By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Since leaving his post at Žalgiris Kaunas after winning the Lithuanian championship last season, Andrea Trinchieri has been waiting for the right opportunity to resume his head coaching career.
Naturally, his name was linked with the Partizan Belgrade bench following the departure of Željko Obradović, but the Italian tactician explained that he wasn’t considering a return to the club he had already led from 2018 to 2020.
“Throughout all these years, I’ve always said that my love for Partizan has never changed. I’ve also said many times that the best thing that could happen to Partizan is for Željko Obradović to be the head coach. This split led to enormous polarization. On one side there is my love for Partizan, on the other my respect for Obradović as a man and as a coach. And I immediately told myself: no – I can’t and I don’t want to. In the end, this kind of polarization doesn’t benefit anyone. It’s sad, it’s painful, and it hurts me. I hope better times are coming, because this wasn’t needed by anyone,” Trinchieri told Meridian Sport.
He explained that he wasn’t in direct contact with anyone from the club.
“I didn’t speak to anyone. I have no problem telling the truth. If they spoke to my agent, I don’t know, because when I saw what was happening, I immediately said I couldn’t do it. I’m sorry, because my love for Partizan is always there, but in this situation – because of love, respect, and this polarization – I said no, I can’t, and it’s not for me. In a division like this, it wasn’t right for Partizan either.”
Trinchieri also spoke about the coaching profession nowadays, with many of his colleagues losing their jobs or stepping away since the start of the 2025/26 season.
“It’s completely clear to me that many things have changed. Starting with the EuroLeague format, player salaries, how and when you can sign players, all the way to how long a coach lasts at a club. We used to talk about five years, then it became three. Now even two years is an extremely long time. Everything is so fast, so intense, that relationships inevitably get disrupted much more quickly.”
The Italian coach also touched on the new EuroLeague format and the increase in games throughout the season.
“This 20-team EuroLeague season, with eight games in October alone, has already taken a huge toll. It’s great to watch, there are so many games and something new seems to happen every time, but there are a lot of casualties.”