Slaviša Jokanović

Slaviša Jokanović
Personal information
Date of birth16 August 1968
Place of birthNovi Sad, SFR Yugoslavia
Height1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)
Playing positionDefensive midfielder
Club information
Current team
Watford (head coach)
Youth career
1985–1986Novi Sad
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps†(Gls)†
1986–1988Novi Sad35(5)
1988–1990Vojvodina54(10)
1990–1993Partizan61(20)
1993–1995Oviedo62(12)
1995–1999Tenerife123(17)
1999–2000Deportivo La Coruña23(2)
2000–2002Chelsea39(0)
2003–2004Ciudad Murcia6(0)
Total403(66)
National team
1991–2002Yugoslavia64(10)
Teams managed
2007–2009Partizan
2012–2013Muangthong United
2013Levski Sofia
2014Hércules
2014–Watford
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.
† Appearances (Goals).

Slaviša Jokanović (Serbian Cyrillic: Славиша Јокановић; born 16 August 1968) is a Serbian retired professional footballer who played in the 1990s and early 2000s. He is the current head coach of Watford.

A physical player, by no means devoid of skill and with excellent ability in the air, he played as defensive midfielder.[1] He impressed at Partizan before spending seven seasons in La Liga with three different clubs, appearing in 208 games and scoring 31 goals, mainly for Tenerife. He also played for two years at Chelsea towards the end of his career.

Jokanović represented FR Yugoslavia at the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000.

Club career

Born in Novi Sad, Vojvodina, Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Jokanović started his career with his hometown side FK Novi Sad, and made his senior debut with another team in his city, FK Vojvodina, helping the club win its second national title, in the 1988–89 season, with four goals in 24 matches.

In 1990, Jokanović joined Belgrade's FK Partizan. In his second year he helped the club win the domestic cup and, in his third, he scored an impressive 13 league goals (a career best), being one of several players to net in double digits for club – the team scored 103 goals in 36 games – en route to the league title.

After impressive displays at Partizan, Jokanović signed for Real Oviedo in Spain. During his two-year spell he partnered compatriots Janko Janković, Nikola Jerkan and Robert Prosinečki and, subsequently, he joined fellow La Liga side CD Tenerife, being instrumental in the Canary Islands' domestic consolidation.

In the 1999 summer, aged 31, Jokanović signed for Deportivo de La Coruña, forming a physical midfield partnership with Brazilians Mauro Silva and Donato Gama da Silva – the trio combined for 85 games and five goals – as the Galicians won their first ever league title.

After only one season with Depor, Jokanović signed with Premier League Chelsea in October 2000, for £1.7 million. He appeared relatively little for the Blues during two seasons and was released in July 2002 at nearly 34,[2] hanging up his boots after playing just three months in the Spanish second division with Ciudad de Murcia.

Managerial career

Jokanović was living in Madrid when, in September 2007, he joined the technical staff of third division team Club Atlético de Pinto. However, three months later, he became the head coach of Partizan, replacing Miroslav Đukić, who left to take the reins of the national side. His family (wife and three children: Stasa, Sara and Mijail) remained in the Spanish capital.[3]

In May 2008, under Jokanović's management, Partizan won the double (league and cup). He was also selected as the year's "Best Coach in Serbia" by the Football Association of Serbia, but refused to receive this award due to Partizan's poor results in the group stage of the UEFA Cup.

In his first full season Jokanović led Partizan to another double, winning the league by a margin of 19 points over his former club Vojvodina; thus, he became the first coach in the club's history to successfully defend the double. On 5 September 2009, however, he left the post, by mutual consent, bidding farewell to the club through an open letter.[4]

On 28 February 2012, Muangthong United F.C. introduced Jokanović as their new head coach, and he signed a one-year contract with an option for a further two years.[5] In his first and only season he led the club to the third Thai Premier League title in its history, being undefeated throughout the whole campaign.[6]

In mid-July 2013, Jokanović replaced Nikolay Mitov as manager of Bulgarian team PFC Levski Sofia.[7] He was relieved of his duties in October, due to poor results. However, Levski supporters argued Jokanović should have been given time to change things around.[8]

On 5 May 2014, Hércules confirmed Jokanović as coach until the end of the season, replacing Quique Hernandez.[9]

Jokanović was appointed as head coach of English Championship side Watford on 7 October 2014.[10] Under his leadership, Jokanovic led the Hornets to the Premier League with one game to spare, sealing it with a 2-0 win at Brighton on April 25, Watford's 15th win in 20 games.[11]

International career

Jokanović played six times for Yugoslavia, his debut coming on 27 February 1991 in a friendly with Turkey, when he played the last 10 minutes after replacing Željko Petrović. He then appeared in some UEFA Euro 1992 qualifying matches, helping the national team to top its group – although it would eventually be prevented from taking part in the final stages in Sweden, due to the Yugoslav Wars.

Jokanović represented FR Yugoslavia in a further 58 matches, appearing for the nation at the 1998 FIFA World Cup and Euro 2000. In the former competition, he played the whole of four matches as the national side reached the round-of-16; in the latter he appeared three times, being sent off against Spain in a 4–3 defeat, with the team also reaching the last-eight stage.[12]

Honours

Player

Vojvodina
Partizan
Deportivo

Manager

Partizan
Muangthong United
Watford

Career statistics

International

FR Yugoslavia
YearAppsGoals
199160
199200
199300
199420
199520
199672
1997113
1998133
199960
200091
200151
200230
Total6410

Manager

As of 25 April 2015
Team Nat From To Record
GWDLWin %
Partizan Serbia 1 July 2007 5 September 2009 84 63 15 6 75.00
Muangthong United Thailand 28 February 2012 15 July 2013 40 25 10 5 62.50
Levski Sofia Bulgaria 15 July 2013 12 October 2013 15 8 4 3 53.33
Hércules Spain 5 May 2014 11 June 2014 5 1 1 3 20.00
Watford England 7 October 2014 Present 35 21 4 10 60.00
Total 179 119 33 27 66.48

References

  1. ↑ Euro 2000 profile; BBC Sport
  2. ↑ Jokanovic leaves Chelsea; BBC Sport, 10 July 2002
  3. ↑ Nisam navijao za zvezdu u bariju; Press Online, 19 October 2008 (Serbian)
  4. ↑ Jokanović nije više trener Partizana!; Partizan's official website (Serbian)
  5. ↑ Muangthong introduced Slavisa Jokanovic as new coach; Muangthong's official website
  6. ↑ Jokanović osvojio titulu na Tajlandu (Jokanović wins title in Thailand); Srpskifudbal, 15 October 2012 (Bulgarian)
  7. ↑ Йоканович е новият треньор на "Левски" (Jokanović announced as the new manager of "Levski" Sofia); Topsport, 16 July 2013 (Bulgarian)
  8. ↑ Bulgaria's Levski Set to Fire Coach Jokanovic; novinite.com, 8 October 2013
  9. ↑ "Jokanovic, new coach of Hercules". marca.com. 5 May 2014. Retrieved 8 April 2015.
  10. ↑ "Watford: Slavisa Jokanovic replaces Billy McKinlay as boss". BBC Sport. 7 October 2014. Retrieved 16 October 2014.
  11. ↑ "Watford seal Premier League return as Brighton are put to the sword". Guardian. 25 April 2015. Retrieved 1 May 2015.
  12. ↑ Yugoslavia hit by fine; BBC Sport, 23 June 2000

External links

Awards
Preceded by
Miroslav Đukić		 Serbian Coach of the Year
2008 		Succeeded by
Radomir Antić