CONFIRMED Slaviša Jokanović

[Aganarama]

Interview Jokanovic did today with Serbian sports media (will need to use Google Translate)

Confirms that his contract is about to expire with Al-Gharafa at end of season (so no compensation needed to be paid) and that he will be leaving the club and will be returning to managing in Europe

https://sportklub.rs/fudbal/fudbal-...k-vracam-se-u-evropu-srecno-piksiju-i-srbiji/

We even get a mention: Šefild junajted

 

[From the pig end]

Before I make up my mind,
Did he buy or sell Norwood at Fulham?

 

[LondonBlade89]

Think there’s something to be said for appointing a manager who understands what’s expected of him by the fan base in terms of style of play. But as for understanding Sheffield as a whole it’s traditions and idiosyncrasies that’s nonsense.

I always think this gets a bit overblown too. Don't by and large all fan bases (in the UK at least) want the same style of play, ie. good, attacking football? I've never quite bought the idea of a "Sheff Utd way" beyond just liking it when we play good football.

 

[LondonBlade89]

Before I make up my mind,
Did he buy or sell Norwood at Fulham?

Loaned him from Brighton for the year they got promoted. Didn't want to keep him after that once they'd reached the Premier League, which is when we snuck in.

 

[sheff_blade90]

did well at Fulham & Watford. he wouldnt be too bad but who ever gets the job this appointment is huge. as we dont want another robson disaster that set us back years. but would i be correct that he would be our 1st ever foreign manager. all the managers i can think off are from the british isles

 

[Mouth of the South]

Loaned him from Brighton for the year they got promoted. Didn't want to keep him after that once they'd reached the Premier League, which is when we snuck in.

So he sussed Norwood as being good enough for top end Championship but not good enough for the Prem - sounds like a pretty good judge of character to me!

 

[LondonBlade89]

So he sussed Norwood as being good enough for top end Championship but not good enough for the Prem - sounds like a pretty good judge of character to me!

True, although it probably needs to be seen in the context of that being the year when Fulham spent big £££ after getting promoted and then had a god awful start, to the point of them being held up as the poster boys of how not to chuck cash away after promotion. Of course, slightly ironic that Fulham this year made a virtue of avoiding that approach only to then realise they'd need to spend money if they wanted to have a chance of staying up. Either way, Fulham got it way wrong. If you check the statements at the time, all the quotes around the signings are from Tony Khan, not Slav, so I don't know to what extent he was involved in picking them, which maybe absolves him a little bit (and makes him ideal for us, right???!). Speaking to a Fulham-supporting mate he said Slav is a superb Championship manager but awful in the Premier League. Not sure if that's unfair or not.

 

[Mouth of the South]

True, although it probably needs to be seen in the context of that being the year when Fulham spent big £££ after getting promoted and then had a god awful start, to the point of them being held up as the poster boys of how not to chuck cash away after promotion. Of course, slightly ironic that Fulham this year made a virtue of avoiding that approach only to then realise they'd need to spend money if they wanted to have a chance of staying up. Either way, Fulham got it way wrong. If you check the statements at the time, all the quotes around the signings are from Tony Khan, not Slav, so I don't know to what extent he was involved in picking them, which maybe absolves him a little bit (and makes him ideal for us, right???!). Speaking to a Fulham-supporting mate he said Slav is a superb Championship manager but awful in the Premier League. Not sure if that's unfair or not.

Agree with all that and I've heard exactly the same from some Fulham supporting mates.

I think it would be unfair to judge him on the little exposure he had to the Prem previously but agree the side of his I saw in the Champ was fantastic - exciting, quick, free-flowing football and positive results. I'm still not convinced he'll come but doing so will Utd a good chance of an immediate return to the league of VAR, diving, big club favouritism etc.

 

[Yogi]

I always think this gets a bit overblown too. Don't by and large all fan bases (in the UK at least) want the same style of play, ie. good, attacking football? I've never quite bought the idea of a "Sheff Utd way" beyond just liking it when we play good football.

Yes and no I think it’s certainly overblown in terms of the amounts it’s spoken about but let’s say we pick up Bruce this summer and start playing hoof it would go down like a sack full of cats chucked in the canal. Or maybe more relevant we pick up the Barnsley manager and start playing hoof........ there would be uproar. However that same manager might be much better received by a fan base used to playing that way.

 

[HeCanDoMagic]

The problem is that if you pick up Miss South America on a drunken night out she normally looks like Miss Uzbekistan* when you wake up.

*Some killjoy is going to ruin my hilarious joke now and post a picture of a stunner from Uzbekistan just to make me look like a knob.

Should have picked Miss Wednesday to make your point....

 

[BushBlade]

Yes and no I think it’s certainly overblown in terms of the amounts it’s spoken about but let’s say we pick up Bruce this summer and start playing hoof it would go down like a sack full of cats chucked in the canal. Or maybe more relevant we pick up the Barnsley manager and start playing hoof........ there would be uproar. However that same manager might be much better received by a fan base used to playing that way.

I’m not so sure. I think fans like, in this order
To win
To play attacking football that produces goals.

I don’t think too many really care if we knock it around the back for eight passes before hitting it into midfield, playing it back, shifting across, doing the same in their half, switching it, etc or just play three passes that shifts the ball into the final third, providing what we do leads to goal scoring opportunities.

Whether it’s passing football or direct football, it’s still turgid shit when it’s not working. The most important thing for our long term future is to get back into the PL and if that means signing Nuhiu and launching balls at his massive head, I don’t care and I suspect that deep down, most of our support is similar. It’s just as frustrating watching us keep possession for 20 passes and then Baldock over hits his cross than it is watching us launch it at McB or McG when there’s no fucker near him to pick up seconds.

