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Admin
 
NK Tomislavgrad
Ivan Rados
1289 Marlborough Crt
Oakville, Canada
L6H 2R9
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 Team News: The Wait is Over |
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Wednesday, October 5
The Wait is Over
| | .jpg) | | Rads addresses the media. |
It’s been 5 months now since any news was posted on this site. May 4, 2005. The date still serves as a bitter disappointment for NK TG. The team was in the semi-finals against their biggest rivals in Oakville’s Finest. Things were looking great as NK TG led 2-0 with just over 5 minutes to play. Then the collapse happened. NK TG gave up two goals in the dieing minutes. The game went into penalty kicks where TG ended up on the short end. Like that, the season and a quest for a 5th championship was over.
Five months have since passed. In those five months there have been questions and rumours running around about the fate of NK TG:
“Would Rads step down as GM?”
“Would players be cut?”
“Would the team fold or disband?”
Last night, exactly five months after the disappointing semi-final defeat, GM Ivan Rados held a press conference to finally give some firm answers to all these questions. Rados approached the microphone and confirmed that NK TG was returning for its fifth ear of indoor soccer action. Despite the outcry and protests by many fans, he stated that he will stay on as team President and GM.
His first order of business however was to announce the promotion of Milan Uzelac to Vice-President. Uzelac is an original member of NK TG and last season played in every regular season game. The deal was struck this summer when the two were in Croatia. The move will hopefully deflect some of the negative criticism that Rados has received since Milan is a media starlet and a fan favourite fromhe female supporters.
The attention then turned to the roster. Despite the semi-final loss, Rados still wanted to keep the team as intact as possible and sent contract offers to all outstanding players. The first key signing was bringing back three team MVP and player union president Kory Jazbec. Rados stated that the Jazbec signing was vital in ensuring that NK TG would survive.
After that signing the team was forced to deal with a number of defections. The Grubisic brothers confirmed that due to work obligations they would not be able to return. Nick “the Protractor” Knez also stated that he would not be available as is recovering from a torn ACL. Rob Turudic and Johnny Busija also announced their retirements from the Club. Both have signed on with NK Kontra in the Friday night Croatian league and have decided to retire from their NK TG playing days. Rados would not elaborate any more on the issue but was saddened by the loss of Busija who was a founding father of NK TG. He said there would be a major announcement in the coming weeks with regards to Boozer.
Things were not looking good at this point but with every challenge comes an opportunity. Rads was once again left with the task of finding new players to carry on the NK TG legacy. He resigned Darko Perkovic and Leo Marasovic who joined the team last season and were very effective in their time with NK TG. He then turned to find some youth to help the midfield. Enter Silvano Rajkovic. This young midfielder who was instrumental in Hamilton Croatia’s outdoor success this season. Still a teenager, Rajkovic now replace Cousin Ive as the youngest member of NK TG. He transferred over from Oakville Strikers who has folded after last season.
Still this was not enough. With the loss of JJ and the Protractor, the team was in need for another striker. Rados contacted his new VP who set up a meeting with Windsor Croatia striker Michael Perica. Perica is known for leading both Windsor Croatia and Rose City to great success in the Ontario Cup. The signing however has many other benefits as Rados explained in this statement:
“Perica is a guy who fits the NK TG mold. He likes to drink and party and also plays soccer. The biggest benefit however may be the fact that he’s a drummer. This will help fulfil the dream of creating the NK TG band! All in all, this is move that fits with the dynamic of our organization.”
With the addition of Perica, the roster was basically set but Rados did announce one additional signing. Training camp commenced the last few weeks and during camp, Rads made another signing by enlisting Toronto Zagreb defender Peter Bedenikovic onto the squad. Currently Peter is listed on the Inactive Roster but that could soon change.
“We have a number of players that will be missing some action”. Also the fate of Cousin Ive is uncertain since he was involved in the Vitez – Finest altercation. We will see what happens but having Peter signed gives us the necessary insurance we need to secure a title.”
Rados ended the media conference by stating, “I have no further comments at this time. We will see what happens on the field. We open the season tomorrow night against Mississauga Croatia. This will be a huge game. Not only will it open the fifth year of NK TG existence but it will also be the 100th game in club history. This is a landmark milestone but in truth it’s only the beginning. It will be the beginning of a new era and a new NK TG dynasty. We hope you will come along for the ride.”
With that final statement, Rados left the podium. NK TG takes the field tonight at 7:30 PM. Can this team return to its former glory? We will just have to wait and see!
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