Haim Silvas

Silvas grew up in Maccabi Haifa's youth department, later recalling that he spent his childhood there as a footballer.[4] He remembered scoring in a derby at around age 12½, which he described as the first time he played 11-a-side football, and also recalled scoring an unforgettable goal for Maccabi Haifa against Ajax, though no date or match score was recorded.[4]

As a senior player, Silvas represented several Israeli clubs. In addition to coming through Maccabi Haifa's youth system, he played for Beitar Jerusalem, Bnei Yehuda, Hapoel Kfar Saba, and Hapoel Be'er Sheva, among others.[2] In a later interview he said he preferred being a player to being a coach, describing playing as "the peak of emotion," while also acknowledging that he believed he had achieved more as a coach and still had room to progress.[4]

Silvas's first coaching season was as a youth coach at Hapoel Ra'anana, where his team earned promotion to the top division — an experience he recalled as formative and one that shaped his identity and confidence as a coach.[4] After that youth role, he began his senior coaching path at Hapoel Afula in 2011 and later worked as Menachem Koretzky's assistant at Ra'anana before becoming head coach.[1][4]

By March 2015, Silvas was Ra'anana's first-team head coach and had already been through a notable mid-season dismissal and reinstatement, having been fired and rehired over just four days in January of that year.[7] After his return, the club won six of its next eight matches and sat fifth in the league, advancing its bid to reach the Championship Playoffs.[8] By November 2015, Ra'anana was again fifth, with the club credited for its performances despite what was described as one of the league's shallowest squads.[7] Hapoel Tel Aviv was reported to have inquired about Silvas's services during that period.[7] Silvas himself later credited Ra'anana owners Asher Elon and Damian Reitman with his career, saying that without his reinstatement he would not have continued in the Premier League, and noting he was the only one of four young coaches given top-flight opportunities that season to be brought back after dismissal.[4]

His greatest coaching achievement, by his own assessment, was guiding Hapoel Ra'anana to the Israeli Premier League upper playoff — a result he valued more highly than similar achievements at Bnei Sakhnin or Hapoel Haifa.[4] He recalled a defining win at Bloomfield Stadium over Maccabi Tel Aviv, then managed by Slaviša Jokanović, as a result that convinced Ra'anana it could reach the upper playoff, and a victory at Sammy Ofer Stadium over Maccabi Haifa the year before, which he described as the first defeat the latter club had suffered at the new ground.[4]

Silvas coached Ironi Kiryat Shmona from 2017 to 2019.[1] He later described the Kiryat Shmona spell as his greatest coaching failure: despite what he considered a highly talented squad, the team finished seventh and reached the State Cup semifinal without qualifying for the upper playoff, falling below his own expectations.[4] He attributed the shortfall partly to his own inexperience and mistakes, saying he had not yet been sufficiently developed as a coach.[4]

Silvas was appointed Hapoel Haifa head coach in April 2019.[9] A season preview for 2019–20 noted that he would have a healthy Almog Buzaglo available, alongside Eden Ben Basat, Gili Vermouth, Niso Capiloto, and Idan Shemesh.[10] In March 2020, a goalless draw with Bnei Yehuda secured Haifa's place in the Championship Playoffs; Silvas called it an "exclamation mark on a very tough season" and said the players, fans, and owner deserved the achievement.[11] The club finished sixth that season.[9] His time in charge also produced a memorable 2–1 Haifa derby win over Maccabi Haifa in November 2020: after Maccabi equalized from the penalty spot in the 84th minute, Liran Sardel scored the winner in the 91st minute.[12] Silvas said the club had gone through a difficult period and that the win was needed to get the team going.[12] He was dismissed from the role in April 2021 following a poor subsequent campaign.[9]

Silvas joined Bnei Sakhnin in January 2022 after the club parted ways with Sharon Mimer.[13] In May 2022, Sakhnin beat Maccabi Tel Aviv 1–0 on a 95th-minute goal by Guy Melamed, keeping the club's European qualification hopes alive; Silvas described it as one of the team's best wins of the season given the available squad and called it a "heroic game."[14] He returned as Sakhnin head coach for the 2022–23 season after guiding the club into the Championship Playoffs, with former Israeli international Beram Kayal — described as the club's most significant player and captain — identified as a key factor.[15] However, Sakhnin's owner ultimately dismissed him during what Silvas described as the club's first crisis with him.[4]