All this “understand the City and the club” is just noise and nonsense imo. Adkins got on people’s tits because we were shit, not because he didn’t understand the club.

 

[Rodley]

100% get Jokanovic. He’s got promotion, played good football, more personality than Eddie Howe who is drier than the Gobi. I’d go all out for him.

 

[Yogi]

I’m not so sure. I think fans like, in this order
To win
To play attacking football that produces goals.

I don’t think too many really care if we knock it around the back for eight passes before hitting it into midfield, playing it back, shifting across, doing the same in their half, switching it, etc or just play three passes that shifts the ball into the final third, providing what we do leads to goal scoring opportunities.

Whether it’s passing football or direct football, it’s still turgid shit when it’s not working. The most important thing for our long term future is to get back into the PL and if that means signing Nuhiu and launching balls at his massive head, I don’t care and I suspect that deep down, most of our support is similar. It’s just as frustrating watching us keep possession for 20 passes and then Baldock over hits his cross than it is watching us launch it at McB or McG when there’s no fucker near him to pick up seconds.

All this “understand the City and the club” is just noise and nonsense imo. Adkins got on people’s tits because we were shit, not because he didn’t understand the club.

I agree where united are now top need is winning in fact for most of football that’s true like you said.

However where style or fan appeasement comes into play is two fold and both optimised by Brighton. First when the outcome is appreciably the same as hoof like hughton and potter both have finished in roughly the same spots but the attractive football makes the narrative around potter much more positive than hughton. Second when you’re not playing to win anything like about 70 percent of the prem so the thing that keeps the fans happy is being entertaining because you know you’re not going to win anything.

 

[Rodley]

Fulham fans loved him. He’s different gravy at Champ level, would much prefer him to Howe who personality wise just won’t thrive at SUFC (dull, dour and academic).

 

[Pedro Verde]

I just don't want fans losing their shit when it doesn't come off

I doubt anybody is going to do that
Disappionted maybe

 

[Upton_Blade]

Jokanovic also played 4-2-3-1 with Fulham (Ollie Norwood played as one of the midfield two against us, if I remember rightly) and he primarily played 3-5-2 or a 4-4-2 diamond with Watford.

Correct and the other DM was Kevin McDonald.

 

[JayGreen17]

Think you might need to go back to bed Ben. You seem to take speculation very seriously, and frankly get a bit pissy if you don't agree with it.
Of course, in typical hypocritical fashion, you seem comfortable in having an opinion based on your own speculation.
I think if you read back you'll see I was responding to why I think he's not in the running, at no point did I suggest I'm ITK or on the inside.
I'm simply looking at it objectively and logically and posting my thoughts. Just because you really want something to happen, doesn't make it any more or less likely.

what you actually said was that he hasn’t applied and wasn’t in the list as a statement of fact, You made a statement not an opinion, so in reality you don’t know unless your ITK.

 

[Upton_Blade]

So he sussed Norwood as being good enough for top end Championship but not good enough for the Prem - sounds like a pretty good judge of character to me!

TBF to Norwood he was pretty good in The Prem up to the 1st lockdown.

Like a few others he just forgot how to play football during it

 

[Yellarbellyblade]

Those talking about spending have to bear in mind that Fulham have a history of throwing money about. Any manager would probably say thanks to that but that doesn’t necessarily equate to him only being able to produce if able to spend big

 

[Flatulent_Bob]

what you actually said was that he hasn’t applied and wasn’t in the list as a statement of fact, You made a statement not an opinion, so in reality you don’t know unless your ITK.

My actual original post on this.

This one ain't going to happen. He's not applied, and he's expensive.

He confirmed that he hadn't applied, but would be interested if approached and according to local reporting he wasn't on the original list.
Several different local papers and different journalists also reported that he hadn't applied.
Him not being on the list is based on speculation, but again well sourced local journo's are as good as it gets, and it's from more credible sources than Nixon who's managed to set all the hares racing on here.

 

[Silent Blade]

We've never had a foreign manager .

Danny Bergara. 2 games in January 1988

 

[Aston max]

Fulham fans loved him. He’s different gravy at Champ level, would much prefer him to Howe who personality wise just won’t thrive at SUFC (dull, dour and academic).

I know Watford fans have same opinions

 

[From the pig end]

So...
He's not applied.
We haven't approached him.
He's not on the list.

Sounds promising

 

[Champagneblade]

As if.
View attachment 109042 View attachment 109043

Can I be the first to day we do nowhere near enough scouting for talent in Uzbekistan!

 

[Champagneblade]

did well at Fulham & Watford. he wouldnt be too bad but who ever gets the job this appointment is huge. as we dont want another robson disaster that set us back years. but would i be correct that he would be our 1st ever foreign manager. all the managers i can think off are from the british isles

Wouldn't be too bad?

You're hard to please!

He's literally got a 100% record of taking teams in our position and getting them promoted.

 

[Aston max]

Still better than MR Thailand!

Apart from the hands could you tell???

 

[S6 Blade]

There’s a shortlist with his name on apparently

 

[S40BLADE]

So Sun and Sky report board is interested and that he is interested. And examiner report he is not on the list of people that have applied for the job. Surely both of these can be true. My guess is that there is a list of candidates the board would prefer and are willing to approach and then a list that have applied and are gagging forrit. Or am I totally mad?

 

[sheff_blade90]

Wouldn't be too bad?

You're hard to please!

He's literally got a 100% record of taking teams in our position and getting them promoted.

but we had plenty of managers with big reputations who sound good only to crash & burn

Bryan Robson, Micky Adams, David Weir, Nigel Adkins

 

[JackSUFC]

The Prince coming out and saying Wilder was on around £4m a year makes a mockery of anyone suggesting paying Jokanovic the reported £2m is too much.