Cultivated, hardworking, intelligent, sociable, discreet, passionate are the words most used to describe Luka Elsner, the 42-year-old Slovenian coach, who succeeded the Parisian Samba Diawara and especially the Anglo-Belgian Will Still on the bench from the Stade de Reims last June.
While his team is going through a zone of turbulence – three defeats in a row – the former central defender reconnects with his recent past by returning this Sunday to a hospitable and welcoming environment. The perfect opportunity to discover the little secrets in your book of memories.
FOOTBALL IS ANCHORED IN HIS FAMILY
Luka was raised to the rhythm of the bounce of a soccer ball. His father Marko (died in 2020) was a Yugoslav and then Slovenian international central defender. His grandfather Branco was Austria coach from 1985 to 1987.
HE STARTS HIS CAREER AT OGC Nice
Born in Ljubljana (Yugoslavia), Luka Elsner spent his childhood and adolescence in Nice, in the Fabron district. His brother Rok is friends with Hugo LLoris, his neighbor. Gautier, Hugo's big brother, joined Le Havre AC in 2022, coached by… Luka Elsner. Although he started at OGC Nice, it was in the Slovenian club NK Domzale that he signed his first professional contract.
HE BECAME A COACH AT 30
After a quick stint in Austria (six months at Austria Kärnten), defender Luka Elsner moved to Bahrain (AI Muharraq Club), but it was at NK Domzale, at only 30 years old, that he ended his career. average career record: 242 matches in Slovenian and Austrian Ligue 1, and one selection for the Slovenian national team (1-0 defeat against Sweden on May 26, 2008).
NOT CROWNED IN BELGIUM
Three years as head coach at NK Domzale, one year at NK Olimpija Ljubljana, one year at Paphos FC (Cyprus). It was at the Union Saint-Gilloise (Belgium), which he joined in 2018, that the Amiens leaders recruited him (June 19, 2019). Under his orders, and during a shortened season due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Picardy club was relegated to L2. After a brief stopover (6 months) at KV Kortrijk, he joined Standard de Liège with Will Still as first assistant. At the end of the classic phase, the “Rouches” are 14estheir worst ranking in 76 years. The failure was total, the duo was fired in spring 2022.
SEINOMARIN OF HEART
The breakthrough occurred within Le Havre AC, the oldest French club where he formed a winning duo with sports director Mathieu Bodmer. Thanks in particular to an iron defense (19 goals conceded, only 3 defeats), the Hac validates its return to the elite after fifteen years of waiting, with the added bonus of the trophy of “best coach in Ligue 2” for the Druid of the Sky and Navy. Renewed during the 2023-2024 season, Luka Elsner laboriously succeeds in his “maintenance” bet (15e)
THE PRICE OF HOPE
The Reims leaders, who have followed him since his stay in Amiens (2019-2020), place him at the top of their short list of successors to Will Still. After three weeks of an endless poker game, and compensation paid to the HAC approaching 500,000 euros, he officially joined Champagne for two seasons. “ Personally, I didn't take his departure very well. », Recently confessed Mathieu Bodmer.
SUNDAY OF SUFFERING
Forty-one days have passed. Between small resentments and big emotions, Luka Elsner will experience a Sunday of high tension. Between his old team which is regaining color (1-0 victory against Montpellier) and his new squad which is slipping dangerously (three consecutive defeats), the file of the summer risks rising to the surface.
