Sergej Jakirovic will have a hearing on Wednesday as he looks to secure the necessary approval to be granted permission to work in the UK, ahead of taking over at Hull City.
After spending half a season in Turkish football with Keyserispor, the Bosnian boss will arrive at the MKM Stadium tasked with turning City from Championship strugglers to contenders over the course of the next few months.
The Tigers will be the latest stop on a managerial journey that has taken Jakirovic from Croatia to Turkey, via Slovenia and now, he arrives in England for his first taste of football on these shores for the first time in his career as a player or manager.
But what can we expect from the 48-year-old who was born in Bosnia and Herzegovina? Hull Live spoke to Croatian football expert Izak Sucic, reporter at Germanijak.hr, to get the lowdown.
What’s his background?
“He’s a big name; somebody who is always involved in the media in Croatia, because there are a lot of stories about him. He was a decent player in his playing career. He played in the first league and he played as a defensive midfielder. He wasn’t like a playmaker, but he was more a (N’Golo) Kante type, even though he’s a bigger dude. He was good at the tackles, jumping and stuff like that. He was a ball-winning defensive midfielder.
“He played for a lot of clubs in Croatia, and the best story is that when he played for a club that doesn’t exist anymore. It’s called NK Kamen Ingrad from Velika. They played in the UEFA Cup against Schalke (in 2003, losing 1-0).
“That was a club formed in a village that has around 500 people there, and they played in the UEFA Cup, and when you’re from Croatia, it’s a big, big thing to do something like that.
How about his first steps in management?
“When you look at his coaching career, you have to be honest and say that he wasn’t the guy who was making any jumps. He did everything by the book, by the rules. First, he was with Sesvete. He was good there. After that, he was in Gorica. That was his big, big step up in the Croatian league. That was the time when you saw what he’s doing and what his plan is.”
What style can we expect?
“His football is quite simple. I would say that his football is really entertaining and that a lot of people like to watch him because he’s playing, 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3. His full-backs will overlap, he has target men in the centre, he likes two box-to-box midfielders, one really good, the playmaker. Everything is known in his system, and he has had a lot of really, really good results recently.”
Shine a light on his managerial past
“He was in Gorica. He did a lot of good things for them. He was the one in charge when Gorica first came to the Croatian first league, and he was the one who put them on the map. He made them a solid first division club. Before him, they were a yo-yo club. We weren’t really sure if they’re going to perform on that level, but because of Jakirovic, they did.
“After that, he had a little bit of a bad time in Slovenia with Maribor, and he left that after one terrible loss against, I think, a team from Northern Ireland (Europa League defeat to Coleraine in 2020).
“It was a big, big punch to the face to the fans and to the club, and after that, he went to Bosnia, and he did a lot of great things with Zrinjski. He became a double champ. He became the first manager ever to have his contract renewed in Bosnia because that’s something that you can’t really see that often in Bosnia.
“He was the first manager who really worked as a sporting director and the manager, and that’s his biggest attribute, his biggest, biggest asset.
“In my opinion, he’s a good coach, but he’s even better as a sporting director. And one day, when he’s a little bit older, he’ll be a fantastic sporting director.
“He knows how to detect players, especially in our area in Croatia and in the Balkans. I would say that also in Europe, but we will see that eventually.”
Wasn’t there some controversy?
“The most controversial thing in his career was when he came to Rijeka. Rijeka is one of the biggest clubs in Croatia, a club that won the championship seven or eight years ago (and again this season). They played in Europe; they won against Milan, against Feyenoord.
“He came there after six months, the worst six months in the club’s history, and the president gave him everything. He said, ‘Sergej, you’re going to build this team up.’ He gave him the money, the authority, and the power to sign players to do whatever he wanted, and Jakirovic eventually did a fantastic job.
“He took over in January, and after six months, Rijeka went from being in ninth place; he took them to fourth place and led them to Europe. He started the new season, but there were some rumours lurking around that he was not really happy, but nobody knew why, because president Miskovic gave him every player that he wanted, and even though Jakirovic was the one who scouted them, who watched them. The president gave him all the money that he wanted and Rijeka built a fantastic young team and everything was because of Sergej.
“There was a sporting director called Darko Raic-Sudar, but Sergej was the one who gave a chance to some players and who took them to Rijeka.
“For example, Toni Fruk, who is now the number one player in Croatia and a Croatian national team player, also Franjo Ivanovic now plays in Union SG (in Belgium), Marco Pasalic, who went for $5 million to the MLS.
“It’s a big, big thing for Croatian players to be signed from the German third tier and come to Croatia, and then after one-and-a-half years, be sold to the MLS for $5m. Jakirovic was the one who gave them the chance and who looked at them.”
The big move to Dinamo Zagreb…
“Then one day, one night, one thing happened; Dinamo called him, and you know everything about Dinamo. Dinamo is the biggest club in Croatia, and Dinamo called him, and in one night, he took his bag and left for Dinamo.
“It was a big, big shock because when did this happen? This happened in the same week when Rijeka played against Lille for the Conference League group, and later that week, Rijeka played against Dinamo away.
“And Jakirovic went away. It was one of the most shocking things that happened in Croatian football in the last 20 years. He had some arguments. Because of that, the president of Rijeka refused to go to the VIP sections in the Maksimir Stadium (home of Dinamo). He went with the Reika fans in the away stand that week.
“Rijeka lost to Lille. It was a big thing because Rijeka at that time could have made a big shock in Europe, but he left. He went to Dinamo. His oldest son is playing for Dinamo’s youth team. I think the Guardian put him on the map of the 50 biggest talents in European football.
“Sergej eventually won the double against Rijeka in one of the biggest, one of the most controversial, stories, and one of the most controversial seasons in Croatian football because everything was tied. Three games from the end, everything was tied.
“Jakirovic came to Rijeka with Dinamo. He won in Rijeka with Dinamo. He took the HNL (league title), and after two weeks, he came and he won a cup with Dinamo against Rijeka. Wow, what a big shock. He was sensational. Everybody was cheering him, and everybody said that he was the one.”
From the rise to the fall
“After a few months, Dinamo went to the Champions League, and there was that (9-2) loss against Bayern Munich (in September), where Dinamo conceded nine goals. People from Zagreb have told us that you can do a lot of things, but you cannot concede nine goals and survive in Dinamo.
“He didn’t survive even though he had survived many times before that because the board and structure were changing; he had a lot of luck. He came as a winner, a double winner in the season before. If the board hadn’t changed a lot, I think everybody would have sacked him before the season ended.”
And here we are
“He was then without a club (from leaving in September 2024 to January 2025). He went to Turkey after he had an offer on the table from Saudi Arabia, I think Damac FC is the club name and also from Legia Warsaw, but he waited and he went to Turkey.
“He had a really good (half) season there. He did a great job, and then there was contact with Hull City, and now he’s doing the exact same thing that he is doing with Rijeka. The Keyserispor president gave him everything that he wanted. He showed that he knows what he’s doing, but when the bigger offer came, he left.
“I think he can adapt (to England). He has that energy. He’s playing attacking football. He is one of those guys that you like to watch and that you like to see on your club’s bench.
“One day, however, when you think everything is good and how he’s performing and the club is doing well, your strikers are scoring a lot of goals, midfielders are playing well, and the defence is strong, Jakirovic will leave. That’s just the guy he is.”
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