In a week in which Andy Carroll departed the fallen giants of French football as a bonafide Bordeaux hero, as Manuel Lanzini battles away in the Club World Cup, another of West Ham United’s 2015/16 squad took charge of a senior team for the first time.
Nikica Jelavic has made no secret of his desire to return to the Premier League as a head coach at some point in the future.
In the meantime, a former West Ham United frontman who cut his teeth under the likes of David Moyes, Walter Smith and Slaven Bilic is hoping to make a success of his first spell at the helm of a first-team roster.
After returning to old employers NK Lokomotiva as an academy coach two years ago, Jelavic has been rewarded for a ‘historic’ domestic double and a last-32 spot in the UEFA Youth League. His gift? A promotion at a club reeling from last season’s disappointing eighth place finish.
In an era when Frank Lampard rebuilds his managerial reputation at Coventry City, while Michael Carrick looks for a fresh start post-Middlesbrough, Jelavic’s first task is to jolt into life a Lokomotiva outfit hoping to bounce back from their joint-worst finish in a decade.
Nikica Jelavic during the Memorial Service For Former Rangers Manager Walter Smith
Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images
Former West Ham United striker Nikica Jelavic takes over NK Lokomotiva
To quote their official website, Jelavic’s time in charge of the juniors side was ‘extremely successful’
‘Historic’, even.
“It is a great honour and responsibility for me to take over the senior team of Lokomotiva,” beams the 39-year-old ex-Rangers and Everton frontman. “The club has given me the opportunity to grow as a coach and achieve great things together with talented young players.
“Now is the time for a new challenge and I believe that together we will continue to build recognisable, ambitious and modern football.”
MORE WEST HAM STORIES
“Jelavic has shown through his work, dedication and clear football vision that he is ready to take on bigger challenges,” Lokomotiva add in that aforementioned statement, highlighting Jelavic’s strengths in youth development and a tactical understanding which makes him ‘the ideal choice to lead the first-team’.
“We believe that Nikica will bring a new dimension to the game of our senior team with his knowledge, experience and energy.”
Jelavic keen on Premier League return as manager of Everton or West Ham
Ten years on from his brief spell at West Ham alongside the aforementioned Carroll and Lanzini, Jelavic is certainly not ruling out a Slaven Bilic-esque return to East London at some point down the line.
“Listen, you never know in the future,” Jelavic told Sky Sports in 2023 when asked if his managerial journey could take him back to a few familiar haunts. “But, definitely, that would be great, especially Rangers and Everton.
“Now I feel like I’m alive again,” added a man who also enjoyed spells in China, Belgium and Austria during his playing days.
“I’m directly involved in football. I’m deciding many things as an U19s head coach. I am now actually looking at football in a different way than when I was a player. After the break [following my retirement], I was missing it.”