VLADIMIR IVIC would not be involved in football today had it not been for Gary Lineker.
The Watford boss revealed to SunSport that watching the England legend while growing up in Serbia sparked his love affair with the game.
Vladimir Ivic took over Watford in August with the target to win promotionCredit: ASSOCIATED PRESS
Gary Lineker was Watford boss Vladimir Ivic’s idol while growing upCredit: EMPICS
Ivic, 43, now hopes the 1986 World Cup golden boot winner will be interviewing him on Match of the Day next season as he plots a quick return to the Premier League.
Asked which player made him fall in love with football, the Serb said: “It was Gary Lineker.
“It was for his goalscoring. I followed English football like lots of kids and he was the top scorer.
“I remember watching him in the 1986 World Cup.
“He was one of the greatest players and strikers in his age – and I didn’t even know before coming here that he was now presenting Match of the Day.”
Ivic arrived at Vicarage Road in August and has done a good job so far with the relegated Hornets, who sit third ahead of their trip to Birmingham today.
In fact, all teams that came down from the Premier League currently occupy the top three spots with Norwich in pole position and Bournemouth second – this rarely happens.
But Ivic said: “All three teams have quality players and you must remember in Daniel Farke at Norwich and Jason Tindall at Bournemouth you have two coaches who had worked with their players last season.
“After 17 matches, we don’t see much difference in the quality between the other teams.
“But sometimes the mood of the other sides can be more important than the quality of yours if you don’t give 100 per cent.
“This is something we work on and try to give the maximum every game.”
Vladimir Ivic won November’s SkyBet Championship manager of the month
So how did Ivic go about taking over a team used to losing, suffering the trauma of relegation and turn them quickly into winners?
Ivic said: “This is a good question because it’s a different approach from previous years.
“The last six months before I arrived, the target was to survive and stay in the Premier League.
“They played completely different to how we want to play now.
“We’re trying to transform a side that played on the counter to one that wants to be dominant and attack. This is something we’ve worked a lot on and to do that you need to change the mentality.
“Sometimes we don’t succeed and have a deficit in games. We should be seven or eight points better off.”
Ivic knows full well that FOURTEEN different permanent managers have been at Watford in just 10 years.
The Serb was successful in Greece with PAOK and Israel at Maccabi Tel Aviv – but knows it is a different ball game in England.
He said: “The change of coaches is the decision for the club.
“All the people who come into this job come to put in their maximum. Everyone wants to succeed.
We’re trying to transform a side that played on the counter to one that wants to be dominant and attack.
Vladimir Ivic
“It depends on the mood of the team and of how you’ll adapt fast to the conditions you find yourself in to get results.
“Your glass can only be half full because you never know how long you will stay somewhere. It’s our lives and it’s not easy when you have family coming with you too.
“My wife and two daughters, one aged six and the other nine, were with me in Israel for two years and now here with me too.
“It’s a nice job. I decided to do this because I love it.”
Ivic is one of two Serbians flying high in the Championship with Reading sitting fifth under his former national team-mate Veljko Paunovic.
Ivic has had to change the mentality of the Watford players this seasonCredit: PRESS ASSOCIATION
He said: “It’s important for a country like Serbia to have two coaches in the Championship. He’s a great coach and now shows here he’s on a top level.”
Ivic is not known for smiling much or cracking jokes – and looks like a guy you would not want to get on the wrong side of.
But the Serb insists that public perception of him is wrong.
He said: “My family, wife, two daughters and friends make me smile.
“It’s been hard to make new friends because during the period I’ve been here we’ve had to follow government instructions to stay at home so not been able to socialise much.
“I like to laugh privately at lot and I’d like to at work too. But I prefer to wait until the end of the season when hopefully we’ll have good reason to laugh.”
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
