Paunovic avoids Almeria speculation and focuses on El Clásico Tapatío
Despite growing rumours that the Serbian is set to leave Chivas and join Almería, Paunovic only wanted to focus on the task with Guadalajara.
Another day and another complicated situation at Chivas with news emerging on Thursday that coach Veljko Paunovic is set to leave the Liga MX side and accept an offer from Almería to return to Spain.
Chivas face neighbours Atlas FC this weekend in the Clásico Tapatío against Atlas and the Serbian held a press conference ahead of the game.
“Speaking of the situation as regards the first question (a possible move to Almeria), I simply want to say that I am here to answer everything that has to do with the Clásico, about the team. I’m not going to talk about other things,” stated the Serbian with the Chivas press officer monitoring questions from the media.
A little later, during the talk with the media, he was pressed on the subject and again he evaded the issue talking only about what he will do to recover the Chivas players after the latest indiscipline scandal. “We will stay calm and won’t get distracted by information from outside. What I’m looking for from the squad is the capacity to get up and fight, then there will be a good response and this week there has been one in training. “That is fundamental for the group at this moment,” he said.
He referred to the issue of the three players who have been sidelined from the squad (Alexis Vega, Cristian Calderón and Raúl Martínez) due to a serious indiscipline incident in Toluca where Chivas stayed last weekend. “First of all, after everything that has happened this week, for which I deeply feel disappointed”
“Responsibility for certain actions can always be shared, but for specific things, the individual must take responsibility and the consequences. I communicate my expectations clearly to my squad and I repeat them and keep them written in visible places. Now, if one player fails or does not want to listen or obey guidelines that are for the good of all, obviously they must assume the consequences,” added Paunovic.
Finally, he offered a message to Chivas supporters. “The fans are always the heartbeat of things that happen around the team and often provide a good litmus test. We are going through an obviously difficult time and are trying to turn things around based on humility, work and focus and we are working to recover the connection and trust of our fans”.
Paunovic cut short the press conference with a couple of pre-agreed questions still outstanding and ultimately did little to quell the speculation as rumors linking the coach from Almería will continue to circulate.