Rafal Ulatowski Is Leo’s New Assistant.

The info is yet to be confirmed by Leo or Polish FA, but it can already be found on Zaglebie Lubin’s official webpage. They wish good luck to Ulatowski with his work and unveil their new manager Dariusz Fornalak. I think Ulatowski is an interesting choice.

Polish FA wanted a young Polish manager to accompany Leo and they have it. It’s also not such an unexpected choice as you would think. Ulatowski already helped Leo before the away game against Finland when he scouted the opposition players. He represents the new generation of Polish young coaches along with Skorza, Urban, Michniewicz, Zielinski or Wieczorek, who are well educated, go abroad to observe how professional clubs work, know foreign languages and don’t behave like idiots in front of the camera (yes, I’m talking about you Mr Wojcik). Ulatowski not only knows English, but also Finnish (he played in the local league) and, if I remember correctly, German. He learned to be a coach watching Rangers, Tottenham and Chelsea’s training regime. He posesses UEFA Pro Licence A. He was Czeslaw Michniewicz’s assistant in Lech Poznan and Zaglebie Lubin, where he won a championship in 2007. Later, Ulatowski managed Zaglebie by himself and finished 5th in the league, which is considered a great achievment, especially after Zaglebie’s slow start to the season. Ulatowski is also the first coach who gave a real chance to Szymon Pawlowski, now considered one of the biggest talents in Poland.

To sum up, we’ve got a young, intelligent coach as an assistant. How important will his role be? It’s too early to judge, we first have to see how he works with Leo. Is he the coach that will succeed Leo in the future? For today, his achievments are not impressive enough for him to be considered future Poland’s national team first coach. But who really knows what the future will bring. Good luck Rafal; your luck will be ours as well.