Aleš Pajovič: “I am not the typical Balkan coach”

“I'm not surprised that so many former Ciudad Real players are now successful coaches. We all learned a lot from Talant Dujshebaev and Raul Gonzalez and we won the Champions League three times,” says Pajovič. “Today there are seven or eight former teammates who are coaches, including Roberto at Melsungen, of course, but also David Davis for Bucharest, Uros Zorman for Slovenia, Chema Rodriguez for Hungary, Alberto Entrerrios for Limoges and Didier Dinart for Montenegro. That was definitely a good school for later-on coaches in Ciudad Real.” 

Until January, the Slovenian-born former back-court shooter and defence specialist was coaching only the Austria national team. Then he took the helm at Flensburg as successor of Nicolej Krickau, with whom SG parted ways in the middle of December. “I was surprised when I received the request from Flensburg. Normally you think that always a Scandinavian will coach Flensburg. But then Ljubomir Vranjes called and told me that they were planning in a different direction, with me. Of course, it's a great honour when one of the biggest clubs in the world contacts you.”

Pajovič agreed under the condition that he could continue as Austria national team coach until the end of the EHF EURO 2026 Qualifiers, and then fully focus on Flensburg. By beating Türkiye and — even more importantly in the qualification race — Switzerland (in a true thriller) in the final rounds, Pajovič steered Austria to the EHF EURO 2026. 

“It was the perfect farewell. We qualified for the EHF EURO 2026 with a win and in a sold-out arena in Graz — the place where I started my career as a club coach. I'm proud of that. I'm not worried about the future of the Austria team. For me personally, saying goodbye to the boys was of course sad. I felt satisfied and happy, a little sad, but I'm looking forward to the future.”

Pajovič was Austria coach for six years. In this era, they qualified for the EHF EURO (including 2026 and not including their co-hosted edition in 2020) four consecutive times, finished their best EURO ranking of eighth twice, were twice part of the World Championship and even had their first appearance at an Olympic qualification tournament.

“We have managed to make a difference in Austrian handball over the last six years. Many players have taken big steps and went abroad. Especially after the EHF EURO 2024, the public interest has also increased. It's incredible to see how many Austrians are suddenly interested in handball,” says Pajovič. “We've had an incredible six years together. It has been an honour and I am very proud of the time.”

Since 12 May, Pajovič’s only job is at Flensburg — and he knows why they signed him: “I have a two-year contract and it's obvious that our goals are high: We want to compete for the titles in the league and the Cup and want to return to the Champions League.”

In January, he had to switch from national team to club within days. “Three days after we finished the World Championship with Austria, we had our first training session in Flensburg, and the first game straight after that. During the World Championship, I was able to adjust a little to what it's like to be a club coach again: We had a game every other day. Since then, we've made small steps forward.”

Pajovič had his debut in the European League with the start of the main round — and has not yet lost an international match with the defending champions. They beat Gummersbach twice and drew with Toulouse twice to finish on top of their group, followed by two victories against GOG in the quarter-finals. Flensburg and their northern rivals from Kiel are the only unbeaten clubs who will be on court at the Maschinensucher EHF Finals — both with 10 wins and two draws. In the Bundesliga, Kiel and Flensburg are equal on points too — each six points below the top duo of Berlin and Melsungen.

“Flensburg is a top team with high goals, and the EHF Finals in Hamburg are the last chance to win a title this season,” says Pajovič, who is happy with his start in general. “I have arrived well in my new job. Coaching a club is simply a completely different task to coaching a national team.”

Also, his new home region fascinates him. “I live by the sea, which is great for a Slovenian. Flensburg is a beautiful town. I've had really great months so far. In the mountains I was mostly on my mountain bike. Now I need a new hobby — maybe sailing, because golf is not really my thing.”

Pajovič also copes well with the number of Scandinavian players in his squad: “Scandinavians have their own mentality, of course, but I'm not the typical Balkan coach either. I'm more the calm type. And we quickly found a common path together. It's all a process — you saw that with the Austria national team. In the first three years it was development work, then we achieved success. And it's similar at the club: Players come and players go.”

Looking ahead to Hamburg, it will be the first duel between Flensburg and Melsungen in an international competition. In the current Bundesliga season, the sides won their home match against the other (33:24; 35:33).

“The semi-final against Melsungen in Hamburg is a 50:50 game. MT are playing an outstanding season, as the table shows. But of course, our goal is to reach the final — and then win the trophy. It's quite bitter that we'll be missing Simon Pytlick, and Benjamin Buric was also injured. But we have a whole week to prepare for Melsungen.”

Photos: Lau Nielsen (main); Ingrid Anderson Jensen; ÖHB/Agentur DIENER/Eva Manhart; Alexander Wagner / SHV; Marco Wolf/DHB