Nothing Says Impending Derby Like ‘Police Protection’.

When a derby, a tried and true proper derby, comes rolling around the corner, the last thing you want as a fan is your team suffering through a dark spell. This goes doubly so if you’re a more passionate type with ties to a more ‘passionate’ fan group, as recent fines from uefa for hooliganism would indicate.

So with the Croatian derby coming up, a massive derby with the potential for fireworks, Hajduk Split has been put under police protection. Nothing fosters tranquility like a uniformed officer hanging on one’s every move, right?

Perhaps what’s strange about this is that it’s not Dinamo Zagreb’s fans who are providing the worry; rather it’s their own fans, Hajduk’s fans, who are the one’s being kept at arm’s length. Why? Because they’re not quite good right now.

Is this what football is coming to? Clubs needing physical protection from their own fans? (Lazio nods silently.)

Nothing has been done as of yet, but the Hajduk board is taking preemptive measures to ensure that they have the chance to close that humiliating 14 gap between themselves and perennial contenders/hated rivals Dinamo Zagreb. That is as long as coach Edy Reja can get his team working, of which he doesn’t sound too confident.

“We have too many players and the squad needs to be trimmed. We can expect better days only after the winter break when I hope to change the team as I see fit.”

This would be the first time a club supposed to fight for the title yet languishing in tenth has been blamed on too much squad depth. Perhaps Edy could use some protection from his superiors, too.

	Soccer Forums	Team/International Results

Category: World Football

Tags: Croatia, Dinamo Zagreb, Hajduk Split, World Football

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