Union Berlin striker Andrej Ilic speaks on rift with Bo Svensson: “He never talked to me.” | OneFootball

Having finally earned some playing time and success under head coach Steffen Baumgart, Union Berlin loanee Andrej Ilic revealed that he was close to leaving his Bundesliga loan side this winter. The Lillie loanee spoke at a club media round yesterday and is quoted by Kicker. Ilic revealed that communication problems with previous head coach Bo Svensson left him ready to request an early recall back to Ligue 1.

Ilic logged zero minutes under Svensson. Union opted to sack the Danish head coach during the winter break with the team in 12th place on just 18 points. Baumgart immediately gave the Serbian youth international some game time in his first match in charge. After two relief shifts, Ilic has been handed eight straight starts and scored three league goals.

“It was very difficult and maybe the hardest phase of my career,” Ilic remarked at the club press conference. “When you don’t play and you don’t know why, weighs on the mind. I tried to behave normally, but I was just angry because the coach never talked to me.“

“I was [leaning towards it] at 90 percent,” Ilic answered when asked if he was ready to depart the club. “[but] the people at the club told me they believed in me. Now I’m glad I stayed. That’s football.“

GGFN | Peter Weis