THE COACH
Don´t practice until you get it right, practice until you cannot get it wrong
”I continuously want to try new things, find different solutions and new ways to play handball. It is not enough for me that a player had a really great training session yesterday, I expect him to want to be even better tomorrow. I want my players to always think about how they can improve, it is never personal, it is only about developing our performance on the field.“
SG Flensburg Handewitt 2010
In November 2010 Vranjes is appointed the position as new Head Coach of SG Flensburg Handewitt.
The team wins the first game after the change, against top-team Rhein-Neckar Löwen with 32-31.
At the end of the season the team is:
- Vice Champion of the DHB Pokal
- Quarter finalist in the Champions League
- Bundesliga rank 6
”It was a turbulent year. Suddenly, I was coaching my former teammates, a completely new situation. I wanted to make the best I could out of it, and I think I did, but the players made it possible.“
Cup Winners Cup 2012
The season of 2011/12 is Vranjes first full season as Head Coach.
The team collects 57 points in the Bundesliga. THW Kiel wins the Bundesliga in a historic way, they end the season with 68 points of win and 0 points of loss.
SG Flensburg Handewitt wins the Cup Winners Cup after two finals against VfL Gummersbach.
- Vice Champion of the DHB Pokal
- Champion of the EHF Cup Winners Cup
- Vice Champion of the Bundesliga
”To win the Cup Winners Cup was like a confirmation that this team had a good thing going. We had great enthusiasm and the same goals in sight. It was my first real victory as a coach.“
Serbian National Team 2013
Vranjes is being asked to help out when the Serbian national team meet Russia and Bosnia Hercegovina to qualify for the European Championship in Denmark in 2014.
Serbia plays away against Russia and manage to win with 28-29. They also win their last qualification game against Bosnia Hercegovina with 30-23 and qualifies for the EC.
”I was very honored to be asked to help out, Serbia is one part my home country. It was also nice to receive that special recognition, to be a candiate for the position Head Coach of a national team. We completed the mission together.“
Champions League Triumph 2014
In 2013/14 the team brings a brand new trophee to the club, they win the Champions League for the first time in the club history.
The Final Four is played in Cologne. The SG Flensburg Handewitt first, highly unexpected, wins the semi-final against FC Barcelona. Barcelona leads the game with 32-27 with only 5 minutes left to play. Flensburg manage to even out before the end signal, plays the extension to a tie and finally wins after penalty shooting.
The Flensburgers also win the final against THW Kiel with 30-28, once more after an amazing comeback! The miracle in Cologne is a fact.
”To win the Champions League was almost surreal, few believed that it was possible for us to win against both FC Barcelona and THW Kiel in one weekend. It was enough for me that we believed it was possible.“
IHF Mens World Handball Coach 2014
Vranjes is appointed IHF‘s Mens World Handball Coach of the year 2014. The readers of Handball Planet name Vranjes as the handball person of the year 2014.
75,38% of all voting fans and media choose Vranjes before French national team Coach Claude Onesta and Spanish Valero Rivera, Coach of the Qatari national team.
”I consider myself extremely lucky to have received the opportunity to coach one of the best teams in the world at such a young age. I am really proud of what we have achieved so far.“
DHB Pokal Champion 2015
Five years in a row, the SG plays the DHB Pokal final in Hamburg.
After loosing four finals in a row, they win the fifth one in 2015, after penalty shooting against SC Magdeburg, and are of course pretty relieved.
”Four times of disappointment, four times of giving your absolute best and still ending up second. The joy and the relief was indescribable after the end signal – finally we did it!“
Head Coach of the Year 2014
The readers of the magazine Handball Inside votes Ljubomir Vranjes to Head Coach of the year 2014.
In the interview Vranjes says: "I am - as always when something like this happens - a little surprised. All coaches in the Bundesliga work very hard. When you receive such an award, it´s like a special acknowledgment for a job well done. I am very dependent on others in my work. On the other hand, it is also part of my tasks as a coach to engage the people around me to follow the same path.
This reward also means that the path I have chosen to follow, cannot be completely wrong. That in itself means a lot to me, it gives me energy and motivates me to work even more and harder." (Handball Inside 5/15)
Telekom Veszprém | Hungarian National Team 2017
After 11 years in the SG Flensburg Handewitt, Vranjes leaves the club to take on the Hungarian team Telekom Veszprém and Hungary's National Team.
"The offer from Veszprém and Hungary came during the 2016/17 season and I was immediately interested. A new challenge attracted me a lot and especially when it came to one of the world's largest handball clubs.
It was time for me to leave Flensburg and I think they felt the same way. In any event, the clubs agreed on a transfer sum and the change became a fact during the summer of 2017."
IFK Kristianstad 2019
At the beginning of the season 2018/19 Vranjes is released from his position as Head Coach for Telekom Veszprém, a few days later, he also gives up coaching the Hungarian National Team. IFK Kristianstad becomes his next task.
"In October 2018, after two lost matches (Barcelona and Vardar Skopje), I had to leave Telekom Veszprém. It was a big disappointment, but soon the phone started ringing again. After a few weeks of thinking about the future, it felt like the right decision to return to Sweden again. 20 years had passed since I left for my first professional contract in Spain. I looked forward to coaching IFK Kristianstad and to work on home turf. The time in Hungary was educational in many ways, I don´t regret the decision to take on one of the most risky jobs in handball."
Slovenian National Team 2020
Two weeks before start of the Men’s EC 2020 in Norway, Sweden and Austria, the Slovenian Handball Federation announces Ljubomir Vranjes as their new Head Coach. The contract is valid until 2024, including the Olympic Games in Paris.
"I felt very honored when I was asked to lead the Slovenian national team, they have several very skilled handball players and is highly respected, it´s a real privilege to be able to take on such a fun and exciting challenge. Fourth place during our first European Championship together was a nice start."
Rhein Neckar Löwen 2022
The European Championship of 2022 is as disappointing for the Slovenians as it is for Vranjes. The decision to end the cooperation is mutual. Almost immediately a new request appears. German Bundesliga club Rhein-Neckar-Löwen ask Vranjes to coach the team until season end. That fits perfectly, since a contract with French Usam Nimes is already signed, starting in July 2022.
"Coaching a German team again was a bit like coming home. It was a fun and inspiring time."
Usam Nîmes 2022
Vranjes starts his new position in the south of France in July 2022 and is looking forward to the work towards development and refining of the team to improve conditions for reaching new heights.
"I'm really looking forward to the challenge of coaching a team that has potential to climb the ladder. The fact that it's in a new country, with a language I don´t already know and a culture I have no experience from, makes it particularly exciting."
