Darko Milanič

Darko Milanič
Personal information
Date of birth18 December 1967
Place of birthIzola, SR Slovenia, SFR Yugoslavia
Height1.84 m (6 ft 1⁄2 in)
Playing positionDefender
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps†(Gls)†
1986–1993Partizan95(2)
1993–2000Sturm Graz190(10)
Total285(12)
National team
1991–1992Yugoslavia5(0)
1992–2000Slovenia42(0)
Teams managed
2004–2006Primorje
2007–2008Gorica
2008–2013Maribor
2013–2014Sturm Graz
2014Leeds United
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.
† Appearances (Goals).

Darko Milanič (born 18 December 1967) is a football head coach and retired Slovenian football defender. He was most recently the Head Coach of English Championship side Leeds United. He is a former Manager of Austrian Bundesliga side Sturm Graz. He also formerly managed Slovenian side Maribor where he won nine trophies as manager.

As a player he represented both Yugoslavia and Slovenia at international level. He also Captained Slovenia at Euro 2000.

Playing career

Born in Izola, which was on the Italo-Yugoslav border, Milanič began his football career with local side Izola. At 17 he was signed by Partizan in Belgrade, where he became a notable defender. During his time at Partizan he won the Yugoslav First League and the Yugoslav Cup twice.

After the 1992–93 season he moved to the Austrian side Sturm Graz. He played there successfully for eight years and won eight trophies including two Austrian Bundesliga titles, three Austrian Cups and three Austrian Supercups with the Austrian club.

He retired as a player at the age of 32 due to injury and to pursue a Coaching Career in football.[1][2]

International career

During his spell at Partizan he earned five caps for Yugoslavia.[3] After the split of Yugoslavia in 1991, Milanič decided to represent Slovenia.

He also earned 42 caps for Slovenia, was the captain of the national team, and represented and Captained his country at the Euro 2000 championship, this also included Captaining Slovenia in a 3-3 draw during Euro 2000 Group C clash against the national side he used to play for Yugoslavia.[4]

Coaching career

After his football career, he turned to coaching. He started his coaching career at his hometown club MNK Izola. After that, he was appointed Manager of Primorje and an assistant coach in SK Sturm Graz under Franco Foda during the 2006/7 season.

Gorica

At the start of the 2007–8 season he was appointed head coach of Gorica, where he helped guide them to a third place finish in the Slovenian PrvaLiga; they were however knocked out of the UEFA Cup after losing over two legs to FK Rabotnički.

Maribor

On 1 June 2008 he was appointed as the head coach of Maribor, with Zlatko Zahovič the Sporting Director and Ante Šimundža was Milanič' Assistant Head Coach.[5] Where he won the Slovenian PrvaLiga Championship during his first year during the 2008-9 season. In May 2010, Maribor won the Slovenian Cup. After winning this trophy, Darko Milanič became the first coach that have won all three domestic trophies in Slovenian club football, having won the Slovenian League and the Slovenian Supercup before that.[6] He has achieved that in only two seasons.

At the beginning of the 2012–13 season, Maribor played in their fourth successive Supercup final. The match was played on 8 July 2012 at the Ljudski vrt stadium. Unlike in the previous two seasons, when the club finished as the runners-up, they managed to win it this time, beating their "eternal rivals" Olimpija 2–1.[7] This was their second Supercup title.

In 2012, he was selected as the Slovenian manager of the year, winning the league, cup and supercup.[8]

Milanič led Maribor to the group stages of the 2012–13 UEFA Europa League as one of the losers in the play-off round of the 2012–13 UEFA Champions League, where they were eliminated by Dinamo Zagreb.[9][10] This was the second season in a row, in which Maribor qualified to the Europa League main stages. They managed to get four points this time,[11] defeating Panathinaikos[12] and drawing with Tottenham Hotspur,[13] both at home. On 9 November 2012, Maribor suffered a 3-1 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur after a hatrick by Jermain Defoe.[14] Still with a chance of finishing as Runner Up in the final game of Group J, Maribor suffered a 4-1 defeat to Lazio which saw Maribor eliminated.[15]

Maribor confirmed their 11th league title on 11 May 2013, when they defeated their eternal rivals Olimpija Ljubljana 2–1.[16] They again defeated Celje in the 2013 Cup Final, securing their fourth Double in the history.[17]

Sturm Graz

On 4 June 2013, he became Head Coach of SK Sturm Graz in the Austrian Bundesliga, with Novica Nikčević as his assistant. One of his first signings was Striker Robert Berić who he signed from former club NK Maribor. Sturm Graz were knocked out of the Europa League after losing 1-0 on aggregate in the 2nd Qualifying round to Breiðablik UBK.[18] He led his side to a 5th place finish during his first season during the 2013/14 season.

