Csaba László

Csaba László (born 13 February, 1964 in Odorheiu Secuiesc, Harghita County, Transylvania, Romania) is a Hungarian association football manager and former player. He is currently manager of Scottish Premier League club after previously having spells as Ferencvárosi TC, FC Sopron and the Ugandan national team.

Playing career

László played for a number of clubs in Romania, Hungary and West Germany including Bayer 05 Uerdingen, Volán FC and BVSC Budapest but never played at the highest level. He was forced to retire at age 27 due to a knee injury. He played as a central midfielder.

Coaching career

Early coaching roles

Csaba László holds a UEFA coaching certificate. He started coaching in Germany with BW Kerpen. He then coached at Tus Grevenbroich and Borussia Mönchengladbach II. He found players of the calibre of Marcell Jansen, Eugen Polanski and Tobias Levels during his spell at Borussia Mönchengladbach's youth squad. He then joined the coaching staff at the Hungarian national team, where he was assistant to Lothar Matthäus, in January 2004.

Managing in Hungary

In June 2004 he was appointed as the manager of Hungarian league side Ferencvárosi TC where he defeated Albanian side KF Tirana in the Champions League in 2004 before being eliminated by Sparta Prague. Ferencvárosi were then dropped into the UEFA Cup, where they defeated and , and earned a respectable 1-1 draw with Feyenoord. His success in Europe earned him the 2005 Hungarian Trainer of the Year award. When Ferencvárosi ran into financial trouble in 2006, he left to join FC Sopron. He lasted only a matter of months at Sopron and left to become manager of the Uganda national squad later that year.

Uganda

His appointment as a Head Coach of Uganda was an incredible boost for the East African nation. After his arrival, they went on their best run in 24 years; missing out on qualification for the African Cup of Nations in Ghana 2008 on goal differnence in favour of Sudan and jumped from 167th to 91st in the FIFA World Rankings. He also helped the development of Ugandan players Noah Babadi Kasule, David Obua and Ibrahim Sekagya.

Uganda beat arch-rivals Nigeria for the first time in football history and in December 2007, they finished third in the CECAFA Cup. Thanks to his charisma and hard work, FUFA (Uganda FA) signed a 1 million USD sponsorship deal with African mobile telephone giants MTN and African giants Satellite Television channel GTV signed a 5 years contract to broadcast the league games of the Ugandan football league. In 2008 Csaba László became the only foreign trainer who has been able to remain as a national team coach of a African side for over two years. He became a cult hero in Uganda; he has been nicknamed "The Miracle Man" by the African press.

Hearts

He was appointed as manager of Scottish Premier League side on 11 July 2008. This appointment did not come without controversy, however, as the Ugandan FA claimed that they did not give László permission to hold talks with Hearts, and that his appointment as Hearts manager was breaching his contract as Uganda head coach. His first signing came on 20 July 2008 when he signed David Obua, who was a vital member of his Uganda side, on a free transfer from Kaizer Chiefs of South Africa.

Personal life

László is of Székely origin. He is married with two children and studied in the Public Secondary School in Odorhei, Romania and in the University extension in Hoghia, Romania. He Speaks four languages; English, German, Hungarian and Romanian. As an ethnic minority growing up in Communist Romania he was forced to listen to Hungarian football matches on the radio in secret as foreign radio broadcasts were banned. He said, about this: "Life under the regime was brutal. It was especially hard on us Hungarians living there. We used to secretly listen to Ferencváros matches on the radio". He fled to West Germany on a tourist's visa in 1984 to live with his uncle and start a new life in the West.

References

Uganda's Coach on UGPulse.com

Odorheiu Secuiesc, Harghita County, Transylvania, Romania)