The continuation of the season in the First Montenegrin League, which is scheduled for May 30, will be a journey into the unknown for all 12 teams of the first league caravan. Be that as it may, it is the most difficult for Grblj because of the situation in the standings - it is the last, it met the interruption with four points less than the barrage zone for survival. The people of Grbljan have never fallen out of the elite in independent Montenegro, they firmly believe that this will not be the case now either.
- What we know for sure is that it will be difficult for everyone to return to football after such a break, there is no exception. Even under normal conditions, when a round was played every seven days, you felt tired, the rhythm was not particularly strong, I believe it will be even worse now. The situation is specific, completely new, but we believe that we can survive. The minus of four points is not big, although it is not negligible - says the president of Grbljan, Nenad Maslovar.
Before the break, Grbalj was in a series of three matches without defeat (two draws and a win).
- We had a good run, but that doesn't mean anything now. We are not the only ones who have experienced this, but we have a chance to make up for everything. The players are motivated to earn their keep on the pitch, but it's hard to talk about expectations until the games start. The break was long, we trained as much as the measures allowed, we will see what we are ready for - Maslovar added. Buducnost has 11 points more than Sutjeska in first place. Maslovar believes that he will preserve this advantage.
- The future is in an excellent situation, I think they will defend the first place. However, the situation is complex, probably Sutjeska also sees a chance to complicate the situation for her rival.
Finances in Montenegrin football are always a special story. After the crisis due to the coronavirus pandemic, the situation only worsened.
- How can you expect the help of sponsors now, when even they themselves could not function in the previous months? For all these years, Grbalj has functioned almost 90 percent of the time because we from the club management gave our money, so we are used to it. Finances are a chronic problem in our football, that's why I believe that the FSCG will help concretely now, because the situation we are in is not regular and help is needed more than ever - Maslovar points out.
Starting next season, Montenegrin clubs will have to have two players under the age of 21 on the field at the same time. Is it a problem for Grbalj?
- We also paid for the fact that we had six or seven young players on the field for most of this season. There were matches in which we deserved more, sometimes even luck left us, but those young footballers in some moments lacked calmness, consistency in form, freshness... The fact that we had many young people in the team is certainly one of the reasons that we last in the table - said Maslovar and continued:
- I am not sure that the young players will properly understand that two of them must be on the field at all times. Some will play, some will know that they enter from the bench, which can affect their competitive motive. But also on quality. I'm always in favor of those guys getting along with great senior players, and not just foreigners. There were many good foreign players in Montenegrin football, they are mostly leaders of their teams, they make a difference... In this way, with so many young people at once, the quality may be further lost - says Maslovar and concludes:
- Our football has improved in terms of infrastructure compared to ten or 12 years ago, but it has lost quality. All of that should worry us.
We're late for the spotlight
Grbalj is the only club in the First Montenegrin League that does not have floodlights in its stadium. The last club whose stadium was lit was Rudar, before that Zeta and Kom...
- It turns out that we are the only ones who don't have reflectors, and that's where we were late. We didn't prepare the necessary paperwork in time due to some problems, although maybe we could have sped it up if we had known that the corona virus would follow... I expect, however, that we will also get the spotlight quickly - says Maslovar.
Grbalj will welcome the continuation of the season at its stadium, and then it will host Van Radanović.
- I believe that we will play the first few rounds in Radanovići, because the temperatures are still tolerable and it can be played during the day. We will see later, we are in contact with the Football Association so that we can be hosts at one of the stadiums that have floodlights. Whether it will be in Petrovac, Zeta or somewhere else, we will see - said Maslovar.
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