Csaba László (footballer, born 1964)


Csaba László is a Romanian–Hungarian professional football manager and former football player. He played as a midfielder.
He was the manager of Hungarian Nemzeti Bajnokság I club MTK Budapest, Belgian Pro League club Charleroi SC and of Scottish Premier League club Heart of Midlothian. Previously to that, he had spells managing at Ferencvárosi TC, FC Sopron and the Ugandan and Lithuanian national team and Slovak First Division club Dunajská Streda.

Club 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.

Managerial career

László started coaching in Germany with BW Kerpen. He then coached at Tus Grevenbroich and Borussia Mönchengladbach's B team. He discovered players of the calibre of Marcell Jansen, Eugen Polanski and Tobias Levels during his spell as Borussia's Youth Coach.

Hungarian National Team

László joined the coaching staff at the Hungarian national football team, where he was assistant coach to Lothar Matthäus in January 2004. He was instrumental for Matthäus as he did not have any knowledge of Hungarian football. The Hungarian national team played the World Cup qualifications games for Germany 2006. During his time, the national team achieved good results and showed signs of improvement.

Ferencváros

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. Ferencváros were then dropped into the UEFA Cup, where they defeated Millwall and Heart of Midlothian, and earned a respectable 1–1 draw with Feyenoord. His success in Europe earned him the 2005 Hungarian Coach of the Year award. When Ferencváros 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

After his appointment as a Head Coach of Uganda, they missed out on qualification for the African Cup of Nations in Ghana 2008, on goal difference, in favour of Sudan. Under László's guidance, Uganda jumped from 181 to 91 in the FIFA ranking, after a year in charge. Uganda beat rivals Nigeria and Angola for the first time in history and in December 2007, they finished third in the CECAFA Cup.
During his reign as Uganda national coach, players such Ibrahim Sekagya, Noah Kasule and David Obua managed to sign lucrative contracts abroad. Csaba became a cult hero in Uganda. He was nicknamed "The Miracle Man" by the African press.

Hearts

He was appointed as manager of Scottish Premier League side Heart of Midlothian on 11 July 2008. 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 South African club Kaizer Chiefs.
In his first season with Hearts, Laszlo guided the team to a third-place finish in the Scottish Premier League and qualification for the inaugural Europa League. Laszlo was subsequently named 'Manager of the Year' by both the Scottish Football Writers' Association and the Scottish Premier League itself. Surprisingly, László was sacked as Hearts manager on 29 January 2010. Even though he was Hearts manager for only 18 months, László held the position longer than any other coach during Vladimir Romanov's ownership of the club.
On 23 September 2010, Laszlo was confirmed as coach of Belgian Pro League team R. Charleroi S.C.. In 2012 he was appointed as head coach of the Lithuanian national football team. In September 2013, László resigned after poor results.

MTK Budapest

appointed László as head coach in 2015. Under his guidance, MTK led the Hungarian league for several weeks despite having one of the lowest budgets and youngest squads in the league. During the winter break in Turkey, several disagreements about the transfer policy with the club's board led to László being let go by the club. MTK went on to qualify for European competition at the end of the season.

Dunajská Streda

On 20 October 2016, he was appointed as a head coach of Slovak Super Liga team Dunajská Streda When László took over at the Slovak club, they were bottom of the league. He transformed Dunajská Streda into a winning team and managed to take them out of the relegation zone, in an incredible come back that saw them narrowly miss a place in the Europa League. He guided his team to a record breaking 16 unbeaten games, which is a new record in the Slovak Super Liga.

Dundee United

László returned to Scottish football in November 2017 as Dundee United manager. United finished third in the 2017-18 Scottish Championship, but then lost in the promotion playoffs to Livingston. Following a 5-1 home defeat to Ross County, László left Dundee United on 30 September 2018.

Personal life

László is of Székely origin. He is married with two children and studied in the Public Secondary School in Odorheiu Secuiesc, Romania and in the University extension in Hoghia, Romania. He speaks four languages: English, German, Hungarian and Romanian. Being part of an ethnic minority while 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".

Managerial statistics

Honours