In January 2023, Silvas was appointed Hapoel Tel Aviv coach through the end of the season, becoming the club's third head coach that campaign.[2][5] He took charge following a 6–0 defeat to Hapoel Be'er Sheva and a run of seven matches without a win.[5] His debut was a 1–1 draw with Ness Ziona at Bloomfield Stadium, after which he acknowledged the club's existing problems remained and that the squad was "not good enough right now."[16] He later said he had done what was needed to keep the club in the league, although he did not continue after the ownership change.[6]

Silvas took charge of Hapoel Hadera in January 2024, when the club was below the relegation line.[6] People close to him largely advised against taking the job given the risk, but he said he wanted to return to work, liked the people at the club, and made an "all in" decision with the intention of building something lasting rather than simply adding another club to his résumé.[6] Hadera stayed in the top division under him, and Silvas reflected, "For me, what happened at Hadera was like winning a championship."[6] He argued the achievement received less attention than success at a more prominent club, credited his coaching staff and club managers Yakir Schwartz and Yossi Maor, and noted that Hadera's management and training facilities were approaching a point where the club could take a further step forward.[6] Despite this, he was relieved of his duties in November 2024 following a 4–0 loss to Beitar Jerusalem, with Assaf Nimni appointed as his replacement.[17]

Silvas was appointed M.S. Ashdod head coach in February 2025 — his eighth coaching club by that point.[3] Before taking the role, the club faced games against Maccabi Haifa and Netanya and was five points adrift of safety.[18] Ashdod subsequently beat Ironi Kiryat Shmona 4–2, a result reported to have secured the club's Premier League status for the following season.[18] A preview of the 2026–27 season identified Silvas as Hapoel Haifa's head coach for a second spell, with the team described as a work in progress that had performed well in the preseason Toto Cup competition.[19] His January 2026 return to Haifa came after the club dismissed Gal Arel.[9]

In assessing his career, Silvas has singled out Ra'anana's upper-playoff qualification as his greatest achievement and compared Hadera's survival campaign to winning a championship.[4][6]

Silvas has spoken openly about his development as a coach and the lessons he drew from early mistakes. He described his reputation as a defensive coach as arising largely from the circumstances at Hapoel Ra'anana, where compensating for weaker squads against stronger opponents required a more tactical, restrained approach.[4] He said he does not consider himself a defensive coach by nature, pointing to his time at Kiryat Shmona, much of his first spell at Hapoel Haifa, and Bnei Sakhnin's upper-playoff season as examples where his teams played differently.[4]

Reflecting more broadly, Silvas said he had made many coaching mistakes and that he often paid for them quickly, but always sought to learn from them.[4] He described the Kiryat Shmona spell as a case in which he lacked the experience to handle the situation as well as he would have done later, and said that early in his career he found managing dressing-room egos harder.[4] He also argued that coaches should avoid becoming emotionally attached to a formation, player, or squad rather than refreshing their approach when necessary.[4]

Among the more notable anecdotes from his time at Ra'anana was his involvement in the Tony Nwakaeme affair. When Ra'anana's agreement with Nwakaeme broke down after Nwakaeme pursued a deal in Cyprus for four times the offered amount — and that move reportedly collapsed over difficulty proving his age — the club was already pursuing a legal claim against him.[4] Silvas, then serving as Koretzky's assistant, proposed offering Nwakaeme a trial: if successful, he would sign on the original terms; if not, he would be released and the claim withdrawn.[4] Silvas later noted that Nwakaeme went on to become a notable player and said he and Koretzky still laugh about the episode.[4]

Reports differed on the terms of Silvas's January 2026 return to Hapoel Haifa. ONE said that staying for the following season was contingent on keeping the club in the league, which would make his tenure under the deal a year and a half; Sport5 reported that he had signed for a year and a half outright.[9][20] Both described the appointment as his second spell at the club.