Ivan Vukomanović ( sr-Cyrl, Иван Вукомановић; born 19 June 1977) is a Serbian professional

football manager ''Football Manager'' (also known as ''Worldwide Soccer Manager'' in North America from 2004 to 2008) is a series of football management simulation video games developed by British developer Sports Interactive and published by Sega. The game beg ...

and former

player Player may refer to: Role or adjective * Player (game), a participant in a game or sport ** Gamer, a player in video and tabletop games ** Athlete, a player in sports ** Player character, a character in a video game or role playing game who is ...

who is the current head coach of

Indian Super League The Indian Super League (ISL) is an Indian professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the Indian football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Organised by the All India Football Federat ...

club

Kerala Blasters Kerala Blasters Football Club (), commonly referred to as The Blasters, is an Indian professional football club based in Kochi, Kerala, that competes in the Indian Super League, the top tier of football in India. The club was established i ...

Playing career

Vukomanović played as a defender during his playing days. He was also used as a

defensive midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. He started his professional career at Serbian club

FK Sloboda Užice Fudbalski klub Sloboda Užice () is a Serbian professional football club from Užice. They are currently playing in the Serbian First League, the second tier of Serbian football. History Early years (1920s and 1930s) The club was founded throu ...

. Vukomanović later played for

Obilić Obiliq, ) or Obilić ( sr-cyr, Обилић, ), also referred to as Kastriot ( sq-definite, Kastrioti, ) is a town and municipality in Kosovo. According to the Kosovo Agency of Statistics (KAS) estimate from the 2011 census, there were 21,549 peo ...

, where he won the

1997–98 First League of FR Yugoslavia The 1997–98 First League of FR Yugoslavia was the sixth season of the FR Yugoslavia's top-level football league since its establishment. Overview The league was divided into 2 groups, A and B, consisting each of 10 clubs. Both groups were play ...

title. Vukomanović then moved to the

Ligue 1 Ligue 1, officially known as Ligue 1 Uber Eats for sponsorship reasons, is a French professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the French football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. A ...

side

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefectur ...

. With the French club, he won the

1998–99 French Division 1 The 1998–99 Ligue 1 season (then called Division 1) was the 61st since its establishment. FC Girondins de Bordeaux won the French Association Football League with 72 points. Participating teams *AJ Auxerre *SC Bastia *FC Girondins de Bordea ...

. Throughout his career, he played for several top tier clubs, which includes the Serbian side

Red Star Belgrade Fudbalski klub Crvena zvezda ( sr-Cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Црвена звезда, lit=Red Star Football Club, ), commonly known as Red Star Belgrade in English-language media, is a Serbian professional football club based in Bel ...

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

’s

FC Köln FC may refer to: Businesses, organisations, and schools * Fergusson College, a science and arts college in Pune, India * Finncomm Airlines (IATA code) * FranklinCovey company, NYSE stock symbol FC * Frontier Corps, a paramilitary force in Paki ...

, Belgian side Royal Antwerp F.C and

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

n club

FC Dynamo Moscow FC Dynamo Moscow (''FC Dynamo Moskva'', russian: Дина́мо Москва́ ) is a Russian football club based in Moscow. Dynamo returned to the Russian Premier League for the 2017–18 season after one season in the second-tier Russian Footb ...

. With Red Star Belgrade, he had won the 1999–2000 and 2000–01 season of

First League of FR Yugoslavia The First League of Serbia and Montenegro ( sr, Прва савезна лига / Prva savezna liga) was the top football league of Serbia and Montenegro, before the country's dissolution in 2006. The league was formed following the breakup of Yu ...

along with the

FR Yugoslavia Cup The Serbia and Montenegro Cup was an association football knockout cup tournament of Serbia and Montenegro played between 1992 and 2006, after which Serbia and Montenegro became separate nations. The competition was the continuation of the old M ...

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

. Vukamanovic fully retired from professional football in 2011 at the age of 34. At the national level, he had represented

FR Yugoslavia national under-21 football team The Serbia national under-21 football team is the national under-21 football team of Serbia and is controlled by the Football Association of Serbia. Both FIFA and UEFA consider the Serbian national team to be the direct and sole successor of the ...

Managerial career

Standard Liège

Vukomanović started his coaching career at

Belgian Pro League The Belgian Pro League,(officially the Jupiler Pro League due to sponsorship reasons with Jupiler), is the top league competition for association football clubs in Belgium. Contested by 18 clubs since the 2020–21 season and reduced to 16 team ...

club

Standard Liège Royal Standard de Liège, commonly referred to as Standard Liège (; nl, Standard Luik ; german: Standard Lüttich ) or simply Standard in Belgium, is a Belgian professional football club based in the city of Liège. They are one of the most ...

