vlad.tribnet.com / Issue #599 / Sports / Reading article...

Zoran Vulić of Croatia has agreed to become the new coach of Vladivostok’s football team Luch-Energiya, the first time a Primorye-based Premier League club has appointed a foreign trainer.

The contract was signed in Moscow after discussions between Vulić and Luch’s chief executive Ali Ibadov, the club’s official site www.luch-energy.ru said Wednesday.

Previously, the club management also considered other candidates, among them Serbia’s Vladimir Vermezović and Ljubomir "Ljupko" Petrović, but ‘discussions regarding the contract and the team’s goals for next year appeared to be most productive with Vulić,” the club’s press statement said.

Currently, Vulić is developing plans for the team’s training sessions, which will be introduced to Luch’s management.

Vulić, 46, is former player of HNK Hajduk Split, where he scored a total of 84 goals playing from 1979 until 1987. Vulić played for RCD Mallorca and FC Nantes Atlantique prior to 1997, when he became manager of Hajduk Split. He was also the assistant coach for the Croatian national football team.

Luch’s previous coach Sergei Pavlov, who managed to take the team to Russia’s Premier League from the first division in 2005, was dismissed by the club management on November 17 due to the team’s failure to gain a high position at this year’s National Premier League season. The club took 14th place after a series of defeats. Although the team managed to retain its place in the league, they showed much poorer results compared to last season when they took 7th.

In January, under the direction of Vulić, Luch will begin scheduled team meetings in Turkey to prepare for the 2008 Russia’s Premier League season.