Going strong with Cercle

Glasner fan Muslic has fallen in love with the island

Miron Muslic celebrated a historic achievement with Cercle Brugge.(Bild: zVg.)

Coach Miron Muslic continues to surf the wave of success with Cercle Brugge in Belgium. The ex-FAC coach is a fan of the island and coach Oliver Glasner. On Sunday, they will be challenged in the battle for the European Cup places against leaders St-Gilloise with goalkeeper Heinz Lindner.

His nachos were already ready in front of the TV when the "Krone" called. Miron Muslic's free time is also all about soccer, which is why the 41-year-old coach naturally didn't miss out on the Netflix documentary about treble winners Manchester City. Muslic is currently on cloud nine himself with Cercle Brugge in the Jupiler Pro League. The ex-FAC coach made it into the Champions play-offs (top 6) for the first time with the Belgians. "Unbelievable, we've achieved something historic. When you're in fifth place after 30 matchdays, it's well deserved. We wanted this stage, now we can compete against the best teams."

The ex-FAC coach is held in high regard by the fans.(Bild: ZVG)

Cercle, who sold seven regular players in the summer (fetching 20 million euros), were still considered to be relegated by the experts. "We were already written off, but we surprised everyone again. We are a training club, the players are young, dynamic and capable of development. I can implement my game idea 100 percent here, and the club also gives me the player profiles to do so. None of the new signings are older than 20."

Muslic, who has a contract until 2025, has now been in office for 18 months. There is interest from the top five leagues and Major League Soccer (MLS). He failed miserably at Ried, not picking up a win in ten games. "I'm a very ambitious coach, chasing my dreams." What are they? "I dream of England, I fell in love with the soccer culture and fan atmosphere there. My idea of the game would fit very well on the island!" says Muslic. Who is also a big fan of Crystal Palace coach Oliver Glasner. "For me, he is the best Austrian coach. When I was in the Ried academy and Oliver was at LASK, I was able to learn a lot from him." In the play-off on Sunday against leaders St-Gilloise, goalkeeper Heinz Lindner will be at stake. In sixth place, Cercle are two points behind the Europa League qualifiers.