Cezary Kulesza is looking for a coach. We know who he has already talked to and who he hasn't

Does this mean that the four-time Polish champion (twice with Wisła Kraków and Lech Poznań) has become the favourite to take over the job? Despite everything, no. Firstly, Kulesza had plans to travel overseas even before the need to look for a new coach arose. So he met Skorża in a way. A mere coincidence. Secondly, unless there has been a decisive change in the coach's decision, he is not at all eager to take over the national team. However that may sound.

Of course, a change of opinion cannot be ruled out, as Skorża has already changed his mind on this matter once.

– I don't hide the fact that this is my great dream and I hope that one day I will be able to coach the Polish national team. However, for now I am focusing on my work in Kraków. I have a few things to do here and this is the most important thing for me at the moment – ​​he explained in 2009 as Wisła coach.

But subsequent years of working under great pressure at Legia Warsaw, Lech and even Pogoń Szczecin, whose management had huge expectations of Skorża, made him lose that conviction.

- I think it's a difficult task because the team has a short period of activity and time for training. When I think about it, I have doubts whether I'm suited to be a national team coach, as I'm the type who likes to train with the players every day - he explained in December 2023 in an interview with the Urawa Red Diamonds club media, just before the end of his first term in this team (he started his second in September 2024 and it's still ongoing).

Moreover – already in private conversations – Skorża did not hide the fact that the position of coach in Poland is connected with enormous expectations of the society, which he would have to cope with, and he was not sure whether as a patriot he would find himself in such circumstances. Therefore, Kulesza would have to work hard to convince the coach to accept a possible offer, which seems to be an exceptionally difficult task, especially since even the Lech authorities were not able to convince him to return to Poznań for the third time (the second term ended at the initiative of the coach, who asked for the termination of the contract for private reasons).

He drew conclusions

And is Skorża even a good candidate for coach? Yes, because during his second term at Kolejorz (2021–22) he proved that he had actually learned from the past and had actually changed, and not just talked about it. The first time he lost his job at Bułgarska (in 2015) for the same reason that later threw him out of Pogoń (in the autumn of 2017) – it was not his knowledge of tactics, selection of the basic line-up or arrangement of the training schedule that failed, but the lack of skills in managing the group. When problems arose, he had complaints about absurd things. For example, the entire Lech team had to pay a fine for listening to music on the coach, which was – according to the coach – too loud.

In Pogoń, misunderstandings appeared during the training camp in Wronki, when the coach had a grudge against the experienced players for... drinking coffee. Because it is so unhealthy that it will prevent them from achieving good results. Later, when the situation became more difficult from match to match, it turned out to be important whether the player was wearing long or short trousers. As if that actually had an impact on his game...

But after being dismissed in Szczecin in a flash (despite the club's management's great patience, he only lasted from June to the end of October), he waited a long time for another chance in the Ekstraklasa, and when he got it in 2021, again in Lech, he really stopped making his old mistakes. The first test of the new Skorża was a 1:2 defeat to Stal Mielec after two throw-ins by Petteri Forsell in the final moments of the match. As the coach himself admitted after the season, at first he wanted to enter the locker room and tear his players apart, but quickly came the reflection - it won't do anything, it won't help at all, and it will even finish them off. He held back and reacted calmly.

It was similar in the summer, when Kolejorz's subsequent transfer goals proved unattainable despite the coach's commitment. Regulars at the national team training camp in Opalenica before Euro 2020 (actually held in 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic) could see Skorża sitting in a car and talking to a potential player (he did not leave the vehicle so that no one else could accidentally overhear any specifics), just to persuade him to come to the capital of Wielkopolska. At that time, the coach was not very optimistic, especially in the context of fans' expectations that Lech would win the championship for the century, but again he withstood the pressure, did not make nervous moves, and after the ultimately successful transfer window, he actually led the team to the master, as the winner of the Ekstraklasa is called in Poznań and the surrounding area.

Besides, Skorża has experience with the Polish national team, having served as Paweł Janas’ assistant in 2003–06, so when he talks about the enormous pressure from society, he has experienced it first-hand. Although, of course, he was not in the front line at the time.

Other candidates

Who else is important in the game for the coach's position? Nenad Bjelica and Carlos Queiroz would certainly like to be important, and their representatives have contacted the Polish Football Association. The former is a coach well-known in Poland; the Croat managed Lech in 2016-18, and then appeared many times as a candidate to take over one of our clubs (for example, he was supposed to manage Legia recently). The latter is a very experienced coach; the Portuguese coached his country's national team twice (1991-93 and 2008-10), and also worked at Real Madrid (as the first coach) and Manchester United (as an assistant). These are interesting options, but at the moment it seems that their main problem is nationality. After the disastrous effects of cooperation with Fernando Santos (he did not last even a year in the position, and in the meantime he did not keep his promises), Kulesza will want to bet on a Pole.

Adam Nawałka and Jan Urban announced their participation directly through the media, and Marek Papszun did the same indirectly. The first and third took part in the recruitment for the national team coach under Kulesza, both persevered until the very end and even selected their training staffs, but in the end the head of the federation chose Czesław Michniewicz and Probierz respectively. In turn, the latter was only speculated about, there were no such advanced negotiations with him, but currently he is a definite favorite of the fans. Or Kulesza? It remains to be seen. According to our information, the president of the Polish Football Association did not contact the former coach of Górnik Zabrze before flying to the USA, but after all, the process of selecting the coach is only just beginning.