An unshakeable feeling of unfinished business convinced Ivan Jovanovic to answer the emergency call from Al Nasr – the club who unceremoniously sacked him little more than a year ago.
Jovanovic, 55, has chosen to remain out of work since a sharp downturn in results saw the Blue Wave terminate a three-and-a-half-year tenure in October 2016. His spell there included ending a 25-year trophy drought with the 2014 GCC Club Cup, plus an Arabian Gulf Cup and President’s Cup-double a year later.
The Dubai outfit moved quickly to reappoint him last Friday after they dispensed with the services of ex-Italy tactician Cesare Prandelli because of his inconsistent debut campaign.
“It is certainly a new challenge for me, that is why I am back,” said Jovanovic at his second unveiling on Monday, who has signed up until the end of 2018/19. “We did a lot during my three-and-a-half years.
“I always had a feeling that I did not finish my work here, there was more to be done at Al Nasr.
“Because previously, we won the cups and had a good presence in ACL. But we did not compete for the championship.”
He added: “I am very happy to be back in Al Nasr, again. For the past three-and-a-half years we had a really good cooperation and I am sure we will have the same cooperation in the coming season.”
Jovanovic represented a coup for Nasr when he was originally hired in June 2013 thanks to leading Cypriot minnows APOEL to the quarter-finals of the 2011/12 UEFA Champions League.
In Dubai, he had joy in the Cups but never finished higher than fourth in the Arabian Gulf League.
His final months there were tumultuous. A forged passport scandal with new striker Wanderley scuppered a campaign which once promised a historic berth in the 2016 AFC CL’s semi-finals, a 5-1 thrashing at Al Wahda – their seventh reversal in 11 matches – proving terminal to his job prospects.
He has since been linked to – the now merged – Al Shabab, Al Ain and Sharjah. Despite a sorry finale at Nasr, Jovanovic reveals the strength of his connection there made a comeback inevitable once contacted.
He said: “When I left, I left as a friend. It is the only club that any time it invited me to come back, I’d come back.
“If I take over a club, I take over the whole responsibility.”
Caretaker boss Ali Murad is set to oversee Wednesday’s trip to Year of Zayed Arabian Gulf Super Cup winners Wahda.
Nasr are currently a distant sixth in the top flight. Last Wednesday’s round-of-16 elimination in the President’s Cup against lowly Dibba Al Fujairah saw Prandelli dismissed, but they are in next month’s AG Cup quarter-finals – where they meet rivals Al Wasl.