If “Makedonski Sport” is to be believed, they say the coaching vacancy is down to five finalists, one of them being Gianfranco Zola.

The track record of “Makedonski Sport” is up and down when it comes to the inner workings of the Macedonian federation. Surely, they have some sources within FFM, but they often have been wrong about some of their alleged scoops.

In Thursday’s addition, the daily newspaper reported that FFM president Ilcho Gjorgjioski has narrowed the coaching search to five finalists. The five names mentioned were Gianfranco Zola, Milovan Rajevac, Lyuboslav Penev, Slaviša Stojanović and Ljubinko Drulović.

The biggest name among the group is Zola, an Italian footballing great who turned to coaching after his career ended. He has managed the likes of West Ham United and Cagliari.

Rajevac led Ghana at the 2010 World Cup, but he hasn’t managed in several years. Penev was the former coach of the Bulgarian national team, while Slaviša Stojanović once was in charge of Slovenia. As for Drulović, he is best known for leading Serbia U19 to the title in the 2013 edition of the UEFA U19 championship. He also briefly served as interim manager of the senior national team of Serbia.

All five names have some national team experience. Zola was involved as an assistant for the youth sides of Italy, while the national team experience of the other guys can be read in the paragraph above.

To our readers, assuming “Makedonski Sport” is correct with their information, who would be the best choice among the five names? Also, explain why you feel that way?

In my opinion, Zola would make the most sense. He would bring immediate credibility because all of the players know who he is. He was a great player that will have the attention of the players. He may also be able to convince Goran Pandev to end his national team retirement. Now, Zola still has a lot to prove as a manager, but my opinion is that he would be the best fit among those five names.