, where he assisted

Guy Luzon Guy Luzon ( he, גיא לוזון; born 7 August 1975) is an Israeli former footballer and manager, currently managing the Israel national under-21 football team. Club career Guy Luzon was a graduate of the Maccabi Petah Tikva youth program, jo ...

ahead of the club's 2013-14 season. During this time, Leige played the

Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

after winning all the games in the qualifying stages. Following Luzon’s exit in October 2014, Vukomanović took charge as their head coach. His first game ever game as a head coach was against Spanish giants

Sevilla Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, River Gua ...

in the

, where the match ended in a goalless draw. Under his coaching, Standard Liege picked 28 out of a possible 39 points in the league. On February 2015, despite getting some good results, the club replaced him with

Jose Riga Jose is the English transliteration of the Hebrew and Aramaic name ''Yose'', which is etymologically linked to ''Yosef'' or Joseph. The name was popular during the Mishnaic and Talmudic periods. * Jose ben Abin * Jose ben Akabya *Jose the Galile ...

midway into the season citing lack of experience as a head coach. He was offered the assistant manager role under Riga, to which he responded; "To propose to me to remain in the staff, it is only to be politically correct towards the players and the supporters. I could have been fake and say yes. Tap Riga on the shoulder and then do nothing but I'm not like that. I'm a straightforward, honest person. So I decided to leave Standard".

Slovan Bratislava

In 2016, Vukomanović was appointed as the manager of the

Slovak Super Liga The Slovak Super Liga is the top level football league in Slovakia, currently known as the Fortuna Liga due to a sponsorship arrangement. It was formed in 1993 following the dissolution of Czechoslovakia. The record for most titles is eleven, he ...

side Slovan Bratislava. Under his helm, the club finished second-place finish in the league. His first title as a manager came in 2017, where he guided Slovan Bratislava to the 2017–18 Slovak Cup title. Vukomanović had a decent second season Slovan Bratislava. With just five defeats from 22 games, he parted ways with the club following a draw against

FK Senica FK Senica () is a Slovak football team, based in the town of Senica. The club was founded in 1921. History FK Senica was founded in 1921. Newly created partition was rapidly progressed, but the boom dampened dark period World War II. World war ...

on 28 October 2017.

Apollon Limassol

After a two year hiatus, Vukomanović returned to coaching in September 2019 by signing with

Cypriot First Division The Cypriot First Division ( el, Πρωτάθλημα Α΄ Κατηγορίας) is the top tier football league competition in Cyprus, run by the Cyprus Football Association. Since February 2016, it is sponsored by Cyta and is thus officially ...

club

Apollon Limassol Apollon Limassol FC ( el, Απόλλων Λεμεσού, ''Apollon Lemesou'') is a Cypriot sports club, based in Limassol. It has football, basketball and volleyball teams. Founded in 1954, Apollon FC currently plays in the Cypriot First Divisi ...

as their interim head coach and led them in four matches.

Kerala Blasters

2021–22: Appoinment and ISL finals

On 17 June 2021,

announced that Vukomanović has been appointed as the

club's new head coach ahead of the 2021–22 season. Under Vukomanović, Kerala Blasters won their first game of the

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pol ...

in the

2021 Durand Cup The 2021 Durand Cup is the 130th edition of Durand Cup, the oldest football tournament in Asia. Like its previous edition, the tournament was hosted in West Bengal, instead of its traditional venue, Delhi. The tournament is jointly hosted by t ...

match against

Indian Navy The Indian Navy is the maritime branch of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Navy. The Chief of Naval Staff, a four-star admiral, commands the navy. As a blue-water navy, it operates sig ...

with a score of 0–1 on 11 September 2021. His first Indian Super League match as the manager of Kerala Blasters ended in 4–2 defeat on 19 November against

ATK Mohun Bagan FC ATK Mohun Bagan FC () is an Indian professional football club based in Kolkata, West Bengal. The club competes in Indian Super League, the top flight of Indian football. The club, which was formed as a merger between the football section of m ...

