Stadium: Netanya
Coach: Haim Silvas
One of the youngest coaches in the league begins his third season at the helm of Hapoel Raanana while between 2012-14 he served as the club’s assistant coach. The past two seasons, Silvas has done a marvelous job in reaching amazing heights with his side, leading to an appearance in the Playoff Round of the Ligat Ha’Al last year and finished in sixth place with 42 points.
Comings & Goings:
Silvas had to say goodbye to a fair number of players that helped him out last campaign as Evans Kangwa departed and Yuval Shabtai moved to Hapoel Beer Sheva while Mamadou Thiam and defender Lior Levy also left the Netanya Stadium side.
On the other side of the coin, Shachar Hirsh joined the team from Maccabi Haifa and is thought to be a striker with great potential and could be an unpolished diamond. Elad Gabai signed from Beitar while Dor Hugi, Gal Arel and Roie Shukruni also came on board to help the 2016/17 edition of Hapoel Raanana.
Preseason:
Due to all of the new players, Silvas’s crew got their season off on the wrong foot. The Yellow & Blue have already defeated Rannana and did so in the Toto Cup as Hapoel picked up only two points and finished in last place in their group (1:6 goal differential).
Raanana has also gotten off to a poor start in Ligat Ha’Al play, falling to Beer Sheva 2:1 on Matchday One while falling to Maccabi Petach Tikva 1:0 the following week. The club’s only point came last Matchday at Kiryat Shemona when the two teams finished 0:0, however, Hirsch was sent off and won’t be available to play against Maccabi.
Under the magnifying glass: Rene Mihelic
The Slovenian midfielder is thought to be one of the most important foreigners playing for Raanana and last season he scored three goals while picking up five assists in 30 matches. This season Mihelic will need to be a main cog in the Raanana machine as he’ll play next to captain Snir Shuker in the midfield. So far this campaign, the Slovenian has scored Raanana’s lone goal in the 2:1 loss to Beer Sheva.
