Pál Csernai
Encyclopedia
Pál Csernai was a Hungarian
football (soccer)
player and coach. As a player he was denied great successes, but as a coach he revived the fortunes of Bayern Munich in the early 1980s after the end of their golden era.
from Transylvania
according to his surname, which meaning "Came from Cserna (now Cerne, Romania)". Not many details of his achievements are known (→ talk:Pál Csernai). He played in Hungary's first division, with Csepel SC
from Budapest
and was reasonably good. After all, in 1955 he was called twice to play for his country, and that was still in the era of the all-dominating Magic Magyars.
Like so many other greats of the game in this era, he left Hungary as a consequence of the uprising in 1956
. He ended up playing in Germany
where joined 1956 Karlsruher SC
, then in the first division. From 1959 to 1965 he played for Stuttgarter Kickers
in the second division. In 1962 Csernai scored a decisive goal for the club, preventing them from being relegated to the third tier.
in Cologne
. A year later, in 1968 he coaches Wacker 04 Berlin in the West-Berlin division of the second tier of German football in those days. In his two years at the helm there the team finishes on places 4 and 5. Afterwards he coaches SSV Reutlingen
in the southern division, which under him finishes 15th. The years before and after Reutlingen were 11th and 10th, respectively.
From 1971 to 1972 he coaches first division side Royal Antwerp FC in Belgium
, but finds himself prematurely replaced by Eddy Wauters
.
After this excursion he returns to Germany and in 1973 is appointed coach of the North Baden
Football Association in southwest Germany, where he stayed for the next four years. He also could celebrate his first success as coach there when he led the selection of the association to a victory in the Amateur States' Cup of 1973. This cup is basically a competition between the amateur sides of the German regional associations, mostly composed of players from the third divisions, the highest amateur level.
By 1 July 1977 he takes on a position of assistant to coach Gyula Lóránt
with Bundesliga club Eintracht Frankfurt
, Lóránt was another former Hungarian international and was part of the side that lost the 1954 FIFA World Cup
final in Bern, This was by no means a particularly glamorous appointment. The team, known as "capricious diva", was in those days always a contender for one of the first places in the league, but perennially disappointed. Lóránt did not have a particular fabulous image either, having never achieved any extraordinary successes. The range of clubs he had coached were all on the mediocre end at very best. A fifth place with 1.FC Kaiserslautern in 1967 was his top result.
moved to Frankfurt and the robust Lóránt and his assistant found themselves in the Bavaria
n capital. The season ends with Bayern as 12th, their worst Bundesliga placing hitherto, and Frankfurt 7th.
With the beginning of the new season Paul Breitner
rejoins Bayern, which then had a reasonably impressive line up with Karl-Heinz Rummenigge
, Branko Oblak
, Klaus Augenthaler
and other notable players. Bayern was desperate to return to the top as their last championship
dated back to 1974. Lóránt introduced the spatial defence to replace the marker system, which by then turned obsolete. By the end of the first half series Lóránt was fired. He had an image problem since he, amongst other issues, manhandled a TV team. When a 1-7 defeat in Düsseldorf was followed up with a home defeat to Hamburger SV his days were numbered.
For the time being Csernai was to run the team. President Wilhelm Neudecker wanted to replace him with Max Merkel
, who was rejected by the team that considered him a too tough taskmaster. This resulted in a unanimous vote by the players who wanted Csernai to take over. The whole affair caused tremendous publicity. In the end Neudecker resigned and Pál Csernai became officially anointed as the new head coach. By the end of the season Bayern defeated the new champions Hamburg on their turf and finished fourth. The Bayern legend Gerd Müller
left the club already in the course of the season after Csernai replaced him in the match in Frankfurt.
With the beginning of the new season another Bayern legend, goalkeeper Sepp Maier had to end his career because of an accident, and the 1974 World Cup winner Georg Schwarzenbeck
was generally unavailable due to injuries, Oblak retired from the big stage. Csernai took the opportunity to restructure the team and its hierarchies, and refined the spatial defence, then colloquially known as "Pal System". Most importantly he formed of midfield conductor Paul Breitner and forward Karl-Heinz Rummenigge one of the great duos in footballing history. The team became commonly referred to as "FC Breitnigge". The highly gifted dribbler Rummenigge learned in this phase also to score and should become three times the league's top striker in this era.
By the end of his first full season at the reins of Bayern the club was German champion for the first time in six years, just two years after Csernai started his Bundesliga career as assistant in Frankfurt. He also led the club into the - in that season all German - semi-finals of the UEFA Cup
, but Frankfurt prevailed on aggregate with 5-3 and ended up winning the trophy.
