R.I.P. Poland head coach Pawel Janas

June 30th, 2006 | by: Os Davis |

Waiting, waiting, waiting for more on this, but little is coming.

For those who haven’t heard (and for anyone who — yeah, right — may be surprised), the story as reported by Reuters and rewritten everywhere else reads as follows:

Poland coach Pawel Janas has resigned rather than wait for an official decision on his future in two weeks, senior football association (PZPN) official and member of parliament Ryszard Czarnecki said on Thursday.

“I spoke to Janas yesterday. The decision has been taken. He will not be the coach any more,” Czarnecki, head of the association’s international division, told public television.

Roll obit, then:

Born 4 March 1953, Pawel Janas first when pro as a player with Widzew Lodz in 1974, moving on to Legia Warsaw in 1977. Central defender Janas became a mainstay of the national team soon thereafter, earning fifty-three caps along the way, peaking along with Team Polska by placing third in World Cup 1982. Later that year, Janas moved on to Auxerre, where he would stay until 1986. Janas finally returned home to play for Legia for two years.

Upon retirement as a player in 1988, Janas became Legia assistant coach while working his way through the ranks for the national team. Janas got the position of Legia head coach in 1994 and won domestic league championships and cups the next two seasons, even bringing Legia to the Champions League quarterfinals in 1996.

Working in the Legia front office in 2002, Janas was offered the post of national team head coach in December. Among the highlights of King Janas’ reign over the Bielo-czerwoni was the eight wins in ten games posted during qualifiers for World Cup 2006. With two crushing losses in the first two Cup games, though, it was evident Janas’ days were numbered.

Janas’ career was pronounced dead on Monday, 20 June, at approximately 11pm CET. Surviving him are millions of downcast fans, a slathering pack of media and one confused squad.

Alas, poor Janas. We hardly knew ye…