Zeljko Kalac has opened up on his controversial exit from Greek club Xanthi alongside fellow former Socceroo Tony Popovic earlier this year.
The second-division side brought in Popovic as their head coach in 2020 with Kalac also moving to Greece as their goalkeeper coach.
After just nine games, both were shown the door in brutal fashion despite Xanthi sitting close to the top of the table.
Kalac has previously discussed how the sacking left him stranded in Europe and he's now revealed just what went wrong at the Greek club.
"Disgraceful is the word. I played three, four months in Greece so I actually knew what was coming but the whole thing in Greece was the adventure and the project we were promised," Kalac told The Football Coaching Life Podcast.
"I was a head coach of Sydney United at the time so I was taking another path in this opportunity.
"It was incredible. In the middle of a pandemic we leave really good jobs in Australia to go and support this club and the owners and to help achieve what they wanted. And we didn’t get the opportunity because of sabotage - simple as that.
"They sabotaged us and I don’t think they realised how lucky they were to have a manager like Popa there. We all know what Popa’s achieved as a manager.
"To get rid of him like that, it was a sabotage, they wanted him out because they couldn’t handle them not making decisions.
"I was there to support Popa and help him achieve what he wanted to achieve. That was my job as a goalkeeper coach. Support the manager, work the goalkeepers, make sure they save the ball or keep the ball out of the back of the net - that’s it."
Kalac, who is now based in Croatia and about to work in a local academy for the next six weeks, remains open to getting back into coaching but has drawn a line in the sand when it comes to what jobs he'd be willing to take on.
"The one thing that I wouldn’t do again is I wouldn’t go work outside in a group of people I don’t know," Kalac said.
"In football as a professional environment I would only work with people that I trust, that I can support, that I know won’t stab me in the back.
"I can’t take anymore of that sh*t at my age. I want honesty and people I can trust and work hard with."
Popovic himself has landed on his feet since leaving Xanthi and will take charge of Melbourne Victory in the A-League next season with Kalac not commenting when asked if he might be joining him.