1980/81 Csernai, by then known for wearing silk scarves instead of ties, managed to defend the championship and once more enter a European semi-final. There Bayern had to give in to eventual winners Liverpool FC on away goals. A year later Bayern had to make do with the German Cup, as Hamburg under the legendary Austrian coach Ernst Happel took the championship honours. On the European stage Bayern made it all the way to the final of the Champions Cup. Bayern played generally superior, but in the end a single goal by Peter Withe
secured the title for Aston Villa FC.
In the next season Bayern fell behind in the championship end exited early from the cup. In European competition Bayern again was only stopped by the later winner, this time by Aberdeen FC under Alex Ferguson
in the quarterfinals of the Cup Winners' Cup. To boot, Pál Csernai had by then acquired a major publicity problem. When his widely perceived arrogance also put off the major sponsors of the club he was given his marching orders and Udo Lattek
returned to Bayern.
.
There Benfica grabbed the Portuguese cup with a 3-1 win against FC Porto. Csernai was highly unpopular with his players and for all practical purposes stripped of his powers by the time of the final for which the line-up was determined by senior players Carlos Manuel
and Pietra
. His tenure ended after this also officially.
In the next years he would coach Borussia Dortmund
, Fenerbahçe SK
in Istanbul, Eintracht Frankfurt, BSC Young Boys
in Switzerland, and Hertha BSC. None of these tenures lasted through a whole season. In Dortmund he got close, being replaced only two matchdays before the end of the season, which the team finished 16th. Others ended up being were very short, e.g., in Frankfurt nine matchdays, and in Berlin even only six league matches.
Later he worked with the national team of North Korea for the qualification for the 1994 FIFA World Cup
, an endeavour that ended without success. His last assignment was in his home country to coach first division side FC Sopron. There the team finished last and was relegated.
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
football (soccer)
Football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
player and coach. As a player he was denied great successes, but as a coach he revived the fortunes of Bayern Munich in the early 1980s after the end of their golden era.
The Player
His family were SzekelySzékely
The Székelys or Székely , sometimes also referred to as Szeklers , are a subgroup of the Hungarian people living mostly in the Székely Land, an ethno-cultural region in eastern Transylvania, Romania...
from Transylvania
Transylvania
Transylvania is a historical region in the central part of Romania. Bounded on the east and south by the Carpathian mountain range, historical Transylvania extended in the west to the Apuseni Mountains; however, the term sometimes encompasses not only Transylvania proper, but also the historical...
according to his surname, which meaning "Came from Cserna (now Cerne, Romania)". Not many details of his achievements are known (→ talk:Pál Csernai). He played in Hungary's first division, with Csepel SC
Csepel SC
Csepel SC is a Hungarian sports club based in the XXI district of Budapest, Csepel, which is on an island in the Danube in the south of the city...
from Budapest
Budapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
and was reasonably good. After all, in 1955 he was called twice to play for his country, and that was still in the era of the all-dominating Magic Magyars.
Like so many other greats of the game in this era, he left Hungary as a consequence of the uprising in 1956
1956 Hungarian Revolution
The Hungarian Revolution or Uprising of 1956 was a spontaneous nationwide revolt against the government of the People's Republic of Hungary and its Soviet-imposed policies, lasting from 23 October until 10 November 1956....
. He ended up playing in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
where joined 1956 Karlsruher SC
Karlsruher SC
Karlsruher SC is a German association football club, based in Karlsruhe, Baden-Württemberg. KSC rose out of the consolidation of a number of predecessor clubs. They currently play in the 2...
, then in the first division. From 1959 to 1965 he played for Stuttgarter Kickers
Stuttgarter Kickers
Stuttgarter Kickers is a German association football club that plays in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, founded on 21 September 1899 as FC Stuttgarter Cickers...
in the second division. In 1962 Csernai scored a decisive goal for the club, preventing them from being relegated to the third tier.
The Coach
In 1967 he acquired his coaching diploma under Hennes WeisweilerHennes Weisweiler
Hans "Hennes" Weisweiler was a German football player and coach....
in Cologne
Cologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
. A year later, in 1968 he coaches Wacker 04 Berlin in the West-Berlin division of the second tier of German football in those days. In his two years at the helm there the team finishes on places 4 and 5. Afterwards he coaches SSV Reutlingen
SSV Reutlingen
SSV Reutlingen 05 is a German association football club from Reutlingen, Baden-Württemberg.- History :The club was founded as FC Arminia Reutlingen and was re-named SV Reutlingen 1905 in 1910. The club fused with 1...
in the southern division, which under him finishes 15th. The years before and after Reutlingen were 11th and 10th, respectively.
