The success of the Otrant-Olympics arrived as expected on the football and sports euphoria that gripped Ulcinj this November as well, after the organization of the "Friendship World Cup".
The football club from the southernmost Montenegrin city won the autumn title in the Second League, just a few days after the big sports "summit" and the hosting of sports aces from the entire region.
The players from Ulcinj finished the half-season equal on points with Bokelja, with a better goal difference, emphasizing their candidacy for the first and historic placement in the elite football rank.
And just nine months ago, in March of this year, Otrant was at the bottom of the second division. The team was then taken over by Dejan Vukićević, and the reorganization of the club began, in other words - Ulcinj turned to football. The results came out this fall...
"The whole city lives beautiful football days," sums up Vukićević with satisfaction.
"On top of everything that Pavle Pepđonović did for the second year in a row, our autumn title was followed up, and all of that fits perfectly into those beautiful days of the city that offers great opportunities", points out the former Montenegrin champion with Zeta and Mogren, coach of numerous other clubs in country and abroad.
However, that was not the case when he arrived halfway through last season. Vukićević, for years one of the best Montenegrin coaches, accepted the challenge to take over a club that is fighting for survival in the Second League. Nine months later and it is clear to him that he did the right thing.
"The whole club started a completely different organization than before, without underestimating what was done before. The results, however, are already visible and we have to be very satisfied. In March, we were last with only 11 points. We chose survival, and the first part of this season we finished first with 39 points, which exceeded all expectations, and the most optimistic. We ended the calendar year with only four defeats - two each in the second half of last season and the first of this season. We lost on average once in 8,5 games, which is a great average, we conceded the fewest goals, experienced the fewest defeats," the 55-year-old coach enumerates.
The success of the first team is the most visible, but that is not the only thing Vukićević and the club leaders are proud of.
"From a football school for the youngest, through all age categories, to the first team - this is what football Ulcinj now has. And I believe, and I like to say, that we are only at the beginning of where we should be in relation to what Ulcinj provides "Perhaps what pleases me the most is the fact that she is a soccer player from the first team from Ulcinj, and those from the side also fit in fantastically, we formed a homogeneous group and with the success we achieved, we laid the right foundations," Vukićević points out.
The table also dictates ambitions, and Otrant is not running away...
"When we managed to survive at the end of last year, we sat down to see and decide what to do next - from ambition, budget, working conditions. We wanted to make a step forward compared to all this so far and came up with the idea that without imperative, let's try to be competitive. As a coach, however, I would say that I have some kind of professional deformation, because whoever does not have at least a little pressure and imperative, should not even play sports. I am glad that I passed that on to the team, because maybe The biggest naysayers didn't believe it, but I did. And now, along with Bokelj, we are the most serious competitors for entry into the First League, there's also Podgorica, although I wouldn't write Grbalj off either."
Maybe Ulcinj will have a first league club in half a year, but it still doesn't have a first league stadium. And that is something that is being worked on, points out Vukićević.
"It is clear that the growth of the team cannot follow the growth of the club at the same speed, above all in terms of infrastructure. A lot of work is being done on that, the construction of the stadium is also announced, which is a great thing because we are at the 'Olympics' in a way tenants, it's not a field and a stadium for the First League. But, let's win the First League first - it would be a shame if we don't take advantage of the moment of great football euphoria in the city. Ulcinj deserves it by all means," concluded Vukićević.
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