Ulatowski appointed B team coach

The Coaching Director of Lech Poznan Academy has already had three opportunities to train the reserves team; in all three cases, he took over the position temporarily. For instance, at the end of 2017/18 season, for the remaining few matches, the replaced Ivan Djurdjevic who was appointed temporary coach of the first team. Similarly, last autumn and this spring, Dariusz Zuraw – the former coach of Lech’s B squad – was asked to take over the senior players, hence Ulatowski filled in the position. This year, the coach managed the team in 13 games during which he collected 27 points. Most importantly, the win against Radunia Stezyca (3:1) gave his squad a promotion to II league.

Following the end of the most recent season, the club’s management board was left with the task of filling in Zuraw’s shoes permanently. Marcin Wrobel, Academy’s Sporting Director, explained why Ulatowski was asked to coach the B team for a longer period. “It came down to his experience and ability to cooperate both, with young players, as well as the senior ones. At the last stage of the most recent season, Ulatowski’s positive impact on the reserves turned out to be equally important as all the work Zuraw put into the team until then. The 3 years he spent at Academy and the experience he has working with top-division and national teams had a crucial influence on the choice we made,” explained Wrobel.

Rafal Ulatowski will keep his position as the Academy’s Sporting Director, however, Wrobel reassured that these two responsibilities will not collide. “We have ensured that the reserves team’s coaching staff is constructed in a way that enables Ulatowski to work on two positions simultaneously, with the continuous support of his co-workers. The decision to appoint his B team manager was carefully thought through, however, there was one more aspect that led us to this particular choice – we believe it’s a key step in helping the youth players enter the world of professional football and progress to the first team,” added Academy’s Sporting Director.