 Pahars in 2020 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | (1976-08-05)5 August 1976 (age 49) | ||
| Place of birth | Chornobai,Ukrainian SSR (nowUkraine) | ||
| Height | 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) | ||
| Position | Forward | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1994 | Pārdaugava | 17 | (3) |
| 1995 | Skonto-Metāls | 16 | (4) |
| 1995–1998 | Skonto | 85 | (44) |
| 1999–2006 | Southampton | 137 | (43) |
| 2006–2007 | Anorthosis Famagusta | 19 | (4) |
| 2008 | Skonto | 19 | (8) |
| 2009–2010 | Jūrmala | 2 | (0) |
| Total | 295 | (106) | |
| International career | |||
| 1996–2007 | Latvia[1] | 75 | (15) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2011–2012 | Skonto | ||
| 2013 | Latvia U21 | ||
| 2013–2017 | Latvia | ||
| 2018–2019 | Jelgava | ||
| 2021 | Siena | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Marians Pahars (born 5 August 1976) is aLatvian professionalfootballmanager and a former player.[2]
As a player, he spent the majority of his career operating as astriker forEnglish clubSouthampton, where he played in thePremier League and theChampionship, the latter of which he played during his final season for the club. Furthermore, he had two spells atSkonto in theLatvian Higher League. He also made 75 appearances for theLatvia national team, scoring 15 goals over an eleven-year period.
Having retired from football, Pahars entered a career in coaching, starting as assistant at Skonto, which resulted in his first appointment as a manager. He went on to manage Latvia at theunder-21 and senior level, before returning to club management withJelgava.
HisLatvian given name isMarians; however, he was generally known asMarian during his career in England.
Born inChornobai inUkraine to Latvian parents, Pahars grew up supportingSpartak Moscow. When he was about eight years old,Jurijs Andrejevs, a coach fromSkonto visited his school, as a result of which Pahars decided to play football. Andrejevs was to have a major influence on Pahars’ football career.
At 18, he signed forPardaugava Riga moving on to Skonto Metāls and then into theSkonto first-team in 1995. He started playing as amidfielder, usually on the wings, before moving into a striker's role.
His best goal ratio came in 1995, when he scored eight in nine games, which he followed up with 12 goals in 28 games the following season, as he became a regular in theLatvia national team. In his prime, he was dubbed the "LatvianMichael Owen".
In the 1998 season, he scored 19 goals in 26 games for Skonto, and his progress was attracting attention from bigger clubs; he had trials withSalernitana (Italy),Werder Bremen (Germany) andCasino Salzburg (Austria), but he was recommended to Southampton's managerDave Jones byGary Johnson – the manager of the Latvian national team.
He had a trial in a reserve team match againstOxford United on 10 February 1999 in which he scored a perfecthat-trick – a header and a goal with each foot in a 7–1 victory.
Southampton agreed a fee withSkonto of around £800,000 and, despite difficulties in obtaining a work permit and objections from theProfessional Footballers' Association, these problems were overcome and he joined the Saints in March 1999, thus becoming the first Latvian to play in thePremier League.
He finally made his debut as a 70th-minute substitute away toCoventry City on 5 April 1999, with his home debut atThe Dell coming on 17 April, when he came off the bench to score the crucial equaliser – and almost got a winner – againstBlackburn Rovers in a 3–3 draw. At this time, the Saints were desperately trying to survive in the Premier League, and had gone into the final game of the season needing a win to guarantee their place for a further season. Pahars scored twice in the 2–0 win overEverton at the Dell, thus securing the Saints’ status in the Premiership for the following season.
He made 33 appearances during the1999–00 season, finishing as the club's top scorer with 13 goals. By now,Dave Jones had been replaced as manager byGlenn Hoddle, who decided to move Pahars to a wide position, with the theory that he could scare the opposition, with his dribbling and pace, and provide for others as well as score himself.
After an impressive start to the2000–01 season – finding the net six times as a striker, he returned to a deeper role, and his form slumped as a result. He was still a threat providing his teammates with opportunities, but his form was patchy and inconsistent and he only found the net three more times to take his tally for the season to nine goals.
After an indifferent start to the following season, he came off the bench to score the winner away toBolton Wanderers on 15 September 2001. He scored at a regular rate over the next three months including the winner in a 1–0 victory overCharlton Athletic on 24 November – the Saints' first win in their newSt Mary's Stadium.
Unfortunately, after the New Year, the goals dried up again, but he finished the season with his best total for the Saints of 16 goals in League andFA Cup. Pahars' 16 goals and 14 from strike partnerJames Beattie meant that the duo had the second best strike rate in the Premiership.
