He witnessed Hallesches FC’s fall to the bottom of the table from the stands, and the next day the new head coach Sreto Ristic’s mission to stay up in the league officially began.
Sreto Ristic succeeds the sacked two weeks ago at the third-tier club Hallescher FC, which is at high risk of relegation Andre Meyer as head coach. This was officially announced by Saxony-Anhalt on Sunday morning (February 12).
Ristic: “Roll up your sleeves”
The 47-year-old ex-professional signed a contract until the end of the 2024 season. “I can’t wait to get started and I don’t want to make big speeches, analyzes or announcements. It’s about getting to know the team as soon as possible and rolling up our sleeves,” Ristic gave a combative first statement.
HFC Vice President Dr. Jürgen Fox emphasized: “Sreto Ristic meets all the criteria that we have defined in the requirements profile for the new head coach. We are delighted that he absolutely wanted to come to Halle and sees an opportunity and a challenge in our club. Now it applies to all of us, him and to support the team unconditionally in the fight for relegation and to actually subordinate everything to this goal.”
Premiere in Oldenburg – is Sobotzik coming too?
Ristic was in office at Kickers Offenbach in the south-west regional league until last summer. Previously, he worked as an assistant coach for Chemnitzer FC, Preußen Münster and Stuttgarter Kickers. The Zagreb-born former attacker played 47 Bundesliga games for VfB Stuttgart and 95 second division games for Union Berlin and SSV Ulm during his playing career. There are also indications that Thomas Sobotzik – Ristic’s longtime companion – will soon take up the vacant post of sports director at the Saale due to Ralf Minges’ imminent departure.
The people of Halle are waiting after yesterday’s 1:3-Home defeats against SC Freiburg II for seven games to a win. The Monday after next (February 20, 7 p.m., in the audio live stream and ticker in the SpiO app and on sport-im-osten.de) Sreto Ristic will make his debut on the sidelines in the away game against basement rival VfB Oldenburg.
