Dubai: Ivan Jovanovic said unfinished business had brought him back to Al Nasr where he replaced sacked Italian Cesare Prandelli on a one and-a half-year contract this week.
The Serbian himself was sacked by the club 16 months ago despite ending Al Nasr’s 24-year-wait for silverware by winning three cup competitions in three and a half years between 2013 and 2016.
Following up the 2014 GCC Champions League triumph with a League Cup and President’s Cup double in 2015; Jovanovic then got Al Nasr out of their Asian Champions League group for the first time to reach the quarters in 2016.
The one thing he didn’t win, however, was the Arabian Gulf League, but now he’s back — after the failings of his successors Dan Petrescu and Prandelli — to complete his trophy cabinet and get the club firing again.
“It’s certainly a new challenge for me, that’s why I’m back, I believe in the past three and a half years together we did a lot as a team, but I always had the feeling I did not finish my work here and that there was more to be done at Al Nasr,” he said at his unveiling on Monday.
“In previous years, we won cups and had good presence in the Champions League but we didn’t compete for the league and that will be my next target to make a good club to compete for the championship.”
It may not be an immediate possibility for Al Nasr are currently fourth in the table, 14 points behind league leaders Al Ain with 10 games remaining ahead of their trip to second-placed Al Wahda on Wednesday.
Prandelli was sacked because they crashed out of the President’s Cup Last 16 on penalties to Dibba last week, so the only piece of silverware still available to them this season is the League Cup where they face Al Wasl in the quarter-final second leg on February 16, having drawn the first leg 2-2 last month.
“The first thing is to play good football and make the fans happy. With the remainder of this season we’ll see what’s missing in order to schedule next season. There’s also Al Wasl in the League Cup where the target is to reach the next phase.
“What’s most important now is to organise the team and the injured players, so we can perform well in their absence.
“The good thing is most of the players were here in the past and I know how they think and it’s easier for them to understand what it is I want them to do.”
Asked if he now knew how to avoid the same fate that befell him last time (getting sacked), he replied: “I owe it to myself and the club to fight for the championship. I want to do it, I’m ready to do it and it’s the only target I’m missing from Al Nasr.
“Nobody has to ask if I’ll be successful or not because I only have one target. If I make it I will be successful and I will have everything. If I don’t I would have lost.”
