It turns out they don’t read the German media in Serbia.
The country’s grandest club, Red Star Belgrade, or Crvena zvezda, have named Albert Riera as their new coach.
The decision comes after Riera completely flopped at Eintracht Frankfurt and went scorched earth, insulting his players, the club and media.
Albert Riera’s troubled coaching career
Nevertheless, the former Liverpool winger continues a nomadic coaching career that’s taken him to France and most successfully Slovenia.
The latter probably explains Red Star’s keenness, with Riera marking himself out as an interesting coach in Slovenia with Celje where he won multiple titles.
He did, however, show signs of a personality flaw when he attacked Shamrock Rovers coach Steven Bradley for staying Ireland, not factoring in his son’s leukaemia.
Riera then went to Bordeaux, who he played for, and made more bad headlines with some brutal comments about his predecessor.
Then at Frankfurt things really went wrong.
Albert Riera goes off the rails in the Bundesliga
Rieira’s unusual motivation tactics weren’t liked by the establishment, and then when a report came out about him dropping star signing Jonathan Burkardt over his weight, it really kicked off.
Riera attacked the media saying: “It’s total bullshit, what am I supposed to explain? You’ll write whatever you want anyway.
Asked about the disagreement, he said: “That occurred two weeks ago.
“Get your information better. If you’re not 100 percent sure, don’t write about it.”
He continued: “This isn’t a bar or a circus, this is a professional, serious football club. Maybe you think it’s a bar.
“There’s poison in the surrounding environment. Not within the club itself; here we have a great relationship, we talk and work a lot.
“Be careful what you write. Not for my sake, not for yours – the loyal fans who love the club deserve to know the truth.
“You want to give fans the impression that everything is bad. Nothing is bad.”
Riera’s point wasn’t helped by Burkardt seemingly calling him out and players repeatedly briefing to the press.
When he was eventually sacked, he then turned on the Bundesliga itself.
“To be honest, I was somewhat disappointed by the level of the Bundesliga,” he said on Slovenian TV station Sportklub.
“Bayern Munich is of course in a world of its own, Borussia Dortmund can keep up to some extent with their budget.
“Then there are surprises like Stuttgart, but the rest was disappointing for me.
“The teams in the bottom third of the table all play in exactly the same way. When you analyse them, you get the feeling you’re playing against the same opponent every week.”
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