Miodrag Ješić

Miodrag Ješić (Миодраг Јешић, ; 30 November 1958 – 8 December 2022) was a Serbian football manager and player.

Playing career
Born in Osečenica, Ješić played for Partizan between 1974 and 1985, taking part in 342 matches and scoring 81 goals in all competitions.

Between 1985 and 1989 he represented Altay SK, where he recorded 136 matches and 29 goals, and finished his career at Trabzonspor in 1989–90 with 37 matches and 9 goals in total.

Ješić was immensely disliked amongst the Fenerbahçe supporters because they viewed him as responsible for an injury suffered by Rıdvan Dilmen in 1990 during a league match between Fenerbahçe and Trabzonspor. Dilmen never fully recovered despite undergoing sixteen operations, and eventually had to retire in 1995 at Fenerbahçe after painful years of injuries. Ješić had also accumulated a record number of bookings in his tenure in Süper Lig. Opponents claimed that he also injured many players in Turkey and gave him the nickname of "Kasap Yeşiç", which means "Ješić the Butcher."

For the Yugoslavia national team, he played in eight games and scored twice.

Coaching career
As a manager, Ješić began his career at FK Obilić in 1994, earning promotion to the First League of FR Yugoslavia, and then managed several other Serbian teams, including OFK Beograd and his native Partizan, that, during his period at the helm, scored 111 goals in a single season, a club record. He also recorded wins over Flora (6–0, 4–1) and Rijeka (3–1, 3–0) in UEFA Champions League qualifiers.

After coaching Tunisian side CS Sfaxien in 2000–01 and winning the Arab Champions League, he was at the helm of Turkish club Altay in 2002 and moved to Bulgaria in 2002 to manage Slavia Sofia and then Iranian Pegah Gilan, after which he became the manager of CSKA Sofia. During this period he became a Champion of Bulgaria and recorded a win over Liverpool in the UEFA Champions League qualifying phase, also eliminating Bayer Leverkusen in the UEFA Cup. Voted coach no. 1 for season 2004–05 by Bulgarian sport newspaper.

In May 2006 he became the coach of Partizan for the second time in his coaching career. However, following a disappointing first half of the season, he left the club in January 2007. Since November 2007 he was coaching Litex Lovech. With him Litex won the Bulgarian Cup.

In June 2008, he signed with Romanian Liga I newcomers CS Otopeni and following a series of defeats his agreement was terminated early on 18 August 2008.

In September 2008, he signed a one-year contract with Montenegrin First League team FK Budućnost Podgorica.

In July 2009, he signed a one-year contract with Libyan First League team Al-Ittihad Tripoli. On 22 September 2009, Al Ittihad won the Libyan Super Cup, beating Tarsana 3–2.

On 16 June 2010, Ješić was appointed to the manager of Changsha Ginde replacing Hao Wei.

On 19 June 2011, he was named as Shahrdari Tabriz F.C.'s new head coach replacing Hamid Derakhshan but he was sacked by the club on 24 December 2011.

On 24 June 2012, he was named as Saudi Professional League side Najran's new head coach. On 7 January 2013, Ješić was reappointed CSKA Sofia manager, replacing Stoycho Mladenov, but was surprisingly released from his duties on 11 March 2013, after just two games in charge of the team, one of which was won.

In late 2013, he was close to becoming the new Vancouver Whitecaps FC head coach.

On 31 March 2014 Ješić was appointed head coach of Litex Lovech and was assisted by Darko Obradović.

On 14 June 2017, he was named as Saudi Professional League side Al-Ettifaq's coach. He was fired on 10 December 2017.

On 31 August 2019, the Egyptian club Ismaily SC appointed Ješić as the team's new head coach, succeeding Mahmoud Gaber.

On 7 July 2022, Saudi First Division League side Al-Shoulla appointed Ješić as the team's new manager. On 29 September 2022, he was sacked after five matches.

Personal life and death
Ješić was married to Irena, with whom he had a daughter named Tara. In 2001, while coaching CS Sfaxien, his daughter Jelena died in a traffic collision at the age of nineteen.

Ješić, aged 64, died on 8 December 2022 in a car accident near the town of Ruma.

Player
Partizan
 * Yugoslav First League: 1982–83

Manager
CS Sfaxien CSKA Sofia Litex Lovech Al-Ittihad Tripoli Yangon United
 * Arab Champions League: 2000
 * Bulgarian First League: 2004–05
 * Bulgarian Cup: 2006
 * Bulgarian Cup: 2008
 * Bulgarian Supercup: 2007, 2008
 * Libyan Premier League: 2008–09, 2009–10
 * Libyan Cup: 2009
 * Libyan Super Cup: 2009, 2010
 * Myanmar National League: 2015