Pavel Vrba


Pavel Vrba is a Czech football manager and former player, current coach of Ludogorets Razgrad. He is known for applying an offensive football philosophy in the teams he coaches.
As a player, Vrba played for several clubs including Baník Ostrava. As a coach, he led several Czech and Slovak clubs, including a Czech First League record of five seasons in charge of FC Viktoria Plzeň, whom he led to two league titles, one cup title, and three consecutive seasons of participation in the UEFA Europa League knockout stage – a record for any Czech club.

Managerial career

Early career

Having been assistant to manager Erich Cviertna, Vrba took charge of FC Baník Ostrava for a short time towards the end of the 2002–03 Czech First League after Cviertna's departure. His first match in charge resulted in a 7–0 loss for Ostrava away to Slavia Prague.
He won the Slovak Superleague with MŠK Žilina in the 2006-2007 season and led the team to second place the following season.

Plzeň

In 2010, he led Viktoria Plzeň to the victory in the Czech Cup for the first time in the club history. He was voted the Czech Coach of the Year for 2010. In the 2010/2011 season of the Czech First League, he won the league with Viktoria Plzeň for the first time in the club history. Vrba was awarded the title "Czech Coach of the Year" for 2012, symbolising the third consecutive year he had won the award. He led Plzeň to a second league title in 2013. In October 2013 Vrba led Plzen for a 152nd consecutive top-flight match, setting a league record. Despite having a contract with Plzeň until June 2015, the Czech Football Association activated a buy-out clause, paying his club 8 million Czech koruna and he was announced as the new manager of the Czech Republic national football team in November 2013. His last game in charge of the club was the 2013–14 UEFA Champions League group stage tie against CSKA Moscow which Plzeň won 2–1 with a last-minute goal from Tomáš Wágner, thus earning them a place in the Europa League knockout stage. At the end of the match, the fans unfurled a banner reading "always remember that it wasn't wasted time".

Honours

Managerial

; Žilina
; Viktoria Plzeň
; Ludogorets Razgrad