Today (Saturday) Masai Dago was officially appointed as the new coach of Maccabi Haifa. After Barak Bacher’s announcement of his departure, the club leaders debated about the identity of the replacement on the lines and Alberman even talked to several foreign coaches, but in the end it was decided to give up this option in light of past failures and due to the fact that Alberman could not find the type of coach he was looking for, which led to the decision on fished
Dago, who led the youth team of Maccabi Haifa to the championship, stepped into the huge shoes of Barak Becher. Dego told the club’s official website: “I am excited and proud, thank you for the trust. It is a great challenge to continue competing for all the titles and lead Maccabi Haifa to further achievements. Hard work awaits us, which we will start tomorrow. I will do everything to make our huge audience happy.”
President Yaakov Shahar told the players after the victory over Hapoel Jerusalem: “I asked to appear before you and tell you that we have a new coach. You parted ways with the coach who accompanied us for three years and we agreed with Masai Dago. The choice was made on the recommendation of professional director Gal Alberman, who already said a few weeks ago that he was in the process of checking of candidates and the recommendation is for Dego. We tested the ability of the new coach, he worked in the team, he satisfied the professionals and the club’s management, so it was decided to accept Gal’s recommendation. Starting in two or three weeks, the one who will lead us will be Masai Dego who had a very good season in the youth group”.
-Alberman said at the press conference: “As soon as we realized that Barak was leaving Maccabi Haifa, we got together and I recommended considering Massai to be the coach. Along with this, we made a decision to go on a search for other alternatives. I met in Israel and abroad with other coaches, we received offers from all over the world. After this process we met again and made a decision to return to the starting point and stick to the recommendation to appoint Masai. He’s stepping into big shoes, but I believe he can do a great job in the short and long term.”
-Now, Maccabi Haifa wants to put a strong staff at the disposal of the appointed coach, when the initial goal is to maintain the existing skeleton and strengthen it in several positions. The main candidates are the two Jews, Nathan Baxter from England and Laurent Abergel from France.
Dego, only 37 years old, began his coaching career in the Hapoel Tel Aviv boys team. He began his graduate career at Hapoel Kfar Saba and then replaced Yuval Naim at Hapoel Ashkelon. In the summer of 2018, he was appointed the coach of Hapoel Petah Tikva, and managed to save it from relegation to League A in the dissolution season that started with minus 11 points. He got his big opportunity from Izzy Sharetzky in Kiryat Shmona, but failed in the Premier League and then also failed in his second term in Hapoel Petah Tikva. He didn’t survive in Hapoel Acre either and last season he coached the youth team of Maccabi Haifa.