In the summer of 2002, Pahars required ahernia operation, which forced him to miss the whole of pre-season and although he scored a penalty in a 1–0 home win over Everton on 11 September, he never fully recovered from his injury. His early season was rather stop-start and was not helped by the suspension for receiving a red card at home toManchester City on 5 October. He then severely injured an ankle in November 2002, which kept him out for most of the rest of the season, with another operation on the eve of theFA Cup final to round off a miserable2002–03 season.
The start to the2003–04 season was again hampered by injury and comebacks for the reserves were ruined by injury recurrences. He did manage to play the closing minutes, as Latvia claimed a place atEuro 2004. With that as an added incentive to get himself fully fit, he found himself back in the Saints starting line up for three successive games, which all ended in victories. His first goal of the season – and in more than a year – came at home to local rivalsPortsmouth on 21 December 2003 in a 3–0 home win, when he curled a superb right footer into the bottom right corner.
After recovering from injury, he was then injured in2004–05 pre-season in an away match at Swindon Town. A heavy, late tackle to the same ankle which had already undergone three operations[3] ruled him out of the early part of the season. Comebacks for the reserves were promising, until problems flared up again, causing him to miss the whole of the season in frustrating circumstances, as the Saints were relegated after 28 years in the top flight of English Football.
His2005–06 season was another frustrating one with injury after injury again seeing his comebacks ruined. He did make ten appearances during the season, scoring one goal, but it was not enough to save his Saints career, and, in May 2006, after seven years with 156 appearances and 45 goals for the club, it was announced that his contract with Southampton would not be renewed for the following season.
After the final game of the season, on 30 April 2006 Pahars took part in a 'lap of appreciation' by the Saints players around the St Mary's pitch, in an emotional goodbye for the player and many of the Southampton fans present.
InJuly 2006 Pahars signed withAnorthosis Famagusta, aCypriot team managed by former Georgian InternationalTemuri Ketsbaia.
His injury problems were frequent during his stay at the club, and, as a result, in January 2008, he was released.
In 2008, he joined his former clubSkonto, playing there for one season and helping the club reach good results in the national championship. After that season, he left Skonto, and joinedJūrmala, finishing his career there with two games in the national championship.
Pahars broke into the Latvia national team at the start of 1996, and made his debut on 12 March 1996 in a 1–0 friendly defeat away toCyprus. His first goal for his country came in his ninth match at home toPoland in a 3–2 defeat also in a friendly on 17 February 1997.
On 2 September 2006, he returned to the Latvia national team for a match againstSweden. All in all, he played 75 times and scored 15 goals for Latvia.
Despite Latvia not qualifying for theWorld Cup Finals they did have success in June 2001 when they beatEstonia andLithuania, to lift theBaltic Cup, with Pahars scoring in both games. Pahars was then namedLatvian Footballer of the Year for a third successive year in November 2001.
During a spell of injuries, he managed to play in the closing minutes as Latvia claimed a place in theEuropean Championships in 2004 with a 2–2 draw inTurkey on 19 November 2003.
He again struggled for full fitness, before scoring his first goal for Latvia in a 3–1 friendly win overKazakhstan on 18 February – his first international goal since May 2002.
With so many injury problems over the season, he was a substitute for all three of 2004 UEFA Latvia's Group matches atEuro 2004, although he did taste the championships by coming off the bench in all three games.
In 2010, Pahars accepted an offer to becomeAleksandrs Starkovs' assistant atSkonto, alongside legendaryVitālijs Astafjevs. He became the champion of Latvia in 2010 once again, this time in an assistant manager's role.
In 2011,Starkovs left forBaku in Azerbaijan and Pahars became the manager of the club.[4] Managing the club for two seasons, he helped the club win theBaltic League in 2011 and lift theLatvian Football Cup, as well as finish as the runners-up of theLatvian Higher League in 2012.
In December 2012, Pahars leftSkonto, being succeeded byTamaz Pertia.
