Legia continue coach search

By Maciej Iwanski

Off-field events at Legia Warszawa have been the dominant story of the month in Poland, but Lech Poznan and Wisla Kraków have created their own share of headlines.

Coaching changes
Legia exited the UEFA Cup against FK Austria Wien in late September, spelling the end for coach Dariusz Kubicki. Jacek Zielinski, Krzysztof Gawara and Lucjan Brychczy formed a three-man caretaker team until Jozef Chovanec agreed to join a fortnight later - only suddenly to change his mind for "personal reasons".

Cup defeat
The temporary trio are now expected to guide Legia until the winter break. Their charges remain fourth in the league, five points behind leaders Wisla, but at the weekend the capital club fell to a 3-0 Polish Cup group stage defeat at MKS Pogon Szczecin, Legia ending the game with nine men.

Lech humbled
Nonetheless, Legia remain level on points with Pogon midway through their six group fixtures, with a far more serious loss suffered elsewhere by Lech. Although they recently ended a run of five straight league defeats with a draw against Legia and win at Górnik Zabrze, on Sunday they were beaten 2-0 at third division Drweca Nowe Miasto Lubawskie in the Polish Cup, though the holders still top their pool.

Unbeaten Wisla
Having a happier time are Wisla. Unbeaten and two points clear of Groclin Grodzisk Wielkopolski, Wisla have been inspired by striker Tomasz Frankowski, who has scored 21 times for the club this season. Frankowski last week became only the 25th player to reach a century of goals in the Ekstraklasa, which this month gained €7m of sponsorship from mobile-phone company IDEA GSM.

Groclin stumble
Groclin proved their worth with a win earlier this month at Legia - whose last home league defeat had been in March 2003 against Groclin. However, a 1-0 defeat at KSP Polonia Warszawa on Saturday meant Groclin missed the chance to overtake the reigning champions. UEFA Cup contenders KS Amica Wronki are third, while close behind in fifth are newcomers KS Cracovia.

Katowice woes
Another promoted team, Zaglebie Lubin, lost 7-1 at home to Wisla at the end of September, but three weeks later demolished GKS Katowice 7-0. New Katowice coach Mieczyslaw Broniszewski knows he has his work cut out at the bottom side after that club-record defeat, but last season he kept Polonia up despite losing his opener 7-2 to Legia.