March 25, 2021 was not a happy day for Miron Muslic: SV Ried had not won the tenth game under the young coach either; after just three points, the then 38-year-old pulled the ripcord and resigned.
Three years later, Muslic can classify this step as an important one in his career.
With Cercle Bruges, the Tyrolean has not only annoyed the big players in Belgium’s football league, but is also playing with the outsider for a European Cup starting place. Bruges. “We have achieved something historic, but the madness continues,” reported Muslic.
In the Pro League, as in Austria, a Champions play-off is played, Cercle made it into the top 6 in the field of 16 – alongside Union Saint-Gilloise, Anderlecht, Antwerp, Genk and Club Bruges. The derby will be against the city rivals on Easter Monday; the previous two duels of the season ended in a draw.
It is a huge success for Cercle, which celebrated its last of three championship titles (1911, 1927, 1930) almost 100 years ago. Muslic and his “full-throttle football” (Het Laatste Nieuws) received extra praise from the Belgian press. The praised man now sees the chance for more for his team: “We have invested a lot, now we want to continue to appear brave. We want to enjoy these games, but also attack again. We just want to be Cercle.”
Being Cercle means being unpleasant for your opponents. The smaller club from the picturesque capital of the province of West Flanders impresses in Belgium with its pressing-oriented game. Muslic speaks of “high-intensity power football”; Cercle is the youngest team in the league, he reports proudly.
And that despite the fact that the green-blacks’ best players were sold for almost 20 million euros last summer. Only players from the U21 category were brought in.
“We were actually completely written off,” said Muslic. Thanks to a clear plan in the club, we were able to absorb the departures. The prey is young, capable players with physical strengths to keep up the strenuous game for 90 minutes. Cercle can rely on support from the principality.
AS Monaco is a partner club, and like last year, three loan players came from the Monegasque team. The Ligue 1 club around coach Adi Hütter acts autonomously, says Muslic. However, a man who now works for Monaco played a role in his move to Belgium.
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When a certain Carlos Avina Ibarrola answered his cell phone at Muslic in his home town of Altmünster in the fall of 2021, an opportunity arose for the coach who had previously failed in Ried. Franz Schiemer had mediated, Muslic was under scrutiny by Cercle’s Mexican sports director.
The ex-professional, who stormed in Tyrol (SV Wörgl, Reichenau, SV Hall) and for Ried in the Bundesliga (four games in 2007), analyzed the Belgians’ games and was shortly afterwards hired as assistant coach to Yves Vanderhaeghe.
Muslic remained assistant coach under his successor Dominik Thalhammer, and together the duo brought Cercle out of the relegation zone and finished the season in tenth place. A weak start to the following season cost Thalhammer his job, and Muslic was promoted in September 2022 – a logical step, as he explained in retrospect.
“It was clear from the start that I would get my chance,” reported the 41-year-old. He himself had no doubt that he would be up to the task. “Sure, I failed in Ried. But that’s part of it. In this industry, every trainer fails at some point. But I wanted to continue on the path, I knew that there would still be a chance for me.”
He obviously used it. Cercle once again worked its way up out of the relegation zone and the 2022/23 season, which was played in a different format, ended in sixth place.
Muslic also came into focus again. It was noted in Bruges that Italian transfer expert Fabrizio Romano reported interest in the Austrian from Germany and Italy a few months ago. Muslic still sees himself in good hands at the “development club” Cercle for the time being.
“I’m really thriving here, the club also gives me the opportunity to develop myself further. There are still a lot of things I need to improve about myself,” he said. It’s important not to rush anything. Muslic has extended the contract with Cercle until summer 2025.
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There’s only one thing that’s bothering us: the Muslic family of five remains separated. His wife Ensada works as a nurse in Gmunden and their children Benjamin, Lejla and Hamza attend school.
“Unfortunately, I haven’t found a cure for that yet,” said Muslic, who moved to Innsbruck from western Bosnia in 1992 as the child of a refugee family, about his homesickness. After the decisive 4-0 win against Molenbeek, he dedicated the qualification for the Champions play-off to his family, “who miss their father and husband every day.”