Pahars accepted the opportunity to return to coaching, when the offer fromLFF allowed him to become the manager ofLatvian under-21 national team. Not long after his appointment, on 11 July 2013, Pahars was promoted, becoming the manager of thenation's senior team, shortly afterAleksandrs Starkovs vacated his position.[5]
As manager, Pahars guided Latvia to the2014 and2016 Baltic Cups.[6][7] However, he failed to guide the nation to qualification to theFIFA World Cup for both the2014 and2018 tournaments, as well as failing for qualification to theUEFA European Championship for the2016 tournament.[8]
Pahars returned to Latvian domestic football, taking charge ofJelgava ahead of their2018 Latvian Higher League campaign. He guided them to a sixth-place finish in his inaugural season in charge.[9]
In his second season in charge, Jelgava finished in seventh place in theLatvian Higher League, a minor drop in a position from their previous league campaign, with Pahars departing the club at the end of that season.[10]
On 26 January 2021, he was hired by Italian clubSiena, which was in the fourth-tierSerie D at the time due to previous bankruptcy.[11] He resigned less than a month later, on 10 February, following a negative string of results.[12]
Pahars was a candidate forHonoured to serve Riga in the2020 Riga City Council election, but was not elected.[13]
 | This section of abiography of a living persondoes notinclude anyreferences or sources. Please help by addingreliable sources. Contentious material about living people that is unsourced or poorly sourcedmust be removed immediately. Find sources: "Marians Pahars" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(April 2021) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
| Club | Season | League | National Cup | League Cup | Europe | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Pārdaugava | 1994 | Latvian Higher League | 17 | 3 | ||||||||
| Skonto-Metāls | 1995 | Latvian Higher League | 16 | 4 | ||||||||
| Skonto | 1995 | Latvian Higher League | 9 | 8 | ||||||||
| 1996 | 28 | 12 | ||||||||||
| 1997 | 22 | 5 | ||||||||||
| 1998 | 26 | 19 | ||||||||||
| Total | 85 | 44 | ||||||||||
| Southampton | 1998–99 | Premier League | 6 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 6 | 3 | |
| 1999–2000 | 33 | 13 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | – | 38 | 13 | |||
| 2000–01 | 31 | 9 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | – | 37 | 9 | |||
| 2001–02 | 36 | 14 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | – | 39 | 16 | |||
| 2002–03 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | 10 | 1 | |||
| 2003–04 | 14 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | 16 | 2 | |||
| 2004–05 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | 0 | |||
| 2005–06 | Championship | 8 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 10 | 1 | ||
| Total | 137 | 43 | 10 | 1 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 156 | 45 | ||
| Anorthosis Famagusta | 2006–07 | First Division | 17 | 4 | ||||||||
| 2007–08 | 2 | 0 | ||||||||||
| Total | 19 | 4 | ||||||||||
| Skonto | 2008 | Latvian Higher League | 19 | 8 | ||||||||
| Jūrmala | 2009 | Latvian Higher League | 2 | 0 | ||||||||
| Career total | 295 | 106 | ||||||||||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Latvia | 1996 | 5 | 0 |
| 1997 | 13 | 2 | |
| 1998 | 11 | 5 | |
| 1999 | 6 | 2 | |
| 2000 | 6 | 0 | |
| 2001 | 8 | 4 | |
| 2002 | 6 | 1 | |
| 2003 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2004 | 6 | 1 | |
| 2005 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2006 | 3 | 0 | |
| 2007 | 9 | 0 | |
| Total | 75 | 15 | |
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 17 February 1997 | Dherynia,Cyprus |  Poland | 1–2 | 2–3 | 1997 Cyprus International Football Tournament |
| 2. | 10 July 1997 | Vilnius,Lithuania |  Estonia | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1997 Baltic Cup |
| 3. | 25 June 1998 | Valga,Estonia | Estonia | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1998 Baltic Cup |
| 4. | 8 February 1998 | Ta'Qali,Malta |  Malta | 1–1 | 1–2 | 1998 Malta International Football Tournament |
| 5. | 10 February 1998 |  Albania | 1–0 | 2–2 | ||
| 6. | 2–2 | |||||
| 7. | 6 September 1998 | Oslo,Norway |  Norway | 1–0 | 3–1 | UEFA Euro 2000 qualifying |
| 8. | 5 June 1999 | Riga, Latvia |  Slovenia | 1–0 | 1–2 | |
| 9. | 9 October 1999 | Norway | 1–1 | 1–2 | ||
| 10. | 25 April 2001 |  San Marino | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification | |
| 11. | 2 June 2001 | Brussels,Belgium |  Belgium | 1–3 | 1–3 | |
| 12. | 3 July 2001 | Riga, Latvia | Estonia | 2–1 | 3–1 | 2001 Baltic Cup |
| 13. | 5 July 2001 |  Lithuania | 2–1 | 4–1 | ||
| 14. | 22 May 2002 | Helsinki,Finland |  Finland | 1–0 | 1–2 | Friendly |
| 15. | 18 February 2004 | Larnaca,Cyprus |  Kazakhstan | 1–1 | 3–1 | 2004 Cyprus International Football Tournament |
| This section of abiography of a living persondoes notinclude anyreferences or sources. Please help by addingreliable sources. Contentious material about living people that is unsourced or poorly sourcedmust be removed immediately. Find sources: "Marians Pahars" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(June 2021) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
| Team | From | To | Record | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | D | L | Win % | |||
| Skonto | 11 January 2011 | 21 December 2012 | 78 | 44 | 20 | 14 | 056.41 |
| Latvia[17] | 11 July 2013 | 1 June 2017 | 33 | 7 | 11 | 15 | 021.21 |
| Jelgava | 27 March 2018 | 9 November 2019 | 60 | 15 | 14 | 31 | 025.00 |
| Siena | 25 January 2021 | 10 February 2021 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 000.00 |
| Total | 176 | 66 | 46 | 64 | 037.50 | ||
Skonto
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