. The following two games saw Blasters drawing against

NorthEast United FC NorthEast United FC is an Indian professional football club based in Guwahati, Assam that competes in the Indian Super League, the top flight of Indian football. The club was founded on 13 April 2014 during the inaugural season of Indian Supe ...

and

Bengaluru FC Bengaluru Football Club () is an Indian professional football club based in Bangalore, Karnataka. The club competes in the Indian Super League, the top flight of Indian football. The club was established on 20 July 2013, and began its first ...

respectively. It was on 5 December that Vukomanović's Blasters side saw their first league win as they defeated

Odisha FC Odisha Football Club () is an Indian professional football club based in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, that competes in the Indian Super League, the top flight of Indian football. Prior to the inaugural Indian Super League season, the club was founded ...

by 2–1 at full-time, and helped Kerala Blasters to seal their first Indian Super League victory in 11 months. The Blasters' then won back-to-back games against defending champions

Mumbai City Mumbai City Football Club is an Indian professional football club based in Mumbai, Maharashtra that competes in the Indian Super League, the top flight of Indian football. The club was founded in August 2014, during the inaugural season of ...

FC and against

rivals A rivalry is the state of two people or groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each participant o ...

Chennaiyin FC Chennaiyin Football Club is an Indian professional football club based in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. The club competes in the Indian Super League, the top flight of Indian football. The club was founded in August 2014 during the inaugural season o ...

, and made it to the top four in the table. The Blasters' unbeaten streak under Vukomanović continued, and they moved to the top of the table for the first time in eight years during the mid-season after the 1–0 victory over

Hyderabad FC Hyderabad Football Club is an Indian professional football club based in Hyderabad, Telangana. The club competes in the Indian Super League, the top flight of Indian football. Founded on 27 August 2019, the club replaced Pune City after they ...

on 9 January 2022. Under his management, the Blasters qualified for the ISL finals for the first time since 2016 after beating

Jamshedpur FC Jamshedpur Football Club (, ) is an Indian professional football club based in Jamshedpur, Jharkhand, that competes in the Indian Super League, the top flight of Indian Football. Founded in 2017, the club debuted in Indian Super League during t ...

2–1 on aggregate score from both legs. They faced Hyderabad in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

on 20 March, which they lost in

penalty shoot-out The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pen ...

. The club reached numerous milestones during the season including a 10-match unbeaten run which made them climb to the top of the table for the first time in its history. The Blasters also recorded its highest goals scored, highest points obtained, highest number of wins and least number of losses. They also achieved a positive goal difference for the first time in the club's history.

2022–23: Contract extension

On 4 April, the club announced the contract extension of Vukomanović for three more years until 2025. It was the first time that the club has renewed the contract of a first-team head coach since its inception in 2014. The

2022–23 Indian Super League The 2022–23 Indian Super League is the ninth season of the Indian Super League, the first season as the only top division, and the 27th season of top tier Indian football. It commenced on 7 October 2022 and is scheduled to end in March 2023 ...

began on a high note with a 3–1 victory over

SC East Bengal East Bengal Club, commonly referred to as East Bengal (), is an Indian professional multi-sport A multi-sport event is an organized sporting event, often held over multiple days, featuring competition in many different sports among organize ...

on 7 October 2022 which was also his first home game as the Blasters manager after the regular home-away format returned after the

Covid-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

regulation. Despite of this, the Blasters suffered three defeats in a row. They came back to the winning ways after defeating

3–0 on 5 November in an away game. On 13 November, the Blasters broke

FC Goa Football Club Goa is an Indian professional football club based in Goa, that competes in the Indian Super League, the top flight of Indian football. The club was established on 26 August 2014. Nicknamed as '' Gaurs'', the club plays their ho ...

's unbeaten six year run against them after a 3–1 win. This also marked Vukomanović's 14th win as the manager of the Blasters and broke

David James Dewi, Dai, Dafydd or David James may refer to: Performers *David James (actor, born 1839) (1839–1893), English stage comic and a founder of London's Vaudeville Theatre *David James (actor, born 1967) (born 1967), Australian presenter of ABC's ''P ...

' record for most number of wins for the club. On 19 November, he became the first manager in the history of the club to record three consecutive win after defeating Hyderabad 1–0 in an away game. On 3 February 2023, Vukamanovic served his 42nd game as the manager of Kerala Blasters and broke David James' record of managing the most number of games for the club.

Managerial statistics

Honours

Player

Obilić *

: 1997–98 Red Star Belgrade *

: 1999–2000, 2000–01 *

: 1999–2000 Bordeaux *

French Division 1 Ligue 1, officially known as Ligue 1 Uber Eats for sponsorship reasons, is a French professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the French football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. A ...

: 1998–99

Manager

Slovan Bratislava *

Slovak Cup The Slovak Cup () is the main knockout cup competition in Slovak football. The winner qualifies for the UEFA Europa Conference League. History The competition was first contested in 1969. Until 1993, the winner of the Slovak Cup would face the w ...

: 2017–18 Kerala Blasters *

runner-up: 2021–22

References

External links