After years of failed attempts, it seemed that GieKSa fans had already come to terms with the name of the first league, average. This season, as if in defiance, when nobody at Bukowa spoke loudly about the Ekstraklasa, promotion to the football elite became a fact.
Even in the winter, there was little to suggest that there would be any breakthrough in Katowice. And I'm not talking about promotion, but even about fighting in the play-offs. Coach Rafał Górak's team had a successful end to the autumn round, but the table clearly showed that Gieksa was closer to the relegation zone than promotion, seven points behind sixth place, with several companies still ahead of them in the table wanting to fight for promotion. But there would be no spring result if not for the work done in the winter and autumn. - We worked out a lot in the autumn. We lost a lot of points then, but we played well in many matches and built the foundations. We knew that we were capable of more than the table shows - says coach Rafał Górak, who cites the training camp in Opalenica as the second such key element in the fight for promotion. - A lot happened there, not only in terms of training. We spent time together - adds the coach from Bukowa. The 51-year-old coach had to deal not only with external rivals, but also with opponents in his own backyard. In the winter, there was a meeting of fans with president Krzysztof Nowak, the recording of which was leaked to the public. The fans, who had not trusted coach Górak for a long time, strongly articulated their complaints against the coach. - How much longer will our club be led by coach Górak? Do we have to wait until the end of his contract to get rid of him - they asked the president directly, who did not even slightly stand up for his employee.
Echoes of the meeting eventually reached the coach himself, who did not hide his dissatisfaction with the whole event. - This is not how it should be - he said later, trying to maintain diplomacy despite everything. In such an atmosphere, not very elegant, the Katowice team started the spring round. And in fact, until the last match in Gdynia, the fans' attitude towards the coach did not change, and it was still not known what Górak's future in Katowice would be.
Now the matter seems settled, and the fans of the club from Bukowa themselves contributed to it. During the celebration after the promotion in the city center, they intoned the slogan: "Rafał Górak - we apologize", to which the latter replied: "apology accepted". The conflict is therefore resolved, but earlier it could have been surprising because Górak has been associated with the club from Bukowa for years and has never hidden his sympathy for the "tricolors".
Another thing is that coach Górak had completely different ratings in the locker room all the time. The team stood behind the coach already in the summer during the meeting with the fans, such situations repeated many times during the games, and the players also showed their trust and devotion to the coach on the pitch. - The team is my greatest strength. It has always been like that. This team is great. Real, characterful boys, maybe without great CVs, but they are great. They really did a great job - assessed the 51-year-old coach after the match with Arka in an interview with Polsat Sport.
The numbers from the spring best show how much work the Katowice team has done in recent months. In the entire round, the Katowice team lost points in only four matches: drawing with Górnik Łęczna and Bruk-Bet Termalica and losing to Odra Opole and Wisła Płock. With the latter at the start of the round. In the spring, GieKSa could boast a series of five consecutive wins twice. It lost only ten points in total. It scored 42 goals - the most in the league at that time and conceded only thirteen, which is the second best result in the first league games in the spring.
The key period for the fate of the promotion game was the second half of April, when the Katowice team suffered a slight crisis. In three matches, GieKSa, which was systematically climbing the table, scored only two points. It is no wonder that among the fans from Bukowa who have been waiting for promotion for a dozen or so years, there were voices again that GKS was returning to "its first league tracks" and that there was no point in hoping for a miracle. However, the Katowice team managed to overcome this setback, and they were particularly impressive in the final.
The last five matches, 15 points, and each match “charged” the Katowice team, were also a kind of final. An away win against Polonia Warszawa, after two goals scored in injury time. Eight goals scored by Stal Rzeszów and three more “finals”: in Tychy, against Wisła Kraków at home and in Gdynia. In total, in these matches, the team coached by Rafał Górak scored nineteen goals. This final may be a bit reminiscent of the events involving Górnik Zabrze from seven years ago. At that time, no one gave Górnik a chance to advance, but a series of victories in the final made the impossible a fact.
Today, GieKSa is all about experience and stability. Also on the coaching bench, because Rafał Górak led the Katowice club in 257 matches, working for the club for seven years in total. He won promotion to the first league and the top league. Experience is also visible on the pitch, and stability is one of the features that the current team can be associated with. Besides, this is the way the owner, the city, manages the entire club.
The Katowice authorities do not give in to pressure, whether it is in the matter of the coach, and previously also the president. - Over the past few years, there have been several moments on the verge of decision-making, when we wondered which direction to go, whether to change the coach or not. In the end, we always came to the conclusion that we are not going back and that we are continuing with this project. I wanted to keep my word to the coach and I think I kept it, that he has free space and I am not interested in your results. Above all, there should be a well-coordinated, great football team. We managed to build this team - says the president of Katowice, Marcin Krupa.
The president of Katowice may indeed be pleased, because in recent months there have been no weak points in the GieKSy team. The vice-champion of the first league had the best offense, and the duo of the most effective players were Sebastian Bergier and Arkadiusz Jędrych. The latter has had the best season behind him. He scored eight goals in the spring alone, twelve in the whole season, and we cannot forget that he was very effective in defense. Besides, there were definitely more of these certain links in the team. Jakub Arak, Adrian Błąd, Antoni Kozubal. The Katowice team also showed their strengths on the flanks, where Grzegorz Rogala and Marcin Wasielewski stood out. The former had three assists, the latter - six, and also won two penalties.
Today, the team has no shortage of players who were relegated to the second league five years ago. One of them is Adrian Błąd, who scored the goal that decided about promotion to the top league in Gdynia. There will certainly be no revolution in the newcomer's squad in the summer, and in the fall some of the players who traveled with GieKSa from second-league purgatory to paradise will have the opportunity to compete with the best in the country.
source: Łączy nas football
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