Despite the worst league start in the last 40 years and the collective resignation of FC Partizan management and coach Saša Ilić, the fans won't let them go
Football club Partizan it is in a paradox. The stadium in Humska will be full on Thursday in the Conference League playoffs. On the other hand, the club's management resigned due to poor results.
Partizan is in the relegation zone in the Superliga Of Serbia after the opening five rounds, in which he won only four points. It is the worst start for the black and whites since 1987. This was the reason for the resignation of the entire management of Partizan, as well as the head of the coaching staff Saša Ilić, who decided to retire after the rematch with Getafe.
In Europe, Partizan recorded better results, four wins and a place in the Conference League playoffs, where they lost 3:1 to Madrid's Getafe in the first match. The rematch is on Thursday at the stadium in Humska.
Club president Rasim Ljajić, general manager Danko Lazović and sports director Radoslav Petrović, as well as coach Saša Ilić, announced that they will resign after the match with Getafe.
Ilić resigned after the defeat in Lucani (3:0), but at the request of the club's management, he decided to stay until the match with Getafe.
The most ardent fans of Partizan, those from the Juzna tribune, however, rejected the collective resignation of the management and, for the first time in modern history, stood by the club's leadership.
In the 21st century, the fans pushed past three managements. They chanted against Žarko Zečević, Dragan Đurić and Miloš Vazura, although the results were better than the current ones.
They announced that the current administration, despite poor sports results, brought order to the club's operations and significantly reduced the club's financial debt.
The response of Partizan fans to the announced resignations was strong. The stadium is sold out for the match with Getafe.
Partizan started the season badly. He drew with a newcomer in the Superliga - Zemun. Things improved at the end of July with victories in Europe and over Macva. With the victory in Šabac, Partizan won the last points in the domestic championship, after which they did not win a single point for a month.
The Belgrade club oscillated: in Europe, it was convincing against Kazakhstan's Tobol, while in the domestic league it was prey for Novo Beograd's IMT, Kragujevac's Radnički 1923 and Lučan's Mladost.
Thus, Partizan is now in 12th place, or third from the bottom of the Serbian Super League.
Someone had to be responsible for that. Coach Saša Ilić resigned, and the entire management announced the same.
The period marked by the management of Milorad Vučelić, Miloš Vazura and Vladimir Vuletić was recorded as one of the darkest eras in the history of Partizan. After 2017 and the last Serbian championship title won, the club entered a multi-year result and organizational crisis.
The biggest damage was done in ruining the reputation of the club. During this decade, club structures and stadium infrastructure were brought into direct connection with the criminal milieu, primarily with the criminal-hooligan group Principi under the leadership of Veljko Belivuk.
At that time, it was recorded that the Partizan football players took to the field wearing T-shirts with the image of the murdered leader of this group, Aleksandar Stanković. The absurdity was that General Director Miloš Vazura himself was the target of a physical attack by the same group not long before. With this, the club's leadership manifested complete capitulation to the fan-criminal underworld.
The financial balance of this period was equally disastrous. After the final departure of Vučelić and Vazura, in October 2024, Partizan was left in financial limbo with a debt of 57 million euros.
The response from the fans was radical. At the beginning of 2023, a complete boycott of domestic matches began, which turned into mass street protests in the summer of 2024. Years of agony ended only with the introduction of the Provisional Authority headed by Rasim Ljajić.
Upon arrival at the club, the management was designed so that there were three key people. In addition to Ljajić, they were Danko Lazović and Predrag Mijatović. They were accompanied by Milka Forcan, who was in charge of financial matters.
After the change of the old management, a positive charge was felt in Humska and the club started in a better direction. According to Ljajić, the debt will be reduced by 33 percent by the end of 2025, that is, from 57 million to 38 million euros.
However, there were frictions between Mijatović and the rest of the administration. Mijatović was also criticized by fans because of his relationship with Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić and his meetings with Crvena Zvezda general manager Zvezdan Terzić.
The honeymoon of the new administration did not last long. Disagreements between Predrag Mijatović and Danko Lazović, who had different views on running the sports sector, became the most pronounced.
One of the first public signs of disagreement was the question of coach Srđan Blagojević. Mijatović replaced him, while Lazović participated in his return to the bench.
The conflict grew into an open public fight between two of the most important people in the sports part of the club.
In the background, there were also political differences. In public, Mijatović had a milder attitude towards the authorities, while Lazović was part of Nemanja Vidić's team in his candidacy for the president of the Football Association of Serbia.
Rasim Ljajić himself spoke to N1 about the different political currents within the club, stating that from the beginning, some perceived them as "blockaders" and others as "cats".
The conflict culminated during the spring, when the functioning of the sports sector was practically blocked, while waiting for the meeting of the Board of Directors, where Mijatović was trusted by a narrow majority. He then resigned from the position of vice president in charge of sports affairs.
Then Lazović got a free hand in managing Partizan, and the current state of the club is to some extent a consequence of his decisions. Partizan worked for a long time on reinforcements this summer, and players of dubious quality were brought in.
First of all, the new administration restored faith in Partizan. That's why they have the support of fans who don't want them to leave. Then, the club's finances are significantly better, the debt has been reduced from 57 to 38 million euros.
He scheduled the sports sector. It was scheduled by the team on the field.
For almost 40 years, Partizan has not had a worse start to the season, and the question is how much time and resources are there to change that image, because there are only five days left until August 31, when the transfer market closes.
The biggest question is how the club would continue if the current management and coach retire — who would succeed them and when.
Partizan would thus get into huge problems again in September and thus limit the possibilities not only for this season but also for the next one, because it already has a significant gap behind the clubs that will fight for European competitions.
It would certainly be easier in every aspect if the two-goal deficit was compensated against Getafe. But the question is whether it will be better if everyone takes responsibility.
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