Tomaž Kavčič
Managerial career
Managerial career
-----------------

After finishing his playing career he took his first coaching job as assistant manager to Milan Miklavič at [Gorica](/wiki/ND_Gorica "ND Gorica") in 1995 where he worked until 1997 and got his first experience in the [Slovenian top tier](/wiki/Slovenian_PrvaLiga "Slovenian PrvaLiga"). "The Roses" were crowned champions of Slovenia for the first time in 1996 and a year later he joined [Črnuče Factor](/wiki/NK_Interblock "NK Interblock") in the second tier. After a brief one\-year spell he moved across town to [Svoboda](/wiki/NK_Svoboda "NK Svoboda") and stayed for another year before leading the amateur MNZ Ljubljana team in Slovenia's first [UEFA Regions' Cup](/wiki/UEFA_Regions%27_Cup "UEFA Regions' Cup") appearance in 1999\.

The same year he returned to Gorica under Miklavič and took charge of the youth team and for a short spell he made his debut in the First Division as coach of the senior team. Kavčič started his first full season as coach in the 1\. SNL at his hometown club [Bela Krajina](/wiki/NK_Bela_Krajina "NK Bela Krajina"), but after the 2001–02 season he went back to the lower leagues with [Grosuplje](/wiki/NK_Grosuplje_%28defunct%29 "NK Grosuplje (defunct)"). After another brief spell, his career really took off with two promotions in three years. After spending the first part of the 2003–04 season in the First Division with [Ljubljana](/wiki/NK_Ljubljana "NK Ljubljana"), Kavčič returned to Bela Krajina where he gained promotion in 2004\.

The team fought off relegation in 2004–05, but Kavčič took on a new challenge after two years in charge. Again he took over a second tier team, this time his old club Factor, and this time the small local team from the banks of the [Sava](/wiki/Sava "Sava") river gained promotion in 2006\. He didn't get the chance to lead his old side in the First Division, but instead returned to Bela Krajina in March 2007\. Fighting for survival, Bela Krajina became the first team to defeat [Domžale](/wiki/NK_Dom%C5%BEale "NK Domžale") (which later won the league) during the season, after beating them 1–0 in the 28th game round. However, Bela Krajina were nevertheless relegated and missed the relegation playoff by a single point with their interim manager leaving to take charge of [Livar](/wiki/NK_Livar "NK Livar") for the 2007–08 season which ended in relegation in their first and only appearance in the top tier.

### Slovenia under\-21 team

In February 2008, Kavčič took over the [Slovenia national under\-21 football team](/wiki/Slovenia_national_under-21_football_team "Slovenia national under-21 football team"). In 2012, Slovenia U21 came close to qualifying for their first ever [UEFA European Under\-21 Championship](/wiki/UEFA_European_Under-21_Championship "UEFA European Under-21 Championship") as his protégés [Kevin Kampl](/wiki/Kevin_Kampl "Kevin Kampl"), [Luka Krajnc](/wiki/Luka_Krajnc "Luka Krajnc"), [Haris Vučkić](/wiki/Haris_Vu%C4%8Dki%C4%87 "Haris Vučkić"), [Robert Berić](/wiki/Robert_Beri%C4%87 "Robert Berić"), [Dejan Lazarević](/wiki/Dejan_Lazarevi%C4%87_%28footballer%29 "Dejan Lazarević (footballer)") and others beat [Sweden](/wiki/Sweden_national_under-21_football_team "Sweden national under-21 football team") 2–1 at [Ljudski vrt](/wiki/Ljudski_vrt "Ljudski vrt") with Lazarević's penalty, but it wasn't enough for a play\-off berth as the Swedes won their last game against [Ukraine](/wiki/Ukraine_national_under-21_football_team "Ukraine national under-21 football team").

Kavčič managed his last game as the manager of under\-21 team in May 2014 in a 5–0 victory against [Andorra](/wiki/Andorra_national_under-21_football_team "Andorra national under-21 football team").

