Miodrag Božović

Miodrag "Grof" Božović (Serbian Cyrillic: Миодраг "Гроф" Божовић, pronounced [mîodraɡ bôːʒoʋitɕ]; born 22 June 1968) is a Montenegrin football manager and former player.

Miodrag Božović
Božović coaching Arsenal Tula in 2017
Personal information
Date of birth (1968-06-22) 22 June 1968
Place of birth Mojkovac, SFR Yugoslavia
Height 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in)
Position(s) Defender
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1986–1992 Budućnost Titograd 107 (6)
1992–1994 Red Star Belgrade 52 (1)
1994–1996 Pelita Jaya
1996–1997 APOP Kinyras 20 (1)
1997–1998 RKC 19 (1)
1998 Avispa Fukuoka 8 (0)
1999 RBC 5 (0)
National team
1990 Yugoslavia U21 1 (0)
Teams managed
2000–2001 Beograd
2001–2002 Consadole Sapporo (assistant)
2003–2004 Borac Čačak
2004 Obilić
2004 Hajduk Lion
2005 AEP Paphos
2005–2006 Borac Čačak
2006–2007 Budućnost Podgorica
2007 Grbalj
2007 Borac Čačak
2008 Amkar Perm
2009 FC Moscow
2010–2011 Dynamo Moscow
2011–2012 Amkar Perm
2012–2014 Rostov
2014–2015 Lokomotiv Moscow
2015–2017 Red Star Belgrade
2017–2018 Arsenal Tula
2018–2020 Krylia Sovetov
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Playing career

Club

A tall central defender, Božović played alongside Yugoslav and Montenegrin legends Predrag Mijatović and Dejan Savićević at Budućnost Titograd and for fellow Yugoslav team Red Star Belgrade, whom he left in 1994 during the civil war to play in Indonesia.[1] He also played for Dutch clubs RKC Waalwijk[2] and RBC Roosendaal, as well as in Cyprus and Japan.

During his playing career Božović won Yugoslav Cup with Red Star Belgrade.

International

He represented his U-21 national side once.

Managerial career

As a coach, he had a successful spell in Budućnost in the 2006–07 season, when his team was leading in Montenegrin First League, but he resigned and joined Grbalj in February 2007, due to the disagreement with the board.[3] Božović also was successful in Borac Čačak, as he made a competitive team out of a humble club.

Russian side FC Amkar Perm qualified for the UEFA Europa League for the first time in club's history under his management. Next season, his new club FC Moscow was among the leaders in the Russian Premier League for long stretches, before fading in the end of the season and falling out of European qualification. In early 2010, FC Moscow dropped out of the Premier League due to financial considerations, and Božović became a free agent.

On 27 April 2010, Božović signed a three-year contract with FC Dynamo Moscow.[4]

After the game against his former club, Amkar, he was questioned in the flash interview, did he feel that he was playing against the team he had built himself. His answer was: "I feel I was playing against players who made me a coach."[5]

He resigned from Dynamo on 21 April 2011 after losing in a Russian Cup quarterfinal against FC Rostov (winning the Cup was the last hope for Dynamo to qualify for UEFA Europa League).[6]

In Serbia Božović was nicknamed Grof (the Count or Earl), because of his orderly and elegant appearance.[7]

In June 2012 he became the Manager General of FC Rostov.[8] The next season Rostov won the 2013–14 Russian Cup.[9]

2015-16

On 29 May 2015 it was announced that Božović would manage his former club Red Star Belgrade.[10] His start as Red Star manager was turbulent. Red Star was eliminated by Kairat in the first qualifying round for the Europa League and started off the regular season with a comeback win against OFK Beograd and a draw against Metalac in Gornji Milanovac in the first two rounds of the Serbian Superliga. Serbian media and journalist were not on his side and criticized him and his team's play. After a draw against Radnički Niš in front of 22.000 fans who started to chant against the club board, Božović offered his resignation. Fans were explicit in their desire that board members must leave the club right away, not him, and gave clear support to Božović. Several board members including the vice president and the general director left the club and Božović started a "little war" with the media.[11] After the series of bad performances, Red Star dominated throughout the match and won after a comeback against Čukarički, considered the best match of the season.

Following these incidents, Božović masterminded Red Star to 24 straight wins in the regular season, a new club record, and dominated the Serbian Superliga with 32 points ahead of their rivals. With Božović at the helm Red Star made the best start in club history. Božović lead Red Star to the 27th club league title in history, and the first in his career. Božović stated that he is very happy like never before in his life.

