1 - Hajduk as a destiny, but in the fifth attempt
For Damir Burić Hajduk was written in the stars, although he arrived to Poljud with a detour, as a coach in his mature years.
"I would say I came to Hajduk in my fifth attempt. During my playing years there were some unfortunate circumstances which kept me away from Hajduk. First time when I was supposed to land at Poljud, my RNK Split was trying to save from dropping off from the league. As I was told by the then Hajduk coach Josip Skoblar who was inviting me, my club didn't want to let me go. Later, now the late Tomislav Ivić wanted to bring me to Hajduk, but he left soon afterwards, eli pustiti, tako mi je rekao trener Josip Skoblar koji zvao u Hajduk. Kasnije me želio dovesti, nažalost danas pokojni, Tomislav Ivić, ali on je ubrzo otišao. The third time, Jure Jerković called me, but Germans were faster. Eventually, Ivan Katalinić wanted me to play under him in the Champions League. This is the fifth time, I hope it will be fortunate.
2 - Mediterranean temperament and Germanic habits
Damir Burić was born in Split, and that definitely have defined him as a person. His temperament is Mediterranean.
"I don't like to lose. When I lose, I am hardly bearable," says Burić, describing his own temperament.
On the other hand, nearly 30 years of life in Germany made him to always point to a hard work and discipline as the foundation of everything, including his coaching. This is the premise of his coaching philosophy.
3 - Learning from the greatest
After graduating from the respectable Football Academy in Cologne, Burić laid a foundation for his coaching career. He doesn't think it's a problem he never worked as the head coach.
"When you begin to work as part of the coaching staff, and have all the liberty and important role like I had when I was assisting with Robin Dutt, then you want to continue that co-operation.
As a coach, you want to learn from everyone. I can't say I have a role model among coaches, but there are many of them I admire.
Joachim Löw is for sure one of them. We used to exchange our thoughts abotu football. Ottmar Hitzfeld is another great coach, and from younger generation I like the temperament of Jürgen Klopp. I have a good contact with his first assistant Željko Buvač. Pep Guradiola made great impression on me for his style. The one should take something from all of them to create something on his own."
4 - Faith in work and team spirit
Complete Burić's coaching philosophy lays on work, discipline and a team spirit.
"Team spirit is very important for me, to develop that feeling when everyone is dedicated to a common goal, and it's Hajduk. When I'm talkin about a team spirit those are not empty words, but some things I've done before.
At the time I was working in Freiburg we developed a team spirit through living together. We would meet somewhere in the hills, riding bicycles together, hiking, cooking in cottages, cleaning, training, we were doing everything together. That was the base that brought us to the first Bundesliga.
I'm not saying we will run around Mosor mountain tomorrow, but we will have to dedicate ourself to such spirit.
5 - Forget all talks, quality is the only thing he is interested in
Speaking of players' selection, Burić is very clear:
"Above all I want quality. My first task is to think about our young players, to work with them, and to bring them upfront. If some of them are good, they will come up to a surface. There is no coach who will send in a player who is not good.
Every coach wants quality, because nobody want to work against himself. I don't like those stories about someone is playing because of someone. Forget all those stories. With me, it's only quality that matters. That's the only way."