### Qingdao Jonoon

In July 2014, Kavčič was confirmed as the new manager of [Qingdao Jonoon](/wiki/Qingdao_Jonoon "Qingdao Jonoon"). The [Jia League](/wiki/Jia_League "Jia League") was already under way and Kavčič helped the club finish strongly, only to be denied in the fight for promotion by a seven\-point deduction following the January transfer of [Liu Jian](/wiki/Liu_Jian_%28footballer%29 "Liu Jian (footballer)"). His first full season didn't start as planned, but Jonoon soon silenced the critics after the opening day defeat against [Harbin Yiteng](/wiki/Harbin_Yiteng "Harbin Yiteng"). After the 4–1 loss they racked up a nine\-game unbeaten run which started with winning the Qingdao derby against [Qingdao Hainiu](/wiki/Qingdao_Hainiu_F.C. "Qingdao Hainiu F.C.") by two goals without reply.

[thumbnail\|left\|Kavčič signing autographs in Qingdao after winning the derby against Hainiu in July 2015\.](/wiki/File:Tomaz_Kavcic_and_fans_of_Qingdao_Jonoon.jpeg "Tomaz Kavcic and fans of Qingdao Jonoon.jpeg")
Round 10 brought renewed hope to the fans as one of the founding members of the Chinese [Super League](/wiki/Super_League "Super League") topped the league standings for the first time. Beating [Jiangxi Liansheng](/wiki/Jiangxi_Liansheng "Jiangxi Liansheng") 2–0 reignited talks of a return to the top tier in their second attempt. On 12 July Jonoon won the derby against city rivals Hainiu courtesy of a [Quan Lei](/wiki/Quan_Lei "Quan Lei") strike in the 80th minute but despite the 1–0 win a good run of results with a depleted squad Kavčič was frozen out of the team since the middle of July \- when Jonoon was still fighting for promotion.

On 5 October he confirmed that he and his assistant [Robert Englaro](/wiki/Robert_Englaro "Robert Englaro") are leaving the club by mutual consent with their now former team down in 7th place in the Jia League. Kavčič had lost overall control of the team months ago but remained in the city. Jonoon only won once since the controversial decision of the club's leadership and were in danger of finishing in the bottom half of the table. He immediately returned to China and became head coach of [Hunan Xiangtao](/wiki/Hunan_Xiangtao "Hunan Xiangtao") on 30 November.

### Hunan Xiangtao

In [Yiyang](/wiki/Yiyang "Yiyang") he once more formed a partnership with Englaro and they took charge of a team that barely fought off relegation in 2015\. Slovenian defender [Rok Elsner](/wiki/Rok_Elsner "Rok Elsner") was one of only a few signings the team made before the start of the new season. They started off by surprisingly holding promotion chasers [Beijing Renhe](/wiki/Beijing_Renhe "Beijing Renhe") to a goalless draw in their home opener, followed by a win against another title contender [Dalian Yifang](/wiki/Dalian_Yifang "Dalian Yifang"). Ten\-man Hunan held [Vanderlei Luxemburgo](/wiki/Vanderlei_Luxemburgo "Vanderlei Luxemburgo")'s high\-scoring [Tianjin Songijang](/wiki/Tianjin_Songjiang "Tianjin Songjiang") to a 1–1 draw in the next fixture, [Luis Carlos Cabezas](/wiki/Luis_Carlos_Cabezas "Luis Carlos Cabezas") scoring from a penalty in injury time. After a promising start [Guizhou Hengfeng Zhicheng](/wiki/Guizhou_Hengfeng_Zhicheng_F.C. "Guizhou Hengfeng Zhicheng F.C.") beat Hunan 2–0 at home and Kavčič suffered his first official defeat at the Yiyang based club. More defeats followed and together with internal dissent which almost cost Hunan relegation in 2015 the team dropped down the table. Kavčič offered to resign and before leaving the club he was offered an adviser's role.

### Slovenia national team

On 4 December 2017, Kavčič was appointed as the new manager of the [Slovenian national team](/wiki/Slovenia_national_football_team "Slovenia national football team"), replacing Katanec. Kavčič was previously a part of Katanec's technical team between 2016 and 2017\. After five defeats in seven matches, he was sacked on 17 October 2018, becoming the shortest\-serving Slovenian manager in history.


Who is Kavčič?