Janas hired as Polonia Warsaw coach

Former Poland manager Pawel Janas has been named coach of Polish top-flight side Polonia Warsaw after Spaniard Jose Bakero left the club, it announced on Monday.

In a statement issued shortly after it confirmed former Real Sociedad, Barcelona and Spain midfielder Bakero was leaving by mutual consent, Polonia said Janas had signed a two-year contract.

Bakero, 47, joined Polonia at the end of 2009 and helped stave off relegation from the first-tier Ekstraklasa.

They also made a solid start to this season, with a four-match unbeaten run, but dropped from top of the table to fourth place after losing 1-3 away on Saturday to Korona Kielce.

Janas, 57, was a defender during Poland’s golden age, playing in the team that came third in the 1982 World Cup.

He played his club football for Polonia’s bitter rivals Legia Warsaw, and also spent four years in France with Auxerre.

He turned to coaching at the end of the 1980s, and from 1994 to 1996 steered Legia to two successive titles and Polish Cups, plus the Champions League quarter-finals.

He became Poland manager in 2002, tasked with shaking the team up after a lacklustre World Cup performance which saw them bow out in the first round.

But despite a solid qualifying campaign, Poland failed to shine at the 2006 edition again going out in the first round and Janas was fired.

He returned to club coaching in 2008 to manage Belchatow. A year later he moved to second-division Widzew Lodz, steering them back into the top flight before quitting this June.