Slavoljub Muslin

Football manager infobox
playername = Slavoljub Muslin


fullname = Slavoljub Muslin
nickname = "Slavo"
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1953|6|15
cityofbirth = Belgrade
countryofbirth = FPR Yugoslavia
currentclub = FC Khimki
position = Manager
youthyears =
youthclubs =
years = ?-? ?-? ?-1974 1974-1981 1981-1983 1983-1986 1986-1987
clubs = OFK Beograd BASK FK Rad Red Star Belgrade Lille OSC Stade Brestois 29 SM Caen
caps(goals)= ? (0) ? (0) ? (0) 140 (3) ? (0) ? (0) ? (?)
nationalyears =
nationalteam =
nationalcaps(goals) =
manageryears = 1988-1992
1992-1995
1995-1996
1996-1997
1997-1998
1998-1999
1999-2001
2002-2003
2003-2004
2004-2005
2005
2005-2006
2006-2007
2007-
managerclubs = Stade Brestois 29
Pau FC
Girondins de Bordeaux
RC Lens
Le Mans UC72
Wydad Casablanca
Red Star Belgrade
Levski Sofia
Red Star Belgrade
Metalurh Donetsk
Lokeren
Lokomotiv Moscow
Lokeren
FC Khimki

Slavoljub Muslin (born June 15, 1953 in Belgrade, Serbia, FPR Yugoslavia) is a Serbian football manager and a former player. He began his head coaching career in 1988 and has since had stints in France, Morocco, Serbia-Montenegro, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Belgium and Russia.

Prior to that, Muslin was a notable football player. He played as a defender for Red Star Belgrade and later Lille OSC.

Playing career

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

Muslin was a defensive stalwart for Red Star Belgrade in the 1970s. Throughout his 7 years at "Marakana" he played alongside some of the club's biggest stars like Dragan Džajić, Vladislav Bogićević, Jovan Aćimović, Vladimir Petrović, Dušan Savić, among others. He has won three championship titles with Red Star and lost a UEFA Cup final in 1979.

In 1981, he moved on to Lille OSC and eventually finished his career with Stade Brestois 29.

Coaching career

tade Bresotis

Muslin began coaching in 1988 at the same club he ended his playing career in - Stade Brestois 29 - staying there until 1992. For the last two years of his tenure he had David Ginola in the squad.

Pau and Bordeaux

Muslin spent the next three seasons at Pau FC before moving on to Girondins de Bordeaux in summer 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. He was sacked during spring 1996, which meant that he didn't get to lead the team in their UEFA Cup final appearance where they lost to a Bayern Munich team featuring the likes of Lothar Matthäus, Jürgen Klinsmann, Oliver Kahn, Markus Babbel, etc.

Lens

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

Le Mans

He went to Le Mans UC72 in the fall of 1997 and stayed there until the end of 1997/98 season.

Casablanca

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

Red Star Belgrade

His old club Red Star Belgrade came calling in late summer 1999. Muslin took over the reins on September 20, in difficult circumstances after Miloljub Ostojić got sacked because of poor league form and embarrassing first leg "home" loss (match was played in Sofia due to air traffic embargo impossed on FR Yugoslavia following NATO bombing in spring of 1999) to Montpellier HSC in UEFA Cup first round. Though he couldn't lead his squad past the French team in the second leg, Muslin won the domestic double (league & cup) at the end of the season in an impressive fashion. He won the league again next season, but lost in the cup final to bitter rivals FK Partizan. He resigned his post on September 30, 2001, six weeks into the 2001/02 season. The specific reason was never given, but it is widely believed it had to do with an ongoing simmering row with striker Mihailo Pjanović that came to a head during a Champions League 3rd round qualifying tie when Muslin dropped him and Red Star ended up losing 0-3 to Bayer Leverkusen.

Levski

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 the Serbian who promptly steered the team to the league and cup double in May. He was sacked in April 2003 as Levski was trailing the leaders by 8 points in the domestic league. The team went on to win the National Cup under the management of Georgi Todorov.

Red Star, again

In June 2003, Red Star came calling again after two fruitless seasons under coach Zoran Filipović. By the following spring Muslin brought his third title to the club as a coach, though just like in 2000/01 couldn't pull the double, this time losing the final to Sartid Smederevo. The split from Red Star was again full of controversy. After winning the title, Muslin reportedly wanted more say in club's transfer policy, essentially calling for his coaching role to be expanded into what managers in English clubs do. Red Star president Dragan Džajić would have none of it and a huge row erupted. At one point, usually calm and collected Džajić exploded in the media calling Muslin "the worst person he's ever met".

Metalurh

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. He resigned his post on March 8, 2005, citing differences in opinion over the vision for the team's immediate future as the reason. His departure came after league matchday 17 with Metalurh occupying the 3rd spot in Vyscha Liha. 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 SS Lazio (0-6 on aggregate).

Lokeren

Then came Belgian side Lokeren between May and December 2005.

Lokomotiv

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 S.V. Zulte Waregem, and after giving up the league leading position, he was promptly fired in October 2006.

Lokeren, again

On November 26, 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

On September 7, 2007, Muslin was announced as the new coach of FC Khimki. At the time of his arrival following matchday 23 of the 2007 season, the team was occupying 11th league spot, only three points out of the relegation zone. Under his guidance, Khimki finished the season in 9th spot, five points out of the relegation zone.

External links

* [http://www.geocities.com/levski2000/muslin.html Website from LEVSKI2000]
* [http://arhiva.glas-javnosti.co.yu/arhiva/1999/09/21/srpski/s99092001.shtm Upoznavanje u trku] , "Glas javnosti", September 21, 1999
* [http://www.arhiva.srbija.sr.gov.yu/vesti/2001-09/24/28254.html Muslin podneo ostavku] , Gov't of Serbia Web Portal, September 30, 2001
* [http://www.arhiva.srbija.sr.gov.yu/vesti/2003-06/10/337037.html Povratak Slavoljuba Muslina u Zvezdu] , Gov't of Serbia Web Portal, June 10, 2003
* [http://www.dnevnik.co.yu/arhiva/24-05-2004/Strane/sport.htm Zbogom Zvezdi zbog principa] , "Dnevnik", May 24, 2004
* [http://www.slobodnadalmacija.hr/20050130/sport02.asp Muslin talks about young talent Milan Pršo, as well as his own ethnic origins] , "Slobodna Dalmacija", January 30, 2005
* [http://www.b92.net/sport/fudbal/vesti.php?yyyy=2005&mm=03&dd=08&nav_id=163805 Muslin više nije trener Metalurga] , B92, March 8, 2005
* [http://www.kurir-info.co.yu/Arhiva/2006/oktobar/05/SP-01-05102006.shtml Osvojicu Rusiju] , "Kurir", October, 5, 2006