South Africa's Premier Soccer League has been a home to coaches from the former Yugoslavia for a long time, although it is fair to say their success has been mixed.
Bloemfontein Celtic's Veselin Jelusic is the latest name on a growing list of coaches from what is now Serbia, and he has already made a massive impact at a club that survived relegation on the final day of last season.
Micho Sredojevic is back for a second spell at Orlando Pirates, while Vladimir Vermezovic, Kosta Papic, Zoran Pesic, Zoran Filipovic, Vladislav Heric and Miloslav Bjelica have all worked in the country before.
The PSL is attractive to coaches for a number of reasons - the salaries are good and are paid on time, the facilities, especially these days, are mostly top class, while the standard of living in the country high and comparatively cheap, especially set against Europe.
The product on the pitch needs some work, but there is enough in the talent pool for coaches to work at a high level and the science behind the game has improved immensely also.
The softly-spoken Jelusic has found instant success, having taken many people's pre-season relegation candidates into the top four in the league a third of the way through the campaign, while reaching the final of the Telkom Knockout.
Those feats led to him being named Absa Premiership Coach of the Month for October.
With just two defeats in 12 games in all competitions, he has brought confidence back into the club that was missing last season, and tightened up their defensive play.
There is still work to be done in converting goal-scoring chances, but it is still a vast improvement for a team that netted just 16 goals in 30 leagues games last season.
Celtic CEO Khumbulani Konco says Jelusic brings a calmness to the squad, a change from the rather frantic feeling among the players last season.
"He has brought stability to the team and that has bred confidence among the players," Konco told SowetanLIVE.
"Bar one game where he made six or so changes, he has been very consistent with the team selection and that shows in the way the side is performing.
"You can now see the belief in the boys, walking around the club they are oozing confidence and that is a big change from recently."
Jelusic had flown somewhat under the radar in African football, but has some notable successes in the past.
He is lauded for his work with the Botswana national team at the turn of the century and also briefly coached Angola.
"My time in Angola and Botswana helped me to prepare for life in South Africa. I was able to see the quality of South African football in my time in Botswana and Angola, which is what also persuaded me to come here. Those stints helped me understand the culture here,"Jelusic commented.
Sredojevic will face up to Jelusic on Sunday when Pirates travel to Celtic, which will mean a reunion with a man who has played a role in his career development.
"Jelusic is a top class gentleman and a top-class coach. He was my professor at university [University of Belgrade] in the 1990s," Sredojevic said during a Pirates press conference on Tuesday.
"We have kept in contact all these years, especially as he was working in Botswana and Angola. He is like my elder brother, I have the highest possible degree of respect."
Celtic could conceivably go top of the Absa Premiership on Wednesday, when they travel to Platinum Stars, although they would need a big win to overtake Baroka FC on goal-difference.
But to even be in the mix is a massive turnaround for a club often spoken about as the sleeping giant of South African football, one that enjoys great support but has a modest trophy haul.
Whether Jelusic is the man to change that will become known in the coming months and, perhaps, years.