Just a few days after the departure of their head coach to the Bezirksliga, SC Croatia Mülheim have found a new coach.

Daniele Autieri, who had been firmly planned as coach of SC Croatia Mülheim for the new season, left at short notice for the ambitious Bezirksliga team Mülheimer SV 07, Forecasting reported.

Suddenly, SC Croatia was without a coach. But that only lasted a few. days. On Sunday, 11 June, Croatia sports director Efe Özkan presented an Autieri successor.

“We have signed Erol Kücükarslan from SuS 21 Oberhausen. You could say that Daniele left us for the Bezirksliga and we have now responded with a Bezirksliga coach. Because Erol is the promotion coach of the 21ers, who, as you know, went up. This is really a good thing for us. I am happy that Erol has decided to join us,” Özkan told Forecasting.

Croatia Mülheim is an ambitious A-League team and wants to attack next season with the new coach. After all, the “chessboards” had already finished the past series in third place. “What do you want to set as the next goal then? Of course we want to be champions now and get promoted. We wanted to do that with Daniele and now we are trying to do it with Erol. You can say: a new coach, but the old goal remains,” Özkan explains.

The fact that his buddy Autieri, who had lured him to the Croatians, is now gone does not make Özkan angry at all. “Oh, no. I don’t begrudge Daniele. He should try it at MSV 07. In the end, the results will show whether he made the right decision or the wrong one,” emphasises Özkan, who had moved from SC 1920 Oberhausen to SC Croatia Mülheim in recent months.

The 32-year-old Özkan, who is not only Croatia’s sporting director but also goalkeeper, adds: “We are also very far advanced with our squad planning. We are still looking at one or two players with district league experience.”

The additions and departures of SC Croatia Mülheim in the overview:

Additions: Fatlum Xhema (Bader SV), Milan Macar (VfB Speldorf), Efe Özkan (SC 1920 Oberhausen), Sanid Fazlić (Sarajevo Oberhausen), Levent Cakmak, Mert Kaya (both Arminia Lirich), Emre Katircioglu, Mert Katircioglu (both RW Mülheim).

Departures: Ante Markota (moving to Bosnia-Herzegovina), Kenan Kaltak (moving to Vienna, studies), Miro Nottelmann, Nico Nottelmann, Mateo Babic (all career end)