On 21 September, during a press conference, SK Sturm Graz revealed that Milanič would be leaving the club to join English side Leeds United after agreeing to buy out his contract at SK Sturm Graz to make the move.[19][20]

Leeds United

On 23 September 2014, Milanič was appointed the new Head Coach of Leeds United on a 2 year deal replacing previous Head Coach Dave Hockaday, he was joined at Leeds by his SK Sturm Graz Assistant Novica Nikčević.[21] Milanič appointment meant he also became the first 'non-British or Irish Manager' to be in charge of Leeds in their entire history.[22] Milanic parted company on 25 October 2014, minutes after a 2-1 loss to Wolverhampton Wanderers,[23] just 32 days after taking over, for failing to win any of his six games in charge.[24]

Honours

Player

FK Partizan[25][26]
Sturm Graz[27]

Manager

NK Maribor[28]

Trivia

Milanič is multilingual and speaks several different languages including Slovene, English, German, Italian and Serbian. Milanič is also a qualified Marine engineering technician.[29][30]

[31]

See also

External links

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Darko Milanič.
  1. ↑ "Leeds United: Darko Milanic tipped to become new manager". BBC Sport. 20 September 2014. Retrieved 20 September 2014.
  2. ↑ "Leeds United: Milanic to be named United head coach tomorrow". Yorkshire Evening Post language = English. 21 September 2014. Retrieved 21 September 2014.
  3. ↑ Players Appearing for Two or More Countries
  4. ↑ "Milošević stars as Yugoslavia beat the odds". Uefa Official Site. 6 October 2003. Retrieved 6 October 2003.
  5. ↑ http://www.ekipa.org/2012/05/pustimo-podrobnosti-ostajam/
  6. ↑ http://www.ekipa.org/index.php?p=nd&i=10010&cc=1
  7. ↑ "Maribor superpokal obdržal doma" (in Slovenian). RTV Slovenija. Retrieved 9 July 2012.
  8. ↑ http://www.nkmaribor.com/novice/?id=4739
  9. ↑ "Minimalen poraz Maribora, ki napoveduje srhljivko v Ljudskem vrtu" (in Slovenian). RTV Slovenija. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
  10. ↑ "Maribor si je zobe znova polomil ob slovenskem rablju z Maksimira" (in Slovenian). RTV Slovenija. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
  11. ↑ "Štiri točke so realnost" (in Slovenian). Nogomania. Retrieved 7 December 2012.
  12. ↑ "3:0! Maribor osupnil Evropo in prevzel kar vrh lestvice" (in Slovenian). RTV Slovenija. Retrieved 7 December 2012.
  13. ↑ "Maribor naredil težak izpit z veliko točko" (in Slovenian). RTV Slovenija. Retrieved 7 December 2012.
  14. ↑ "Tottenham 3 - Maribor 1". BBC Sport. 9 November 2012. Retrieved 9 November 2012.
  15. ↑ "Four-goal Lazio leave Maribor as Group J winners". UEFA.Com. 6 December 2012. Retrieved 6 December 2012.
  16. ↑ "Berić zadel za noro noč v štajerski prestolnici" (in Slovenian). RTV Slovenija. 11 May 2013. Retrieved 13 May 2013.
  17. ↑ "Maribor na (kratke) počitnice z dvojno krono" (in Slovenian). RTV Slovenija. 29 May 2013. Retrieved 30 May 2013.
  18. ↑ http://www.uefa.com/uefaeuropaleague/news/newsid=1976241.html
  19. ↑ "Leeds United: Milanic to be named United head coach tomorrow". Yorkshire Evening Post. 21 September 2014. Retrieved 21 September 2014.
  20. ↑ "Leeds United makes move for manager Darko Milanic". NBC. 21 September 2014. Retrieved 21 September 2014.
  21. ↑ "UNITED CONFIRM DARKO MILANIC". Leeds United Official Website. 23 September 2014. Retrieved 23 September 2014.
  22. ↑ "]Darko Milanic confirmed as Leeds United manager after signing two-year deal". Daily Mail. 23 September 2014. Retrieved 23 September 2014.
  23. ↑ "Leeds 1 Wolverhampton 2". BBC Sport. 25 October 2014. Retrieved 25 October 2014.
  24. ↑ "Darko Milanic: Leeds United part company with head coach". www.bbc.co.uk/. BBC Sport. 25 October 2014. Retrieved 25 October 2014.
  25. ↑ "Darko Milanic – emotional man". FC Partizan Belgrade. Retrieved 7 October 2014.
  26. ↑ "Trophies". FC Partizan Belgrade. Retrieved 7 October 2014.
  27. ↑ "Nationale Titel". SK Sturm (in German). Retrieved 7 October 2014.
  28. ↑ "Leeds: Massimo Cellino confirms Darko Milanic is new boss". BBC Sport. 23 September 2014. Retrieved 7 October 2014.
  29. ↑ "Leeds United: Milanic to be named United head coach tomorrow". Yorkshire Evening Post. 21 September 2014. Retrieved 21 September 2014.
  30. ↑ "Leeds United: Cellino unveils “hard-working” Milanic as head coach". Yorkshire Evening Post. 23 September 2014. Retrieved 23 September 2014.
  31. ↑ "Amir Ruznic, Jasmin Kurtic and Darko Milanic on Ilicic" (in Italian). Calciomercato. 16 February 2012. Retrieved 16 February 2012.