2016-17

After clear and unambiguous support from Red Star fans, who were chanted his name and ask to stay, Grof Božović signed new two-year contract with Red Star to lead the club to the Champions League. Božović said that chants from the fans and whole stands of Marakana are the biggest thing which happened to him in his life, after birth of his sons. He record his first European victory, which is also Red Star first in three years and five matches in a row, against Valletta FC in first match of second qualifying round for the Champions League in Valletta.[12]

Return to Russia

He signed with the Russian Premier League club FC Arsenal Tula before the 2017–18 season.[13] He led the club to the 7th place in the 2017–18 Russian Premier League, the best position in club's history. He did not renew his Arsenal contract at the end of the season.[14]

On 5 October 2018, he signed a 2-year contract with FC Krylia Sovetov Samara.[15] He left Krylia Sovetov by mutual consent on 28 June 2020, with the team in the last position in the table.[16]

Club statistics
Club performance League Cup League Cup Total
Season Club League AppsGoals AppsGoals AppsGoals AppsGoals
Japan League Emperor's Cup J.League Cup Total
1998Avispa FukuokaJ1 League80000080
Total 80000080

Managerial statistics
As of match played 28 June 2020
Managerial record by team and tenure
Team From To Record
PWDLWin %
Beograd 1 June 2000 5 June 2001 34 16 5 13 047.06
Borac Čačak 3 June 2002 25 May 2003 33 17 10 6 051.52
Hajduk Lion 1 June 2003 30 May 2004 36 20 6 10 055.56
AEP Paphos 5 June 2004 24 May 2005 32 11 5 16 034.38
Borac Čačak 1 June 2005 30 May 2006 31 12 9 10 038.71
Budućnost Podgorica 1 June 2006 2 February 2007 20 15 4 1 075.00
Grbalj 0 0 0 0 !—
Borac Čačak 8 March 2007 8 January 2008 33 12 9 12 036.36
Amkar Perm 8 January 2008 31 December 2008 32 15 9 8 046.88
FC Moscow 1 January 2009 1 March 2010 34 16 9 9 047.06
Dynamo Moscow 27 April 2010 21 April 2011 31 11 11 9 035.48
Amkar Perm 29 September 2011 11 June 2012 19 9 5 5 047.37
Rostov 11 June 2012 25 September 2014 83 28 19 36 033.73
Lokomotiv Moscow 4 October 2014 11 May 2015 21 10 6 5 047.62
Red Star Belgrade 2 June 2015 7 May 2017 84 63 11 10 075.00
Arsenal Tula 18 June 2017 25 May 2018 31 12 6 13 038.71
Krylia Sovetov 5 October 2018 28 June 2020 49 13 7 29 026.53
Total 603 280 131 192 046.43

Honours

Player
Red Star Belgrade

Manager
Rostov
Red Star Belgrade

References
  1. Miodrag 'The Count' Bozovic breaking records at Red Star Belgrade - ESPN
  2. Degradatieduel in Waalwijk giert uit de hand - RKC (in Dutch)
  3. "Bozovic shock in Montenegro", uefa.com
  4. НОВЫМ ГЛАВНЫМ ТРЕНЕРОМ "ДИНАМО" СТАЛ МИОДРАГ БОЖОВИЧ (in Russian). FC Dynamo Moscow official site. 27 April 2010. Archived from the original on 2 May 2010. Retrieved 27 April 2010.
  5. "Браво, Миодраг!", Express Yourself (russian)
  6. "Футбольный клуб "Динамо" подтвердил отставку Божовича". RIA Novosti. 21 April 2011.
  7. "Mysterious Count", Sovetsky Sport (russian)
  8. Miodrag Bozovic takes charge of Rostov - Sports.ru
  9. Miodrag Bojovic resigns from Rostov
  10. "Гроф Божовић нови тренер Црвене звезде" "Moja Crvena zvezda: Grof Božović novi trener Crvene zvezde" (serbian)
  11. Звезда је симбол Србије, никад неће пропасти, никад (in Serbian). Moja Crvena zvezda. 12 August 2015.
  12. "Malteški vitez Aleksandar Katai!" (in Serbian). Retrieved 12 July 2016.
  13. МИОДРАГ БОЖОВИЧ - ГЛАВНЫЙ ТРЕНЕР ПФК «АРСЕНАЛ»
  14. СПАСИБО, МИОДРАГ! (in Russian). FC Arsenal Tula. 21 May 2018.
  15. Миодраг Божович представлен команде (in Russian). FC Krylia Sovetov Samara. 5 October 2018.
  16. "Миодраг Божович покидает "Крылья Советов"" (in Russian). PFC Krylia Sovetov Samara. 28 June 2020.
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