Maccabi Tel Aviv’s Head Coach over the past two seasons, Vladimir Ivic, will end his role at the club after two seasons in charge of the first team. Also departing will be Assistant Coach Milos Vesselinovic, Goalkeeping Coach Christos Kelpekis, Darko Obradovic the Head Fitness Coach and Sport-Therapist Nenad Kovacevic.
The Serbian coach guided the team to two successive league titles and a Toto Cup trophy.
Maccabi’s Owner Mitch Goldhar said: “Vladimir Ivic joined Maccabi as a young promising coach and is leaving the club as a highly successful one. In the two years at the club, Vlada, displayed many of the things Maccabi values– work ethic, professionalism, respect for others and attention to detail; which was on display week after week. The 2019/20 season has been a particularly difficult one for everyone, both in and out of football and I respect Vladan’s wish to have time to evaluate his and his family’s various possible future plans. We all wish Vladan all the best in the future”.
Ivic added: “After two fantastic years we had here in Israel I would like to thank our owner, Mitch Goldhar, all the people at the club, the players who worked very hard with me in these two years and the Maccabi fans who were with us and supported us to achieve our goal. I have taken the decision to have a break and consider the next steps in my football career. I find it very hard choosing the words to describe my feelings as it was such a successful period and amazing two years for me and my family. We would like to thank everyone here and we will always keep our time at Maccabi in our minds and hearts”.
In his first season in charge, Ivic won the earliest championship in the history of Israeli football (March 31st, 2019) and with a 31-point-gap from second place with a squad packed with home grown talent.
This campaign, Ivic won the Championship for the second season in succession and with a double-figure point difference from second place. In addition to an extraordinary defensive record of goals conceded, Ivic also guided the team to an outstanding unbeaten record in 35 league matches.