From 1971 to 1972 he coaches first division side Royal Antwerp FC in Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
, but finds himself prematurely replaced by Eddy Wauters
Eddy Wauters
Eddy Wauters is the chairman of Royal Antwerp FC. He was formerly a player at the club and got 4 caps for the Belgian national team. Mr. Wauters had a long career in banking and was the chairman of Kredietbank ....
.
After this excursion he returns to Germany and in 1973 is appointed coach of the North Baden
Baden
Baden is a historical state on the east bank of the Rhine in the southwest of Germany, now the western part of the Baden-Württemberg of Germany....
Football Association in southwest Germany, where he stayed for the next four years. He also could celebrate his first success as coach there when he led the selection of the association to a victory in the Amateur States' Cup of 1973. This cup is basically a competition between the amateur sides of the German regional associations, mostly composed of players from the third divisions, the highest amateur level.
By 1 July 1977 he takes on a position of assistant to coach Gyula Lóránt
Gyula Lóránt
Gyula Lóránt , also referred to as Gyula Lipovics or Lóránt Gyula, was a Hungarian football player and manager...
with Bundesliga club Eintracht Frankfurt
Eintracht Frankfurt
Eintracht Frankfurt is a German sports club, based in Frankfurt, Hesse that is best known for its association football club.- Club origins :...
, Lóránt was another former Hungarian international and was part of the side that lost the 1954 FIFA World Cup
1954 FIFA World Cup
The 1954 FIFA World Cup, the fifth staging of the FIFA World Cup, was held in Switzerland from 16 June to 4 July. Switzerland was chosen as hosts in July 1946. The tournament set a number of all-time records for goal-scoring, including the highest average goals scored per game...
final in Bern, This was by no means a particularly glamorous appointment. The team, known as "capricious diva", was in those days always a contender for one of the first places in the league, but perennially disappointed. Lóránt did not have a particular fabulous image either, having never achieved any extraordinary successes. The range of clubs he had coached were all on the mediocre end at very best. A fifth place with 1.FC Kaiserslautern in 1967 was his top result.
Bayern Munich
Lóránt had been with Frankfurt only since November 1976. By November 1977 this appointment was over again. On 26 November Frankfurt defeats Bayern Munich 4-0. At that stage Bayern are on a relegation rank and Frankfurt 8th. Frankfurt and Bayern decided to enter into a pretty unusual manoeuvre and swap coaches. The football sage Dettmar CramerDettmar Cramer
Dettmar Cramer is a German former football player and coach who led Bayern Munich to the 1975 and 1976 European Cups. Cramer is commonly considered to be the father of modern football in Japan and is a member of the Order of the Sacred Treasure, 3rd Class...
moved to Frankfurt and the robust Lóránt and his assistant found themselves in the Bavaria
Bavaria
Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
n capital. The season ends with Bayern as 12th, their worst Bundesliga placing hitherto, and Frankfurt 7th.
With the beginning of the new season Paul Breitner
Paul Breitner
Paul Breitner is a former German football player. One of Germany's most controversial players, he was capped 48 times for his country.-Playing career:...
rejoins Bayern, which then had a reasonably impressive line up with Karl-Heinz Rummenigge
Karl-Heinz Rummenigge
Karl-Heinz "Kalle" Rummenigge is a German former football player.He had his greatest career success with German club Bayern Munich, where he won the Intercontinental Cup, the European Cup, as well as two league titles and two domestic cups.A member of the German national team, Rummenigge won the...
, Branko Oblak
Branko Oblak
Branko Oblak is a Slovenian football coach and former international player. He usually played as an offensive midfielder or deep-lying playmaker, notable for his excellent dribbling, stamina, great vision and precision passing...
, Klaus Augenthaler
Klaus Augenthaler
Klaus "Auge" Augenthaler is a former football player and now manager.-Playing years:...
and other notable players. Bayern was desperate to return to the top as their last championship
German champions
The German champions is the general name given to winners of a Bundesliga sporting competition in Germany.-Current German championship holders:* Football 2010–11: Women's: 1...
dated back to 1974. Lóránt introduced the spatial defence to replace the marker system, which by then turned obsolete. By the end of the first half series Lóránt was fired. He had an image problem since he, amongst other issues, manhandled a TV team. When a 1-7 defeat in Düsseldorf was followed up with a home defeat to Hamburger SV his days were numbered.
