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Slavoljub Muslin

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Slavoljub Muslin
Muslin in 2008
Personal information
Full name Slavoljub Muslin
Date of birth (1953-06-15) 15 June 1953 (age 71)
Place of birth Belgrade, PR Serbia, FPR Yugoslavia
Height 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Position(s) Defender
Youth career
1965–1971 OFK Beograd
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1971–1972 OFK Beograd
1972–1973 BASK
1973–1975 Rad
1975–1981 Red Star Belgrade 140 (3)
1981–1983 Lille 66 (11)
1983–1986 Brest 105 (5)
1986–1987 Caen 15 (1)
Managerial career
1989–1991 Brest
1992–1995 Pau
1995–1996 Bordeaux
1996–1997 Lens
1997–1998 Le Mans
1998–1999 Raja Casablanca
1999–2001 Red Star Belgrade
2002–2003 Levski Sofia
2003–2004 Red Star Belgrade
2004–2005 Metalurh Donetsk
2005 Lokeren
2005–2006 Lokomotiv Moscow
2006–2007 Lokeren
2007–2008 Khimki
2008–2009 Dinamo Minsk
2009–2010 Anorthosis Famagusta
2010–2013 Krasnodar
2014 Amkar Perm
2015 Standard Liège
2016–2017 Serbia
2018–2019 Al-Fayha
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Slavoljub Muslin (Serbian Cyrillic: Славољуб Муслин, pronounced [slǎʋoʎub mǔslin]; born 15 June 1953) is a Serbian football manager and former player.

Muslin began his head coaching career in 1988 and has since had stints in France, Morocco, Serbia, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Belgium, Cyprus, Belarus, Russia and Saudi Arabia. As a player, he played as a defender for several clubs, the most important being Red Star Belgrade and later Lille.

Muslin qualified for the 2018 World Cup with the Serbia national team although he was sacked before the final tournament.

Playing career

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Born to Croatian father Duje (from Split) and Serbian mother Danica (from Kragujevac),[1] Slavoljub Muslin was born and raised in Belgrade, where he started playing football with OFK Beograd, continuing on in BASK, and Rad, before transferring to Red Star Belgrade.

Muslin was a defensive stalwart for Red Star Belgrade in the 1970s. Throughout his six years at the Marakana, he played alongside some of the club's biggest stars, such as Dragan Džajić, Vladislav Bogićević, Jovan Aćimović, Vladimir Petrović and Dušan Savić. He won three championship titles with Red Star and finished as runner-up in the UEFA Cup in 1978-79, losing in the final to Borussia Mönchengladbach.

In 1981, he moved on to Lille, then to Brest and finished his playing career with Caen.

Coaching career

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France and Morocco

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Muslin began coaching in 1988 at the club where he spent some playing years earlier – Brest – staying there until 1992. For the last two years of his tenure, he had David Ginola in the squad.

Muslin spent the next three seasons at Pau, before moving on to Bordeaux in the summer of 1995. With a potent squad of quality up-and-coming players like Bixente Lizarazu, Christophe Dugarry as well as superstar-in-the-making Zinedine Zidane, Muslin led the team on a great run in the 1995–96 UEFA Cup ensuring progression to the quarterfinals before winter break 1995–96. He was sacked during spring 1996 due to poor domestic league form, which meant that he didn't get to lead the team in the UEFA Cup quarterfinals where the Girondins eliminated the favourites AC Milan and later made it to the final where they lost to a Bayern Munich team featuring the likes of Lothar Matthäus, Jürgen Klinsmann, Oliver Kahn and Markus Babbel.

Lens became Muslin's home in the summer of 1996. He coached the team in 1996–97 season, before getting the axe on 11 March 1997.

He went to Le Mans in the summer of 1997.

He changed clubs during the 1998–99 season, moving to coaching the Moroccan side Raja Casablanca.

Red Star, Levski and Red Star again

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Muslin took over the reins of his old club Red Star Belgrade on 20 September 1999[2] in difficult circumstances after Miloljub Ostojić was sacked because of poor league form and a 1–0 first leg "home" loss (the match being played in Sofia due to an air traffic embargo imposed on FR Yugoslavia following the NATO bombing that ended a couple of months earlier) to Montpellier in the UEFA Cup first round. Though he couldn't lead his squad past the French team in the second leg (his first match in charge), Muslin won the domestic double (league and cup) at the end of the season in impressive fashion.

