Fans of the Polish national football team are waiting for the selection of a new coach. As usual, journalists throw out many different names of candidates, some confirmed by the Polish Football Association, and some are the product of media considerations. Among the potential coaches, there are 2 former coaches: Jerzy Brzęczek and Adam Nawałka. Many fans would like Nawałka, because he was the last coach during whose term our team played nicely and effectively. The question is, however, whether returning to the predecessors is a good idea? The Greek philosopher Heraclitus used to say that "you can't step into the same river twice". How does it look among coaches? I will give a few examples of coaches returning to their old positions. At least those that come to mind. I will start from the Polish backyard.
Antoni Piechniczek
One of the two coaches in the history of the national team who achieved real success with the team, which was a medal at a major senior event. He led the team for the first time in the years 1981-1986. These years resulted in 2 qualifications to the World Cup, where we took 3rd and 14th place. He is the only coach so far who has qualified with our team for the World Cup twice. It is true that there were exceptionally unsuccessful qualifiers for Euro 1984 along the way. However, despite this, the medal won in difficult conditions gives him a unique place (in a positive sense) in the history of our team. And also 2 qualifications to the World Cup in our reality are also a considerable achievement. After 10 years, he took over the team again. However, the period 1996-1997 was very unsuccessful. Not even a year passed between the first and last match (2 days were missing). Only 3 wins: against Moldova, Cyprus and Latvia. Very poor qualifying for the 1998 World Cup and losing the chance to advance just 3 rounds before the end of the qualifying. A clearly negative return.
Henryk Kasperczak
Probably the best combination of a great player and coach in our team. The star of the national team, Górski, was able to translate his football skills into the coaching bench. It is a great pity that he never got a chance as a coach. Here, however, I want to write about his adventure with Wisła Kraków. The first adventure lasted 1.5 years. First, he took over the team after Franciszek Smuda. First, he almost caught up with Legia Warsaw in the table, because he reduced the gap to 2 points, and it was bigger. Then he won 2 Polish championship titles. However, he is most remembered for leading Wisła to the 1/8 finals of the UEFA Cup. Along the way, Wisła eliminated FC Parma and Schalke 04 Gelsenkirchen. Ultimately, after a close two-game match, they were eliminated by Lazio Rome, and they were close to advancing further. The following years were not as good. In 2003, Wisła, sold out (a lot of players left), could not cope with Anderlecht Brussels and Valerenga Oslo. In 2004, Wisła strengthened considerably, but this time it was eliminated by Real Madrid, and in the UEFA Cup, at its own request, by Dynamo Tbilisi. The second adventure with Wisła Kraków was much shorter: from March to August 2010. This time, not much worked out. In the end, the Polish championship was lost, and in the European cups, it was defeated by Karabakh Agdam. Back to the minus side.
Radoslav Latal
Former coach of Piast Gliwice. The story of his return is strange, to say the least. He took over Piast's reign in the spring of 2015 after the Spaniard Angel Perez Garcia. Piast played poorly and had a hard time staying in the Ekstraklasa. However, Latal made a purge in Piast for the new season, throwing out a lot of players, including several deserving ones, and bringing in a lot of new ones. The result? Vice-championship of Poland. They counted on continuing good play in the 2016/2017 season. But before the season started, he lost