For the time being Csernai was to run the team. President Wilhelm Neudecker wanted to replace him with Max Merkel
Max Merkel
Maximilian Merkel was an Austrian football player and coach. The former Rapid player featured twice in a national team...
, who was rejected by the team that considered him a too tough taskmaster. This resulted in a unanimous vote by the players who wanted Csernai to take over. The whole affair caused tremendous publicity. In the end Neudecker resigned and Pál Csernai became officially anointed as the new head coach. By the end of the season Bayern defeated the new champions Hamburg on their turf and finished fourth. The Bayern legend Gerd Müller
Gerd Müller
Gerhard "Gerd" Müller is a former German football player and one of the most prolific goalscorers of all time.With national records of 68 goals in 62 international appearances, 365 goals in 427 Bundesliga games and the international record of 66 goals in 74 European Club games, he was one of the...
left the club already in the course of the season after Csernai replaced him in the match in Frankfurt.
With the beginning of the new season another Bayern legend, goalkeeper Sepp Maier had to end his career because of an accident, and the 1974 World Cup winner Georg Schwarzenbeck
Georg Schwarzenbeck
Hans-Georg "Katsche" Schwarzenbeck is a retired German football player. He played in the Bundesliga from 1966 to 1979, appearing in 416 matches as a defender for Bayern Munich...
was generally unavailable due to injuries, Oblak retired from the big stage. Csernai took the opportunity to restructure the team and its hierarchies, and refined the spatial defence, then colloquially known as "Pal System". Most importantly he formed of midfield conductor Paul Breitner and forward Karl-Heinz Rummenigge one of the great duos in footballing history. The team became commonly referred to as "FC Breitnigge". The highly gifted dribbler Rummenigge learned in this phase also to score and should become three times the league's top striker in this era.
By the end of his first full season at the reins of Bayern the club was German champion for the first time in six years, just two years after Csernai started his Bundesliga career as assistant in Frankfurt. He also led the club into the - in that season all German - semi-finals of the UEFA Cup
UEFA Cup
The UEFA Europa League is an annual association football cup competition organised by UEFA since 1971 for eligible European football clubs. It is the second most prestigious European club football contest after the UEFA Champions League...
, but Frankfurt prevailed on aggregate with 5-3 and ended up winning the trophy.
1980/81 Csernai, by then known for wearing silk scarves instead of ties, managed to defend the championship and once more enter a European semi-final. There Bayern had to give in to eventual winners Liverpool FC on away goals. A year later Bayern had to make do with the German Cup, as Hamburg under the legendary Austrian coach Ernst Happel took the championship honours. On the European stage Bayern made it all the way to the final of the Champions Cup. Bayern played generally superior, but in the end a single goal by Peter Withe
Peter Withe
Peter Withe is a much-travelled English footballer who played as a striker, between 1971 and 1990...
secured the title for Aston Villa FC.
In the next season Bayern fell behind in the championship end exited early from the cup. In European competition Bayern again was only stopped by the later winner, this time by Aberdeen FC under Alex Ferguson
Alex Ferguson
Sir Alexander Chapman "Alex" Ferguson, CBE is a Scottish association football manager and former player, currently managing Manchester United, where he has been in charge since 1986...
in the quarterfinals of the Cup Winners' Cup. To boot, Pál Csernai had by then acquired a major publicity problem. When his widely perceived arrogance also put off the major sponsors of the club he was given his marching orders and Udo Lattek
Udo Lattek
Udo Lattek is a former German football player and coach, and is now a television sportscaster....
returned to Bayern.
Odyssey of a Coach
Pál Csernai became coach of PAOK Thessaloniki. Already in the second round of the UEFA Cup he met his old team Bayern again. Both matches ended 0-0 and it came to a dramatic penalty shoot-out in which Bayern eventually prevailed 9-8. Bayern was ousted in the next round - by the eventual winners, this time Tottenham Hotspur. Csernai ended this season again without title. After only one year he moved on to SL BenficaSL Benfica
Sport Lisboa e Benfica , commonly known as simply Benfica or occasionally as Benfica Lisbon, is a Portuguese multi-sports club based in Lisbon. Although they successfully compete in a number of different sports, Benfica is mostly known for its association football team...
.
There Benfica grabbed the Portuguese cup with a 3-1 win against FC Porto. Csernai was highly unpopular with his players and for all practical purposes stripped of his powers by the time of the final for which the line-up was determined by senior players Carlos Manuel
Carlos Manuel
Carlos Manuel Correia dos Santos , known as Carlos Manuel, is a retired Portuguese footballer who played as a central midfielder, and a current manager....
and Pietra
Pietra
Pietra, which means "stone" and is also known as "A biera corsa", is a brand of beer from the Mediterranean island of Corsica.- History :The Pietra Brewery opened in 1996. It is the only Corsican brewery....
