Tag: Poland

West Ham manager Sam Allardyce has revealed that he tried to bring in the Borussia Dortmund striker, Robert Lewandowski, when he was at Blackburn Rovers. The Polish international is regarded as one of the best strikers in Europe now. He has been linked with every major club like Bayern Munich, Chelsea, and Real Madrid. Due to the fact that he has just over 12 months left on his contract, he is widely expected to be sold in the summer rather than allowing him on a free transfer. He is expected to cost around £ 25 million, but that has not deterred the interested parties.

The striker recently managed to score four goals in the Champions league semi-final against Real Madrid. It went a long way into helping the team progress into the first Champions League final after a long time. Allardyce was the manager of Blackburn for two years from 2008 to 2010. He revealed that the club almost came close to signing Lewandowski only for the weather to play havoc in the signing. The 24-year-old was playing for Polish club Znicz Pruszkow at that time. However, the volcanic eruption in Iceland prevented Lewandowski from arriving in England to complete the transfer. He then signed for Lech Poznan before moving to Dortmund.

“Unfortunately he got delayed. We didn’t have a lot of money and he wanted to come. He was ready but after that he went to [Lech Posnan and then] Germany, which was a great shame for us and Blackburn. Obviously from his point of view his career has flourished from there, but that was one of those things you can’t stop. Tomasz Kuszczak, the Polish keeper who ended up at Manchester United. Our secretary let him go without signing his contract and the next day he’d signed for West Brom,” said Allardyce.

Zbigniew Boniek , who is Chairman of the Polish football Association, has said that manager Waldemar Fornalik will remain in the job for now. His comments have created lot of speculation about the manager, who has overseen a disappointing run of results in recent months. Poland recently lost 3-1 against Ukraine in a crucial World Cup qualifying match, which has left the team four points behind second placed England. Poland were already in a tough group trophy for the World Cup. However, results like these against the likes of Ukraine have almost left them with no hope of qualifying for the World Cup.

After the Ukraine match, Boniek has said that he does not want to comment about the future of the manager. Instead, Fornalik is remaining in the job for the moment. Fornalik has been in charge of the national team since 2012 after the team suffered an embarrassing exit in the European championships. Since taking over, he has not done a great job with the national team. However, they are widely expected to get back to winning ways when they take on San Marino in the home match in four days time. San Marino are widely regarded as one of the poorest teams in the qualifying campaign.

“For the moment, Fornalik is carrying on. I said: Waldek, sometimes as chairman I have to take decisions. I would like to be convinced that the team is going in the right direction. That with half a year, four to five months, we are drawing lessons from these failures. That’s what everyone is waiting for, the fans and us. We know that we’re ill, but it’s hard to find a remedy,” said Boniek in a recent interview. The team will be having a crucial World Cup qualifying match against Moldova in June.