Lukic leaves Djurgården

Kjell Jonevret has taken charge of Djurgårdens IF and will be assisted by Stefan Rehn and goalkeeper coach Kjell Frisk after coach Zoran Lukic surprisingly stepped down following an indifferent start to their Swedish title defence.

Successive titles
In tandem with Sören Åkeby, Lukic guided the Stockholm club to successive championships in the last two seasons before taking sole charge ahead of the 2004 campaign. Problems on and off the pitch have overshadowed their campaign thus far, though, and Djurgården lie ninth in the 14-team Allsvenskan after 12 games.

'Sorry he's leaving'
Djurgården chairman Bo Lundqvist tried to talk Lukic into staying at the Stockholms Stadion. "We wanted Zoran to stay with the team as a coach but he declined the offer as he saw some problems with that and elected to stand down," said Lundqvist. "I'm really sorry that he's leaving as he's done a lot of good for this club."

'Interesting challenge'
Jonevret, who previously had a spell in charge of Västerås SK and Café Opera, will combine the roles of coach and director of sport and is likely to lead the team for the first time against Örebro SK on Saturday. "That might be the case but we'll have to talk about it," said Jonevret, who has less than a week to prepare for the UEFA Champions League second qualifying round first-leg match against Lithuania's FBK Kaunas next Wednesday.

Rehn role
Jonevret believes Rehn's assistance will be crucial. "It will be an interesting challenge, but Rehn has to take a lot responsibility as he knows Djurgården inside out," Jonevret added. Rehn joined the coaching staff at the club after retiring in November 2002 and since last winter has been working as Lukic's assistant.