. His tenure ended after this also officially.
In the next years he would coach Borussia Dortmund
Borussia Dortmund
Ballspielverein Borussia Dortmund, commonly BVB, are a German sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. Dortmund are one of the most successful clubs in German football history. Borussia Dortmund play in the Bundesliga, the top league of German football...
, Fenerbahçe SK
Fenerbahçe SK
Fenerbahçe Spor Kulübü is a professional sports club based in Kadıköy, Istanbul, Turkey. The club derives its name from the Fenerbahçe neighbourhood of Istanbul. Fenerbahçe is one of the biggest and the best supported clubs in Turkey. They are nicknamed Sarı Kanaryalar )...
in Istanbul, Eintracht Frankfurt, BSC Young Boys
BSC Young Boys
Berner Sport Club Young Boys 1898 is a Swiss sporting club based in the capital city of Bern. The name is often abbreviated to YB . Abroad, YB is often referred to as Young Boys Bern. The club's colors are yellow and black....
in Switzerland, and Hertha BSC. None of these tenures lasted through a whole season. In Dortmund he got close, being replaced only two matchdays before the end of the season, which the team finished 16th. Others ended up being were very short, e.g., in Frankfurt nine matchdays, and in Berlin even only six league matches.
Later he worked with the national team of North Korea for the qualification for the 1994 FIFA World Cup
1994 FIFA World Cup
The 1994 FIFA World Cup, the 15th staging of the FIFA World Cup, was held in nine cities across the United States from June 17 to July 17, 1994. The United States was chosen as the host by FIFA on July 4, 1988...
, an endeavour that ended without success. His last assignment was in his home country to coach first division side FC Sopron. There the team finished last and was relegated.
Career Overview
| Coaching Career | ||
|---|---|---|
| Period | Team | Titles |
| 1968–1970 |  Wacker 04 Berlin |
|
| 1970–1971 | SSV Reutlingen SSV Reutlingen SSV Reutlingen 05 is a German association football club from Reutlingen, Baden-Württemberg.- History :The club was founded as FC Arminia Reutlingen and was re-named SV Reutlingen 1905 in 1910. The club fused with 1... |
|
| 1971–1972 |  Royal Antwerp FC |
|
| 1973–1977 | North Baden Football Assoc. |
1973 - States' Amateur Cup |
| 1977–1978 | Assistant coach to Gyula Lóránt with Eintracht Frankfurt and Bayern Munich |
|
| 1978–1983 | FC Bayern Munich FC Bayern Munich FC Bayern Munich , is a German sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. It is best known for its professional football team, which is the most successful football club in Germany, having won 22 national titles and 15 cups.... |
1980 - Championship 1981 - Cup 1982 - Championship |
| 1983–1984 |  PAOK Thessaloniki |
|
| 1984–1985 |  SL BenficaSL Benfica Sport Lisboa e Benfica , commonly known as simply Benfica or occasionally as Benfica Lisbon, is a Portuguese multi-sports club based in Lisbon. Although they successfully compete in a number of different sports, Benfica is mostly known for its association football team... |
1985 - Cup |
| 1985–1986 | Borussia Dortmund Borussia Dortmund Ballspielverein Borussia Dortmund, commonly BVB, are a German sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. Dortmund are one of the most successful clubs in German football history. Borussia Dortmund play in the Bundesliga, the top league of German football... |
|
| 1987–1988 |  Fenerbahçe SKFenerbahçe SK Fenerbahçe Spor Kulübü is a professional sports club based in Kadıköy, Istanbul, Turkey. The club derives its name from the Fenerbahçe neighbourhood of Istanbul. Fenerbahçe is one of the biggest and the best supported clubs in Turkey. They are nicknamed Sarı Kanaryalar )... Istanbul |
|
| 1988-1988 | Eintracht Frankfurt Eintracht Frankfurt Eintracht Frankfurt is a German sports club, based in Frankfurt, Hesse that is best known for its association football club.- Club origins :... |
|
| 1990-1990 |  BSC Young BoysBSC Young Boys Berner Sport Club Young Boys 1898 is a Swiss sporting club based in the capital city of Bern. The name is often abbreviated to YB . Abroad, YB is often referred to as Young Boys Bern. The club's colors are yellow and black.... Bern |
|
| 1990–1991 | Hertha BSC |
|
| 1993–1994 |  North Korea |
|
| 1994–1995 |  FC Sopron |