How is ex-Sheffield United and Fulham manager Slavisa Jokanovic getting on these days? | OneFootball

Serbian boss Jokanovic had contrasting fortunes with the Cottagers and the Blades

Slavisa Jokanovic was the manager of Fulham and Sheffield United while both clubs were in the Championship, but is remembered a lot more fondly at the former than the latter, due to his contrasting fortunes with each team.

The Yugoslavia-born boss had a decent playing career prior to his managerial days, and his first taste of English football came when he spent two years at Chelsea from 2000 to 2002 under Claudio Ranieri, before he returned to these shores to manage Watford in 2014, and guided the Hornets to promotion to the Premier League in his first season in charge.

Jokanovic was soon appointed as Fulham head-coach in December 2015, and he managed to steady the Cottagers in the face of Championship relegation trouble, before he led them to a sixth-placed finish in his first full season at the helm.

2017/18 saw him go one better with the Craven Cottage club, as they finished two points from the automatic promotion spots in third place, then went on to beat Aston Villa 1-0 in the play-off final to return to the top-flight.

He was unable to convert their strong second-tier form into the Premier League, though, and was soon sacked in November 2018 with the club bottom of the league.

After a spell in Qatar as Al-Gharafa boss, the Serb was handed a three-year contract by Sheffield United in May 2021 as they returned to the second-tier following a tough relegation, but he lasted less than six months in charge, having won just six of the first 19 Championship games.

His managerial career has certainly slowed down since leaving the Blades, but at 56-years-old, he still has some time to restore his reputation in English football if he is handed an opportunity.

Slavisa Jokanovic had a tough spell in charge of Dynamo Moscow

Jokanovic spent seven months out of work after his time at Bramall Lane, but was then appointed by Russian Premier League club Dynamo Moscow in June 2022 for the new season, with the option of two further years depending on the team's performance while he was in charge.

He saw several key foreign players either leave the club on loan or suspend their contracts before the season due to the Russian war in Ukraine, including the likes of Sebastian Szymański, Fabián Balbuena and Guillermo Varela.

As a result, he was unable to build on the previous campaign's third-placed finish, which had been the club's first top-three finish since 2008, despite his side going unbeaten for the first eight games of the season.

He also went unbeaten in both of Dynamo's derby games against Spartak Moscow, with a 1-0 win in the home game in August, then a 3-3 draw on the road at the Lukoil Arena in April 2023.

The white-blues were safely in the top five for the majority of the campaign, with Russian international striker Fyodor Smolov leading the line well, but a rough patch of form at the end of the season saw them slip to seventh-place as they lost five in nine league games, and he was dismissed in mid-May following a 3-0 home loss to Akhmat Grozny.

Slavisa Jokanovic has been out of work for over a year following Dynamo Moscow exit

The 56-year-old has been out of work as a manager since his Dynamo departure, which comes as a surprise given his decent record at the likes of Watford and Fulham, and he may well have been offered jobs in recent months but could have not yet found the one he thinks is right for him.

He was linked with the Montenegro national team head-coach job in December 2023 after Miodrag Radulović's resignation, but Montenegrin news site Vijesti soon dismissed the links and reported that no offer had even been made to him to become boss of a national team for the first time in his managerial career.

Jokanovic has since worked with iNews, as he offered some insight on the Serbian national team ahead of their Euro 2024 clash against England in the summer, and admitted that he still has "a lot of good friends in England," so a return to these shores cannot be ruled out in the future.

He has also recently used his social media accounts to keep up with his former employers, and offered his heartfelt condolences to Sheffield United on X last month, following the passing of ex-player George Baldock, who he managed while in charge at Bramall Lane three years ago.

Jokanovic may have been out of the game for the last year, but he is no stranger to a break from football after taking time out following his exits from both Fulham and the Blades, so it will be interesting to see what, and when, his next move in the game is.