Croatian head coach Slaven Bilić has found a solution for the biggest gap in his coaching staff. The 'Fiery Ones' fitness will be overseen by Englishman Nick Davies and Croatian Fedor Kulušić, both well known to the new coach.
Slaven Bilić, who began his second stint as head coach of the Croatian national football team a month ago, has successfully completed his coaching staff. After it was already confirmed that Nikola Jurčević, along with assistants Danilo Butorović and Dean Računica, and goalkeeping coach Vatroslav Mihačić would be part of the setup, the issue of fitness coaches has now been resolved.
Finding new people for physical preparation was a priority because former coach Zlatko Dalić is taking his long-time staff with him to the United Arab Emirates, including fitness coach Luka Milanović, who held that role for nine years.
As 24sata has learned, Bilić turned to trusted associates, and the new fitness coaches for the 'Fiery Ones' will be 48-year-old Englishman Nick Davies and 39-year-old Croatian Fedor Kulušić. Davies has a highly respectable career; he has worked at Charlton, West Ham, Birmingham, Norwich, India's ATK, Tottenham, and the Welsh national team. He previously worked with Slaven Bilić at West Bromwich, and since July of last season, he has been part of David Moyes' coaching staff at Everton.
It was precisely his role in the Premier League that posed the biggest challenge. Over the past few days, Bilić personally contacted Everton manager David Moyes to secure permission for Davies to join the national team. It is still unknown whether Davies will work simultaneously for Everton and the national team or whether he will end his time at Goodison Park. According to information from 24sata, there is a possibility he will be on two salaries, which is common practice in today's football.
Alongside Davies, Fedor Kulušić, who currently works at the HNK Rijeka Academy, will be responsible for the national team's physical preparation. He also has a rich international career behind him. He was an important part of Bilić's staff at Saudi club Al Fateh, and before that, he worked in the same country under coach Alen Horvat at Al-Batin.
Kulušić was part of the Croatian top flight last season as a fitness coach in Victor Sanchez's staff at Rijeka. After Sanchez took over Emirati club Kalba at the end of the season at Rujevica, and with the arrival of Matjaž Kek, Kulušić was moved to the youth academy. Now he has received the biggest opportunity of his career to prove himself in the national team environment.
It is not yet known whether Davies will be the only foreigner in Bilić's staff. The practice of hiring foreign experts is not uncommon; an important part of Dalić's team was Scottish analyst Marc Rochon, who worked with the national team while also being employed at West Ham from 2021 to 2024, and since February 2024, he has been working at Scottish club Aberdeen.
