
Lokomotiv Sofia looking for Lyuboslav Penev's successor
The capital club has been without a permanent coach since parting ways with Lyuboslav Penev on October 30. The two sides ended their relationship by mutual consent, while the team was led by Penev's assistants in the match against Botev Plovdiv. After that, the director of the youth academy, Aleksandar Georgiev, temporarily took charge of the first team.
In their latest match, Lokomotiv lost 0:1 to Septemvri, with the team once again led by Georgiev. After the game, the management continued talks over a permanent coach.
“We are working on the matter, but we still do not have a final decision,” club owner Veselin Stoyanov told “Tema Sport” on November 2. At the time, he specified that several candidates were being considered.
Other names had also been discussed
Among the options for the position was Dusan Kosic, who coaches Lokomotiv Plovdiv. According to the published information, however, no agreement was reached on the terms under which the Slovenian specialist would leave “Lauta” for “Nadezhda”. Yavor Valchinov, Georgi Donkov, Aleksandar Tomas and Pavel Dotchev were also discussed.
Hadzievski is well known to Bulgarian football fans. He took charge of CSKA in the summer of 1993 and remained at the helm of the team until the beginning of April 1994. During the 2006/07 season, he also worked at Vihren Sandanski. If the final talks with Lokomotiv Sofia end successfully, this will be his third spell in Bulgarian football.
At present, the appointment has not been officially announced. The next step is the meeting between Hadzievski and the club's management, with a decision expected to be made after the talks conclude.
Sources: sportal.bg, topsport.bg, bgnes.bg