Soccer / I am the club: Ashdod SC 's Revivo basks in double role as club director and coach
By Moshe Boker
Former soccer legend, Ashdod S.C. director and recently self-appointed coach Haim Revivo puts on a training shirt with the number 33, kisses a mezuzah and emerges from the locker room on his way to the parking lot. He spent the earlier part of the day at the house of Ashdod S.C. official Radi Nidam, chatting with club chairman Jackie Ben-Zaken by the barbecue, but now he is hard at work and his mission is clear: To save his club, which is second-to-last in the league, from relegation.
Revivo, the last to leave the locker room, makes sure all of the players are in their cars and then gets into his fancy BMW X5. "Let's go," he tells the driver who waited for him in the air-conditioned vehicle, and the motorcade sets off on the kilometer-and-a-half drive to the training ground. Up until a week ago, Revivo would observe coach Alon Hazan's training sessions from the luxurious offices of the club director located 250 meters away. As he leaves his car at the entrance to the training ground, he orders his driver to be back by seven and makes his way to the field. The king has arrived, practice may begin.
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Ashdod has a new act. Kids look at him with respect, girls ask for autographs and for their picture to be taken with him and they all pay him respect, the players particularly. On the day he took up his position a week ago, he summoned the players and told them of the importance he places on order and discipline. "A player that is late by one minute will get a $100 fine. After 10 minutes, it will be a $10,000 fine," he said. An injured player is someone who requires hospitalization, he added. Anyone who is capable of walking will show up for practice and warm up either running or walking. Since his appointment, no one has been injured.
"For him, discipline is more important than everything else. He can embrace players and laugh with them, but also be tough and serious," Nidam, the club official, said. Nidam himself was late for practice because he had to clean up the mess Revivo and Ben-Zaken left in his backyard.
Meanwhile, practice has begun. Revivo sits on a chair by the field. His three assistants are hard at work. During the first 20 minutes, Revivo merely observes. Then, when player Yossi Shekel does not understand a play explained by a coach, he erupts. "What don't you understand?" he shouts at Shekel, who stares at the ground.
Now Revivo takes control and energizes his players. He uses short words and repeatedly says "bravo." He's quick to smile and quick to shout. When a dispute occurs over the legality of a goal, he rules: "One-nil to the greens. Play on." Forward Shai Holtzman also acts like an assistant manager and gives orders. Revivo applaudes him: "Good Shai, bravo. Good one."
Everyone knows Revivo is the interim coach and that he may very well be soon replaced by Yossi Mizrahi, but management is confident his occupying the position will not hurt the team. "Everyone knows who Revivo is," Nidam says. "He's the boss, so it doesn't matter whether or not he remains coach. After all, everyone knows he calls the shots and settles the players' contracts and, in fact, controls their careers. Everyone respects Haim."
"Haim has a lot of experience from abroad," assistant manager Shmuel Buchris says. "He knows practice drills from Spain and Turkey that no one in Israel is familiar with. Drills that combine passing the ball with fun - it injects energy."
Indeed, on the field the players seem to be having fun. During the course of training, he speaks in five languages: English, Spanish, French, and Hebrew spiced with Moroccan slang words.
Though he announced he has no intention of remaining coach, he is taking his job very seriously. Since assuming the position, he has put off all his trips abroad and canceled his radio program.
Ashdod S.C. was slated to play against Beitar Jerusalem on Sunday. A win for Beitar would clinch them the Premier League championship. After watching all of the footage of Beitar, Revivo summons his players for a meeting and talks strategy. They listen attentively, ask questions and he explains in detail. As the big match approaches, players are forbidden from interviewing, not even off the record. No one is willing to test Revivo's nerves at such a crucial time.
"It's not easy for him," Nidam says admiringly of Revivo's decision to appoint himself coach. "But the minute he made the decision he goes to sleep thinking of Ashdod, watching footage of other teams to figure out their weaknesses, anything that may, eventually, save the team."
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