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Stronger on paper - Jozsef Ozvegy on the spring preparations (12/13)

The autumn began sluggishly, brought a good run and then ended with two defeats. According to Jozsef Ozvegy, the club's secretary and goalkeeping coach, the team took fewer points than its quality deserved. There were objective reasons too, as injuries and suspensions for yellow cards thinned the squad. The good run had lifted Senta to second place, but after defeats in Pančevo and at home to Cement they slipped to seventh. Not a bad return, he said, but it could have been much better.

Six new players joined over the winter. There was no critical position as such, but reinforcements were needed once it became clear that Popov and Bokić were leaving. Ozvegy believes the replacements were well chosen: in Gujić and Baštovanov the club gained very serious players, and the Rudan brothers arrived from Belgrade to play at centre-back. All in all, the newcomers are stronger than the players who left, so on paper the team has got stronger.

The target remains a finish somewhere between second and sixth. The division above, he explained, is simply too expensive for the club to picture itself there - it would cost a great deal and bring almost nothing in return. The whole club would have to be reorganised, and the crowds would be no bigger.

The club has 119 registered players and teams in every age group, all of them playing in leagues. For the pioneer and cadet teams the aim is the title, which would earn both age groups a place in the play-offs for Vojvodina's elite youth league. If they managed it, they would play quality matches, and in a few years the club might not need to bring in so many players from elsewhere but could fill the first team with its own.

On the spring opener, Ozvegy said the first five rounds would be tough: there are difficult away trips, leaders Dolina come to Senta, and there is a derby with Bačka Topola. A lot could be decided in that spell. A calmer stretch follows - but only in inverted commas, because the league is so evenly matched that every game will demand the maximum.

Departures: Popov, Bokić, Sekeruš, Domonkos, Banov.

Arrivals: Gujić (Sarajevo), Baštovanov (Szigetszentmiklós), M. Rudan (Palilulac), S. Rudan (Palilulac), Đurić (Jugović), Sunić (Index).

Pre-season friendlies: Kaposvár B - Senta 2:4, Kaposvár U19 - Senta 0:1, Szekszárd - Senta 1:3, Senta - Palić 2:1, Senta - Kikinda 1:2. Still to come before the restart: Jedinstvo (Novi Bečej) - Senta and AFK - Senta.

The spring campaign opens away to Radnički in Sremska Mitrovica in round 16 (17 March), and in round 17 Senta host Dolina (24 March).

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