He won the league again next season, but lost in the cup final to bitter rivals Partizan.

He resigned from his post on 30 September 2001, six weeks into the 2001–02 league season.[3] The specific reason was never given, but it is widely believed it had to do with the ongoing simmering row with striker Mihajlo Pjanović that came to a head during the Champions League third round qualifying tie, when Muslin dropped the 24-year-old forward and Red Star ended up losing 0–3 to Bayer Leverkusen.

Muslin was not without a job for too long, as in late March 2002, Levski Sofia sacked their coach Rüdiger Abramczik mid-season and offered the job to Muslin, who promptly steered the team to the league and cup double in May. He was sacked in April 2003, as Levski were trailing the leaders by eight points in the domestic league. The team went on to win the National Cup under the management of Georgi Todorov.

In June 2003, Red Star came calling again after two seasons under coach Zoran Filipović.[4] By the following spring Muslin brought his second domestic double to the club as a coach. The split from Red Star was again full of controversy. After winning the title, Muslin reportedly wanted more say in the club's transfer policy, essentially calling for his coaching role to be expanded into what club managers in England do. Red Star president Dragan Džajić would have none of it and a huge row erupted.[5] At one point, Džajić – usually calm and collected – exploded in the media, calling Muslin a "piece of garbage."[5]

Metalurh, Lokeren, Lokomotiv and Lokeren again

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The next stop for Muslin in summer 2004 became Ukraine's Metalurh Donetsk, which he coached fairly successfully for the better part of 2004–05 domestic league season. Simultaneously, Muslin also led the team in 2004/05 UEFA Cup – with much less distinguished outcome – after successfully overcoming the qualifying stage, Metalurh was demolished by Lazio (0-6 on aggregate). He resigned from his post on 8 March 2005, citing differences in opinion over the vision for the team's immediate future as the reason.[6] His departure came after league matchday 17 with Metalurh occupying the 3rd spot in Vyscha Liha.[6]

Then came Belgian side Lokeren between May and December 2005.

In December 2005, Muslin was appointed as coach of Lokomotiv Moscow. With star forward Dmitri Sychev as the team's undisputed leader on the pitch, Lokomotiv started the Russian League 2006 season in great fashion, jumping ahead early to the top of the table and going on an 18-match unbeaten streak at one point. Closely pursued by CSKA Moscow, Lokomotiv kept holding on to the top league spot until mid-October when a string of indifferent results saw them surrender it. Muslin was already under the gun following his team's elimination in UEFA Cup's first round to Belgian side Zulte Waregem, and after giving up the league leading position, he was promptly fired in October 2006.

On 26 November 2006, Muslin's return to Lokeren bench was announced. He arrived at the club in the middle of a bad run of results that prompted previous coach Ariël Jacobs' departure with Lokeren in 13th league spot. However, Muslin failed to raise the team's form and Lokeren barely avoided relegation, finishing the Belgian Jupiler League 2006/07 campaign in 16th spot (out of 18 teams). During the summer 2007, Muslin was replaced with Georges Leekens.

Khimki, Dinamo Minsk and Anorthosis

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On 7 September 2007, Muslin was announced as the new coach of Khimki. At the time of his arrival, following matchday 23 of the 2007 season, the team was occupying eleventh league spot, only three points out of the relegation zone. Under his guidance, Khimki finished the season ninth place, five points out of the relegation zone. In the 2008 season, after matchday 5, Khimki occupied the 16th spot out of 16 after 0–4 defeat from Rubin Kazan. On 14 April 2008, Muslin was fired.

On 17 September 2008, he was named as the new head coach of Dinamo Minsk. But, just ten months later on 27 July 2009, he was sacked once again.

On 7 August 2009, he signed a contract with the Cypriot club Anorthosis Famagusta, a year after the team's appearance in the group stages of the UEFA Champions League in the 2008–2009 season. Muslin replaced German coach Ernst Middendorp. He was released in 2010, due to the elimination of team in the quarter-finals of the cup, although the team was second in the Championship.

2010s–present

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Muslin led Krasnodar from 2010 to 2013.

