Sreto Ristic is the new coach of third division soccer team Hallescher FC. The former Offenbacher Kickers coach has signed until the end of June 2024.
Halle – The trainer search is over! Sreto Ristic (47) is said to be a third division soccer team Hallescher FC save from falling.
Sreto Ristic (47) is the new coach of Hallescher FC. © IMAGO / Kellner
As the club announced on Sunday, the new head coach signed a contract until the end of June 2024.
Before that, he canceled his current contract with regional league club Kickers Offenbach. Ristic has not worked there since May 2022, but his working paper is still valid.
“I can’t wait to get started and I don’t want to make big talk, analysis or announcements. It’s important to get to know the team as soon as possible and roll up my sleeves,” said the Croatian after signing the contract.
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“Sreto Ristic meets all the criteria that we have defined in the requirement profile for the new head coach. We are delighted that he absolutely wanted to come to Halle and sees both an opportunity and a challenge in our club to support the fight to stay up in the league and to actually subordinate everything to this goal,” explained Dr. Jurgen Fox.
Sreto Ristic inherits the suspended André Meyer at Hallesches FC
Ristic inherits the suspended André Meyer (39, photo) at Hallesches FC. © Picture Point/Gabor Krieg
Ristic was supposed to move Kickers Offenbach from the Regionalliga West to the 3. Liga lead, but the enterprise failed. In the end, SV Elversberg rose and, as the leader of the standings, is now targeting the march through to the 2nd Bundesliga.
Due to the missed goal, Ristic had to go, but his contract had been extended shortly before. At the OFC, Alexander Schmidt, a former Dynamo Dresden coach, succeeded him, but he is no longer in office.
A new beginning is now starting for Ristic in Halle. The task is difficult, the HFC is lagging behind with only 17 points at the bottom of the table in the 3rd league.
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Halle’s last victory came on November 5th with a 3-1 home win against SV Waldhof Mannheim. Since then the team has been without a threesome.
At the end of January, the club pulled the ripcord and parted ways with head coach André Meyer (39). But the measure did not lead to the desired success, under interim coach Jens Kiefer (48) it was a 7-1 defeat at Dynamo Dresden and a 3-1 home defeat against SC Freiburg II yesterday Saturday.
Ristic will be on the bench for the first time in the away game on February 20th at VfB Oldenburg.
Sreto Ristic played for VfB Stuttgart and Union Berlin, coached Chemnitzer FC and Kickers Offenbach
Sreto Ristic was interim coach, assistant coach and scout at Chemnitzer FC. © Picture Point/Gabor Krieg
Ristic is by no means unknown in the football East. From July 2017 to December 2020 he worked as an interim coach, assistant coach and scout at the current regional team Chemnitzer FC.
On January 1, 2021, he then signed as head coach in Offenbach. The Croatian made his first attempts in the coaching business as an assistant at Stuttgarter Kickers (2013-2015) and Preußen Münster (2016/2017).
In 1991 Ristic came to Germany with his family from Zagreb and played in the youth team of SSV Reutlingen. After two years in the regional league, his dream of the Bundesliga came true in 1997 when the center forward was sold to VfB Stuttgart under coach Jogi Löw (63).
He scored five goals in 47 games for the Swabians. After a trip to Portugal, he briefly joined SSV Ulm in 2001, then played for 1. FC Union Berlin from 2001 to 2004. At the Alte Försterei he scored 22 goals in 82 games.
Finally he ended his career in 2011 at SV Sandhausen.
