Chennaiyin FC have appointed Romanian–Hungarian manager Csaba László as the Head Coach for the upcoming season of the ISL.
A former footballer who used to play in midfield, László turned up for a number of clubs in Hungary, Romania and West Germany before a knee injury forced him out of the game at the age of 27.
Csaba started his coaching career in Germany with BW Kerpen and went onto coach Borussia Mönchengladbach’s B team where he discovered players like Marcell Jansen among others.
After his stint in Germany, Csaba joined Lothar Matthäus as his deputy at the Hungarian National Team during the qualifiers for the 2006 World Cup in Germany.
In June 2004, he took over Hungarian top-division side Ferencvárosi TC. They finished up runners up in the league and also competed in the UEFA Champions League. After getting eliminated in the UCL competition, they were dropped into the UEFA Cup where the team’s performances led to László being awarded the 2005 Hungarian Coach of the Year award.
László took over the role of manager in the Ugandan National Team in 2006 and helped them to No. 91 on the FIFA ranking list from 181. After a couple of years, Csaba was on the move again – this time to Scottish club Hearts where over a period of 18 months he helped them to a 3rd place finish in the Scottish Premier League and qualification to the UEFA Europa League.
Over the next few years, Csaba managed clubs in Belgium, Hungary and Slovakia and also the Lithuanian National Team (2012-2013). In the 2017-18 season, he was manager at second tier Scottish Premiership side Dundee United where the team lost out in the promotion playoffs after finishing third in the league.
The following season, László was appointed manager at Romanian club Sepsi OSK where his 18 games in charge yielded four wins, four losses and 10 draws in the 2019-20 Romanian top-tier Liga 1. The role at Sepsi which lasted only for six months was his last coaching role prior to joining Chennaiyin FC.
After an initial stutter, Chennaiyin FC put on a remarkable run in the 2019-20 ISL campaign to end up in the ISL final where they lost to ATK. The architect of that turnaround was former Burnley and Bolton Wanderers manager Owen Coyle who has since moved onto Jamshedpur FC. The 56-year-old Csaba László is the replacement for Coyle going in to the new season.
I am incredibly proud and happy to become the Head Coach of Chennaiyin FC. It is my privilege to join the club on its completion of six successful years.
I believe Chennaiyin is a close-knit family-like club that chases excellence with absolutely passionate fans by its side at all times. And I’m so happy now to be a part of this family.
Together with my coaching staff, we will do everything possible to take Chennaiyin to greater heights.
Csaba László
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