Two and a half months ago, Hapoel Tel Aviv felt that it could subdue all the rivals from the present and the demons from the past. The Reds seemed to be facing historic achievements, but the expected parting of Danny Franco somehow caught them by surprise.
The foreigners are leaving, and expectations are also in decline. The loss last year in Badalona in the debut season in the Eurocup was a routine and almost expected event, but now the club is in disarray. The club has lost four players since the start of the season, including two players who came during the season as a replacement for the injured Jacob Brown. It has also lost coach Danny Franco and assistant Barak Lederer, with Stefanos Dedas taking over as temporary coach starting tomorrow. The team has dropped to second place in the league, after flying in the European quarter-final and the cup quarter-finals, and dropping to second in the Premier League after finishing first in the first half of the year.