At Bnei Sakhnin they could use a little stability
Last season
So far Bnei Sakhnin are concerned, last season was one of their best years by far in the top flight. Under the stewardship of veteran head coach Marco Balbul, in his second term at the club, Bnei Sakhnin started off the season with six outings without loss, a run that ended with their first visit to Maccabi at Bloomfield Stadium. They finished the pre-playoff season comfortably nestled in the top six, a point ahead of Hapoel Tel Aviv and only four points shy of a place in Europe. But despite wins against Maccabi Tel Aviv and Maccabi Haifa in the playoffs themselves, they failed to maintain their pre-playoff form and finished in sixth position.
Status Quo
Since returning to the top flight seven years ago, Bnei Sakhnin have struggled to hold down a steady place in the upper half of the table. An analysis of those years demonstrates that their relatively good seasons are always followed by years of crisis, and so again this season. Bnei Sakhnin have won only two games in their first ten league outings, though their victory against traditional rivals Beitar Jerusalem probably makes up for some of the disparity. Last time out they lost 2-1 to Hapoel Petach Tikva, who have stayed close on their heels since the beginning of the season with the same ten points, just two above the relegation zone.
Head Coach: Guy Levy
One of the veteran coaches of the Israeli Premier League, Guy Levy took over the reins at Bnei Sakhnin last summer in the hope of repeating last season's successes. This is the tenth club Levy has stewarded in his twenty-year coaching career, and that's not including his season-long managerial duties abroad with Cypriot side Apollon Limassol in 2011. His greatest coaching success was during his four-year term with the Israeli Under-21s when in 2007 he led the side to the European championships, held in Holland, for the first time in their history.
Players out:
Last summer Bnei Sakhnin lost their top goalscorer, striker Mohammed Kalibat, who returned from a loan spell to Maccabi Haifa. They also released three of their four foreign players, as well as second-choice goalkeeper. Right back Dedi Ben Dayan signed for Maccabi Petach Tikva and Mor Shoshan and Ravid Gazal were both released from the club.
Players in:
Spanish centre back Abraham Paz was the only foreign player to remain at Bnei Sakhnin this summer, making room for the signing of Greek midfielder Yiannis Papadopoulos, Slovenian midfielder Miha Mevlja, Serbian striker Milan Bojovic and Croatian born defender Igor Jovanovic. On the domestic front the team signed veteran goalkeeper Ran Kadosh from Beitar Kfar Saba and took winger Ismaeel Rian on loan from Maccabi Haifa.
Player to watch out for: Ali Ottman
In August Bnei Sakhnin's veteran right back Ali Ottman began his tenth season in the top flight and has already broken his own personal goalscoring record with two superb free kicks against Hapoel Haifa and Hapoel Petach Tikva, doubling his all-time senior team goalscoring total along the way. Ottman is the lynchpin in the Bnei Sakhnin defence, but is best known for his attacking role, going forward down the right on the dangerous Bnei Sakhnin counterattack.
