‘When you play football, your origins don’t count. Then you don’t feel like a refugee’

Miron Muslic was nine years old when he fled the horrors of war in Bosnia with his parents and sister. Today, the Cercle Brugge coach beckons a great future.

Miron Muslic (41) has never been able to completely erase the traces of the past. He is showered with praise because he unexpectedly led Cercle Brugge to a place in play-off 1 with a specific and direct approach, but he does not float. “I wasn’t raised that way,” he says. ‘It is really important that as a trainer you keep your feet on the ground. I call that ground stability, it’s kind of my life motto. The players quickly notice when you place yourself above the group and start to consider yourself important. In the long term you will be exposed.’

Miron Muslic built his career with patience. ‘As a trainer you climb stairs and it is important that you do not miss a step,’ he knows. Muslic didn’t do that. The fact that the family fled when the war in Bosnia created a climate of uncertainty helped shape him. But not traumatized. “I don’t know much about that war anymore,” he says. ‘I grew up in Bihac, a town near the Croatian border. A little further away was a military airport. From there we flew to Belgrade as one of the last. I still remember my father’s panic because he thought he would be separated from us there. We took the train and drove all night through Hungary to Austria. The worst thing for me was that I had to leave my BMX behind in Bosnia.’

A new life began in Austria.

Miron Music: Initially it was a nomadic existence. My parents worked in the catering industry and moved from one place to another. We moved about fifteen times, sometimes I felt like a refugee. We lived together with a lot of people, we had no living space, no room, no toilet. We also had to change schools constantly. Always starting over, making new friends every time and in a different culture. Bosnians are loud and exuberant, Austrians are more businesslike and reserved. We had no home. While something to hold on to is so important for children. That is why my family continues to live in Austria while I work at Cercle Brugge.

I don’t blame my parents, they went out of their way for us. That’s how Bosnians are, they roll up their sleeves. The country is now rebuilding, although the wounds of the war are still visible thirty years later. By the way, we didn’t have poverty at home. Only we were never able to go on a school trip. There was no money for that. Then you notice: it’s not quite as it should be.

Football eventually became your lifeline.

Music: It was liberating. When you play football, your origin and identity card do not count, then you do not feel like a refugee. I was a headstrong striker, but stuck at a modest level, even though I was a Bosnian youth international. But I noticed early on that there was a trainer in me. At SC Ried I once had to train the U10 because the sports manager was not there for a few weeks. Training is a big word, it was more like animating the children. That went very well for me. There was a click, I noticed that they were enthusiastic, that I could really captivate them. That’s when I thought for the first time: I could start something with a group. That’s how I discovered my love for the coaching profession. The following summer I was allowed to train that team permanently, and later I progressed through other youth categories. A privilege, because it allowed me to get to know the profession in all its facets. Things shouldn’t be too easy.

But when you were promoted to head coach of SC Ried, you were fired after ten games.

Music: We had lost seven out of ten matches and not won once. Then as a trainer you have no right to speak. That period was very important for me, it was part of a learning process. With Ried I just wanted to go too fast, I had too little patience, was too strict and eventually hit a wall. Things had gone well that way before. My coaching career was constantly going up, like a rocket. And then you suddenly find yourself in an environment where things no longer work.

I failed as a trainer in Ried, so you shouldn’t look for excuses. But that failure was a turning point for me. As a trainer, you should not be afraid of failure. If you want to be successful, that’s part of it. It only makes you stronger, you learn to analyze and question yourself. I do that all the time. Even now, every day. Without that experience in Ried, I would not be at my current level.

At Cercle Brugge you were initially an assistant, but you left your mark very strongly.

Music: I got an assignment at Cercle. From Carlos Avina, the previous technical director. He was looking for a trainer who played high-pressing football. He had tracked me down through someone who was at Red Bull Salzburg and knew my way of working. Actually, Avina gave me a clear mission: put on a lot of pressure, rush the opponent. That’s how it should be for a young team like Cercle: playing forward, far from the own goal, aggressive, active, dynamic. The method that we are now increasingly mastering. Only in the beginning I was an assistant, first for a few weeks under Yves Vanderhaeghe and then under Dominik Thalhammer. Then you sometimes have to make a compromise. Not easy, although I have always been very loyal. But Avina promised me that I would get a chance as a head coach, at least if I carried out my assignment well. That opportunity has come. Then I was able to carry out my assignment even better.

In the meantime, there is no one who likes playing against Cercle.

Music: That’s a big compliment. Cercle is very unpleasant to play against. But our starting point is: to reach the opponent’s goal as quickly as possible in an athletic manner. That is, after all, modern football.

Cercle first and foremost prevents the opponent from playing football.

Music: That is formulated correctly. What is it ultimately about? That you find a concept that suits the capabilities of a team. The way we play football cannot be applied everywhere. For that you need a young, eager team. And that is how Cercle wants to profile itself, immediately lock up the opponent, it is the DNA of the association. It will remain that way in the future. We are going to take further steps within this philosophy. The group fully agrees with this. As a trainer, you also enforce this yourself. I am very demanding for the players, but even more demanding for myself. It is very important that they see that. Otherwise it will be difficult to sell your message and the players will not want to go the extra mile. And you should always be able to control your emotions. I’m not shouting on the line. Ultimately, as a trainer you have an exemplary role.