Hapoel Petah Tikva coach Omer Peretz says his team’s first season back in the Premier League far exceeded expectations, and he has now extended his contract for two more years. In a wide-ranging interview, he reviewed the club’s sixth-place finish, his own development as a coach, the sale of striker Jocelyn Tabi to Sunderland, and his long-term ambition to one day coach the Israel national team.
Peretz said the club’s success was built on a strong promotion season, when Hapoel Petah Tikva and Hapoel Tel Aviv went up from the Liga Leumit with the same points total, a record gap from third place, and the best defense in the league’s history. He said the team entered the top playoff with momentum, then suffered a drop in intensity and injuries to key players such as Nadav Nidem and Chipiuoka Songa. He added that his squad faced clubs with budgets five or six times larger, after a packed schedule that followed the war.
The coach described his own transformation from player to manager as a lesson in balance and control. He said he learned to adjust his style, manage games better, and avoid overcommitting when a match should be closed out. Looking back on his playing career, he said he lacked maturity and emotional balance, and told his younger self: “Enjoy the road and do not be so hard on yourself.”
Peretz said he delayed signing the new deal because it was offered shortly before the playoffs, but ultimately stayed because he feels valued at a club with room to grow. He said Hapoel Petah Tikva will struggle to repeat this season without a bigger budget or a new owner or sponsor, noting that salaries have not increased. He added that Tabi’s sale helped financially and said he told the player’s agent, half jokingly, that Tabi “should have been Salah’s replacement at Liverpool.”
He also discussed his past at Bnei Yehuda, where he said he was upset by being fired one round before the end of the season, though he later reconciled with former club figures. On the personal front, he spoke about the strain in his relationship with his late father, Viki, saying he never got closure. Asked about the national team, Peretz said he hopes Israel reaches a major tournament within eight years, and that coaching the national team is “the big dream.”