On 17 June 2014, Muslin was announced as the new head coach of Amkar Perm in Russian Football Premier League.[7] But, after the end of the first part of the 2014-15 season, he was sacked for unsatisfactory results.[8]

Muslin was announced as a new head coach of Standard Liège on 5 June 2015.[9] His departure was announced on 28 August 2015.[10]

Serbia

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Muslin became Serbia manager on 5 May 2016. During his tenure, Serbia finished top of their 2018 World Cup qualifying group ahead of the Republic of Ireland, thus qualifying for a major competitive tournament after eight years. Despite this, he was sacked in October 2017.[11]

Al-Fayha

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Most recently, Muslin coached Al-Fayha of the Saudi Professional League.

Personal life

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His son Marko is also a professional footballer.

Managerial statistics

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As of match played 2 February 2019
Team From To Record
G W D L Win %
France Brest February 1989 May 1991 89 34 24 31 038.20
France Pau June 1992 May 1995 100 37 34 29 037.00
France Bordeaux July 1995 February 1996 42 20 8 14 047.62
France Lens 1 July 1996 11 March 1997 35 11 7 17 031.43
France Le Mans June 1997 June 1998 46 18 15 13 039.13
Morocco Raja Casablanca September 1998 September 1999 45 26 13 6 057.78
Serbia Red Star Belgrade September 1999 September 2001 102 75 18 9 073.53
Bulgaria Levski Sofia March 2002 April 2003 47 32 8 7 068.09
Serbia Red Star Belgrade June 2003 May 2004 41 31 7 3 075.61
Ukraine Metalurh Donetsk July 2004 March 2005 24 15 2 7 062.50
Belgium Lokeren May 2005 December 2005 16 7 3 6 043.75
Russia Lokomotiv Moscow December 2005 October 2006 33 16 9 8 048.48
Belgium Lokeren November 2006 July 2007 20 2 8 10 010.00
Russia Khimki September 2007 April 2008 12 4 2 6 033.33
Belarus Dinamo Minsk 17 September 2008 27 July 2009 25 14 7 4 056.00
Cyprus Anorthosis August 2009 February 2010 31 21 3 7 067.74
Russia Krasnodar January 2011 August 2013 83 31 20 32 037.35
Russia Amkar Perm June 2014 December 2014 17 3 4 10 017.65
Belgium Standard Liège 5 June 2015 28 August 2015 9 5 1 3 055.56
Serbia Serbia 5 May 2016 30 October 2017 15 8 5 2 053.33
Saudi Arabia Al-Fayha October 2018 February 2019 15 5 3 7 033.33
Total 847 415 201 231 049.00

Honours

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Player

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Manager

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References

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  1. ^ Trošelj, Slavko (30 January 2005). "Hajduk zove maloga Pršu" (in Croatian). Slobodna Dalmacija. Archived from the original on 26 September 2007. Retrieved 25 April 2022.
  2. ^ Glas javnosti (20 September 1999). "Upoznavanje u trku" (in Serbian). Archived from the original on 29 June 2009. Retrieved 25 April 2022.
  3. ^ Government of Serbia (30 September 2001). "Muslin podneo ostavku" (in Serbian). Retrieved 25 April 2022.
  4. ^ Government of Serbia (10 June 2003). "Povratak Slavoljuba Muslina u Zvezdu" (in Serbian). Retrieved 25 April 2022.
  5. ^ a b B92 (21 September 2004). "Džajić: Muslin je prevarant!" (in Serbian). Retrieved 26 April 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  6. ^ a b B92 (8 March 2005). "Muslin više nije trener Metalurga" (in Serbian). Retrieved 25 April 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  7. ^ "Славолюб Муслин – новый главный тренер "Амкара"" (in Russian). FC Amkar Perm. 17 June 2014.
  8. ^ "Информационное сообщение" (in Russian). FC Amkar Perm. 9 December 2014.
  9. ^ "Muslin: "Standard zal offensief voetbal brengen"" [Muslin: "Standard will play attacking football"] (in Dutch). sporza.be. 5 June 2015.
  10. ^ "Slavo Muslin" (in French). Standard de Liege. 28 August 2015. Archived from the original on 31 August 2015.
  11. ^ "Serbia sack manager weeks after World Cup qualification". 30 October 2017.
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