Many football players decide to stay in football after their active participation in this sport, and most of them as coaches. However, if he was a good football player, it does not mean that he will be a good coach.
One of the players from Bosnia and Herzegovina who had a successful playing career, and this year he entered coaching waters. Emir Jusica former player of Čelika, Rudar, Budućnost, Kazakhstan’s Akzhayik, Olimpik and Tuzla Sloboda, after finishing his football career last year, he started training as a coach, and this summer he took over the management of the Čelika junior team.
Emir Jusić for SportBC he spoke about the completed half-season, the beginning of his coaching career, his plan, vision and plans for the next period when it comes to this job.
Emir, first of all, thank you for speaking for SportBC.BA
“Thank you for the invitation, it is a pleasure to be your interlocutor and support your work, i.e. the only sports portal in Zenica”.
Congratulations for the autumn title in the junior competition in the “Centar” Youth League, but also for winning the ZDK Junior Cup. Did you expect such results and successes at the beginning of your coaching career?
“I have been in this job for about four months and I can say that I am satisfied with the results so far. A club like Čelik should always have high goals, and we all have to work together to the maximum and with dedication in order to fulfill the same goals. Realistically, I did not expect such results in the first half of the season, but with the efforts of the team, the results are what they are”.
Unlike last season, in this season, the club management did not set the goal of being the first, that is, to be placed in the Premier League of Bosnia and Herzegovina for juniors, but you secured the autumn title with your games and behavior, and you are probably thinking a little bit about that famous Premier League?
“You are right, the club management did not set the goal this season that we must enter the Premier League, but realistically we as a club deserve it. With their quality, work and commitment, these players have shown that we can be competitive to enter the highest rank in our country. As a coach, I am definitely thinking about entering the Premier League, and whether we will succeed does not depend only on us, because there are still plenty of quality teams, and it is up to us to work hard and train, and to take advantage of the opportunity if it presents itself to us”.
According to the players, as well as those who follow your training, you insist first of all on seriousness, you are equal to all players, i.e. you have zero tolerance for those who are not regular at training or who are late?
“Football is a serious matter that we could behave nonchalantly. There must be seriousness in training, that’s a basis, if we behave frivolously it’s hard to get any results. Injuries are caused by not being serious in training, which is the worst thing for a player, when you are not serious in training, you transfer it to matches, which leads to bad results, and that is no one’s goal. I’m fair to all players, I think that’s a normal thing, every coach loves a good player and certainly tries to put the ones he thinks are the best at that moment, of course you can make a mistake, but not on purpose. Guys who are regularly in training have an advantage and everything is crystal clear here. With me, in order for a player to be in the team, he must give his maximum at every training session, there are no delays, everyone must be in front of the locker room 30 minutes early, I think we can’t make a mistake there. All the guys have to do is go to bed and get up on time and come to training, we have to behave responsibly, just like in any other job outside of football”.
Celik is the autumn champion, but you are far from securing first place because you have a lot of quality opponents who will try to dethrone you in the second part of the season?
“I agree with you, there are still many games and the first place is far from secured. The competition is quite strong, three or four teams also want the first place and try to enter the Premier League, so it will be uncertain until the very end, and I hope that we will be the first to cross the finish line”.
Tell us something about this generation of juniors that you lead, is there any material for the senior team in the coming period?
“There is certainly quality in the team, one guy has already joined and made his debut for the first team. I hope that there will be more of them this season, even we coaches from the youth unit proposed one boy from the cadet selection to play a game for the senior team. It is up to them to work and to impose themselves on us in the youth department with their commitment, and we will propose them to the bosses in the first team because we have really good communication with the first team”.
What is it like to be a coach, after a successful career you dedicated yourself to coaching, what goals do you have in this job?
“Being a coach is much more difficult than a player, as a player you only care about yourself, your games, your body, and when you are a coach you have to take care of all the players, training, matches and all the things you didn’t think about as a player. A coach should be ambitious and set high goals for himself, but I am at the very beginning, I am young, so we will see in which direction everything will go”.
Do you see yourself in the future as a coach of senior teams, we know that your colleague Armin Duvnjak also had good results with the juniors, so he got a chance in the senior team where he also had good results?
“When you do this job, of course you think about senior football, it’s a challenge, but it’s still too early to talk about it, I’m new in this job, but I’m definitely thinking about it, because if you’re not going to study and dream about something, then you’re wasting your time” .
Are you planning further training and from whom do you learn or receive advice on how you became a coach?
“I definitely call my friends with whom I played for advice, who in the meantime have become coaches. Of course I learn from older colleagues in the youth department, the coaches who coached me throughout my playing career are indispensable, I have stayed in contact with everyone and I have no problem calling them and asking for some advice. Finally, I would certainly like to thank the physiotherapists Albin Mašić and Malik Smrika who are there with me and whatever is needed related to injuries in the youth facility, even though it is not in their job description, they are at our disposal and it never happened that we called them without I can’t do something, so I thank them for everything”.
Emir, thank you for your time and good luck in your future work
“Thank you, I follow your portal and wish you luck in the future in your work”.
