Jokanovic can take on Premier League at last
AS his Watford side trooped out of Stamford Bridge following a defeat by Chelsea in the FA Cup last January, Slavisa Jokanovic left the stadium reinvigorated by a message from Jose Mourinho (below).
‘I am sure that you will be back here very soon,’ the Chelsea manager told the Serbian with a smile.
Jokanovic returns to Chelsea — where he played for two seasons under Claudio Ranieri at the turn of the century — on Wednesday evening as a Champions League manager at Maccabi Tel Aviv and that is a reality that neither man had envisaged on that wintery evening earlier this year.
Jokanovic was dreaming of a Premier League future with Watford. He is now 2,000 miles away in the Middle East plotting continental progress.
He achieved promotion with Watford’s despite arriving last October as the club’s fourth manager of the season. His success even brought a congratulatory phone call from Elton John. ‘I still have his number saved on my phone,’ Jokanovic grins.
Yet it was not enough to persuade the club’s demanding owner Giampaolo Pozzo that he should be retained. Watford appointed Quique Sanchez Flores and Jokanovic made the move to Israel.
‘It was a surprise,’ Jokanovic says, blowing out his cheeks. ‘I was hoping to reach an agreement. When the season ended, I spent an extra week at Watford to organise things for the coming season.
‘I understood quickly that they had other plans. Pozzo didn’t explain why. I don’t want to come across angry or bitter. Watford gave me an opportunity that I am still very grateful for and I love the fans. The only thing that bothered me were suggestions that I had turned down millions. What millions? The deal I was offered was half of what the lowest-paid Premier League manager earns. I was happy at Watford, enjoying the job and I would love the chance to work in England again.
‘But I am not in tears. I am working at a great club in a beautiful city, where Oscar Garcia, Paulo Sousa and Pako Ayestaran [Rafa Benitez’s assistant at Liverpool] have worked in the last few years. Jordi Cruyff is my sporting director.’
The expectations are significant — Maccabi have won the Israeli title three years in a row and last season, Ayestaran led them to a domestic treble.
Yet in this most biblical of settings, Jokanovic has already taken his new club to the Promised Land, guiding Maccabi to the group stages of the Champions League for the first time since 2004. They overcame considerable opposition in the qualifying phase, defeating Czech side Viktoria Plzen and Swiss outfit FC Basel, who beat Liverpool in last year’s competition. As with Watford, he has made headway in a short space of time. So what is the secret? ‘To observe. As a player, I worked with great managers such as Claudio Ranieri, Jupp Heynckes, Radomir Antic. Ranieri had a great relationship with his players.
‘I have been reading Sir Alex Ferguson’s book. I spoke to him once when I was managing Partizan Belgrade. His book is instructive. If you are not the leader, you are not doing your job properly. In football, you are the captain of the ship and you have to guide it.
‘I like learning from these people. I have watched Carlo Ancelotti’s training sessions several times. He is one of the kindest men in football. Antic signed me at Real Oviedo and I’ve been in his home a thousand times. He is my mentor.’
Jokanovic spent his playing days in the Balkan states, Spain and England and enjoyed a formidable international career with Yugoslavia. As a manager, he has titles in Serbia and Thailand to add to his achievements at Watford.
You sense, though, that he yearns for a return to the English game.
‘Last week, I managed to find Cambridge v Luton on the television here. It was League 2 and the stadiums were packed. I love the passion in English football.
‘Growing up in Yugoslavia, we saw the big European games. In 1984, there was this amazing tie between QPR and Partizan Belgrade. QPR won 6-2 in London and then lost 4-0 in the return leg so Partizan progressed. This was probably the moment I fell for English football.’
Jokanovic says Chelsea are ‘extremely different’ to the club he played for between 2000 and 2002. The one constant has been John Terry, whose credentials have been questioned during Chelsea’s sluggish start to the season.
‘John was coming through when I was there. He had the same physique then as he does now, perhaps a little quicker but he never relied on pace. Now, he is seen as reference for the club, an icon of English football.
‘He will come back strong, and so will Chelsea. Is there ever a nice time to go to Stamford Bridge? We have surprised people already in this competition so why not do that again?’