Speculation has been rife since it was confirmed just prior to Christmas that Czesław Michniewicz would not see his contract renewed into this year. The amount of available coaches that have been linked with the vacant post to take charge of Poland, with a contract reportedly until the next World Cup in 2026, has been a smorgasbord of names.
I mentioned yesterday on Twitter that the sheer amount of conflicting reports in the Polish press about who is the preferred candidate, a foreign coach or Polish coach. I doubt Cezary Kulesza is particularly bothered about the nationality of who is the next Selekcjoner, but part of the job of leading the Polish national side is about being a leader and to some extent a figurehead, so a Polish coach might well be preferred.
On the topic of a Polish coach, the most favoured and one of the best available options is Jan Urban, but this strikes me as an unambitious move. As has been quite rightly been pointed out by some fans on Twitter, Jerzy Brzęczek and Michniewicz have been two of the most divisive Selekcjoners of recent memory and even then we could all agree that their CVs meant they were deserving of the opportunity, and the same cannot be said of Urban’s track record.
The only option less ambitious than Urban would probably be Michał Probierz, who is currently in charge of Poland’s U-21 side. Probierz’s U-21 have played perfectly attractive football but struggled with results, and with all the noise surrounding Poland’s national side following the World Cup, a debate about style over substance is not something worth repeating again so soon.
As for the foreign coaches, Roberto Martinez has already decided to take the Portugal job instead, and to a foreign manager that is a far more enticing role. Reports today have emerged via Tomasz Włodarczyk that Steven Gerrard is being considered by the PZPN, and in my opinion he is similar to someone who was another mooted Selekcjoner last month, Andriy Shevchenko. Legendary players rarely make spectacular managers, and both Gerrard and Shevchenko have success rates of about 50% in their managerial jobs so far, at least in my opinion.
Then there are the more unattainable options like Thomas Tuchel and Marcelo Bielsa, we know that Bielsa at least has some experience with watching Poland given his presentation to the players and coaching staff in Warszawa just prior to the World Cup. However, it’s hard to imagine Bielsa is willing to take the job of Selekcjoner at this moment in time, but it can’t be ruled out completely and is a nice pipe dream for us all.
There are three other likely candidates as foreign managers who are in the frame for the next Selekcjoner: Vladimir Petkovic, Herve Renard and Paulo Bento. Both Renard and Bento took charge of underdog nations at the most recent World Cup and had them over-performing to a decent standard, and the football played was particularly attractive. Petkovic had a long-standing role as coach of Switzerland, and whilst the football was not always spectacular he got the national side playing to a high standard and to a level of consistent over-achievement. Of course, his most recent post as manager of Bordeaux is a stain on his CV but given that Bordeaux were circling the drain long before he took charge, it can be overlooked (albeit with some reservations).
I think that any of those three would be perfectly suitable as the next Selekcjoner, and I hope that any of Petkovic, Renard or Bento is chosen, or at the very least that all three make some kind of final shortlist. Reportedly they have all been contacted, with Renard and Bento allegedly being very keen on the job.
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