« Mulţumesc László »

The time of regrets is over. Gone away with a peaceful mind after he completed his contract, Bölöni will return to a ground he knows, a ground he helped to push towards the front of the national scene, a ground he left with certainties. His work was neat and respected, built from an intransigent style and a perfect knowledge of all the tricks of the trade. Indeed, before starting his career as a manager, the man was a high-profile football player who earned a hundred and eight national caps with Romania between 1975 and 1984.
He also was accessory in writing one of the finest pages in Romanian sport’s history. Two years after joining FC Steaua Bucarest, he won the European Cup of Champions in 1986 against FC Barcelona (0-0, 2-0 t.a.b) .

Disturbed by the degradation of his country and the tyrannical methods of the Ceauşescu family [1], also the owners of FC Steaua Bucarest, Bölöni was granted the authorisation to leave Romania. A chance he would not let slip through: In 1987, I was given approval by the Romanian Communist Party to try my luck in the west with my family; to the contrary of my then team-mates, Stoïca and Piturca, who were forced to leave one of their childs behind them as a gage of good will”. After a year in Belgium, he finished his career anonymously in Créteil and Orléans.

After his playing career, nothing seemed to guide Bölöni towards the profession of manager. A cultured man, the former midfielder thought of pursuing a career in the health services before facing the harsh reality. Which he would accept with philosophy: “I had studied for eight years to get my diploma as a dental surgeon, this was clearly more than a job in which you rely on a ball not to go too far left or too far right. But my degree wasn’t recognised in France, and there was no way I would return to Romania through the back-door: so I decided to become a manager”. A change of direction he wouldn’t regret and which was certainly reinforced by his encounter with Raymond Goethals when wearing the Racing Jet Wavre shirt between 1987 and 1988.

In 1992, he took the direction of the AS Nancy-Lorraine to complete his learning, before taking over as the manager of the Lorraine club two years later. During six seasons, Bölöni would to his best with the club’s meagre mediums, in order to keep Nancy in the French top-flight, without managing to make the club a reference however. More in phase with his ambitions, he took charge of the Romanian national team in 2001, building his team around an emerging generation of young Romanian players (Chivu, Mutu…). But the man from Târgu Mureş only really started to fulfil his potential during his first spell away from France or Romania.

Offered a job at Sporting Portugal, Bölöni was finally given the chance to manage a team of European standard, and to become the mentor of a 16 years old wonderkid not yet famous with the public, a boy named Cristiano Ronaldo. With players such as Mario Jardel and Ricardo Quaresma also in the team, the defending champion’s season wasn’t good enough for the Lisbon’s club direction however. Looking for a replacement to Vahid Halilhodžić, who had left to Paris Saint-Germain, Stade Rennes then chose Bölöni as the ideal manager to take over at La Piverdière.

Bölöni : a sign of change

Perfectly matching the profile searched for, Bölöni arrived to Brittany with one main goal: to build on a talent-rich Academy. Recently crowned in the Gambardella Cup, Jonathan Bru, Florent Chaigneau, Yoann Gourcuff, Arnold M’Vuemba were integrated to the professional team ath the arrival of the manager from the Carpates, just as Grégory Bourillon, Jimmy Briand, Jacques Faty and Stéphane N’Guéma had been included the previous year, under Philippe Bergeroo and Vahid Halilhodžić’s management.
In summer, the transfer window was bustling in Rennes, with nineteen departures recorded against only three arrivals, including two loans (Abdeslam Ouaddou and Grégory Vignal). With the unique objective to guarantee the club’s stability in Ligue 1, the “Rouge et Noir” remained well installed mid-table for most of the season before finding their footballing identity. On March 23rd, 2004, at the end of a game of a rare intensity, Rennes surprised Marseille (4-3) through a quadruple by Alexander Frei, a striker pepped up since he was given a chance by Bölöni after his hard time under Halilhodžić (just as Toifilou Maoulida and Olivier Monterrubio).

During that season, in Rennes, the Ligue 1 big guns would all fall. This would be the case of Lyon (3-1) and Monaco (1-0), triggering less than elegant post-game comments by Monaco’s left back at the time, Patrice Evra: : « It really pisses me off to lose against a shit team”.. Annoying by its ability to counter the other teams’ tactics, the “Rennes à la Bölöni" was sometimes offering beautiful football, to the great pleasure of the Rennes fans, enjoying some easy victories in the second half of the season.
Done and over with the hectic ends of seasons, Stade Rennais re-discovered the top half of the standings, by finishing on a good ninth position. And the 2004-2005 season was marked with continuity, an unusual sight in a club often pointed at for its inconsistency. In the tail of an Alexander Frei at the top of his game (20 goals), the “Rouge et Noir” were first after the last Ligue 1 matchday, and qualified for the UEFA Cup. Thirty-four years after the double confrontation against Glasgow Rangers (1-1, 0-1), Rennes returned to Europe. Bölöni also became the first manager to qualify Rennes for Europe through the league [2].

« I could have done better…»

August 2005, Bölöni’s future is put in jeopardy after 5 game weeks and a thumping at AS Nancy-Lorraine (6-0). The Romanian manager held to his position, but his job was threatened once again with nearly half the season gone. In case of failure in Nantes, it seemed the countdown would be started again. On that night, Rennes managed the exploit to win in Loire Atlantique (0-2), thanks in particular to a fantastic goal by John Utaka and a solid game by Simon Pouplin in the Breton goals.
The machine was started, and nothing seemed able to stop the team. Flamboyant, Rennes managed a resounding victory at Gerland against the Olympique Lyonnais (1-4) before beating one of the club’s records with eight victories in as many games. Brilliant collectively, the Rennes midfield was then amongst the best in the country, based on attacking, technical players rather than defensive physical ones: Étienne Didot, Yoann Gourcuff and the playmaker, Kim Källström. In attack, Alexander Frei and Olivier Monterrubio’s understanding was dazzling while John Utaka finally came out of his hibernation.

The end of the season was thrilling, and John Mensah’s team-mates were fighting with the giants in the home straight. At the time of picking the fruits of their hard-work, however, Rennes suddenly got entangled in the torpor. Trying too hard in Nice (1-2), failing to control the game against Paris Saint-Germain (1-1) and Lille (2-2), lacking realism in Saint-Étienne (0-0), Stade Rennes crumbled to seventh position in the latter stages of the championship, only four points away from the podium. After three seasons at the club, an exit-door was opened to Bölöni who, despite mainly satisfying results, wasn’t offered a contract extension by Rennes’ management.
It didn’t matter, the coach and his team parted in friendly terms and the decision was accepted with some relief among the players, somehow exasperated by Bölöni’s methods. Once peculiar, always peculiar, the Romanian surprised everyone once again a few days before he left for Monaco. He invited the media in a restaurant near the Route de Lorient to give them… his impressions on his mandate.

Unusually, but as you could expect from the man, a four pages note was even given to each of the guests, in which he looks back with enthusiasm at his work in Brittany. Chosen bits: « the manager I was also deserves some credit. I am very proud to say the Stade Rennais FC isn’t heavy anymore, it has stopped sleeping […] I could have done better, maybe, but let me tell you that at the time to assess my performances, I have nothing to reproach to myself. I’ve said once that I wanted to leave my mark in Stade Rennes’ history. I think I managed it ». Questioned on his departure, the Romanian manager explained that he had received “no contract extension” from Pierre Dréossi or the club’s management. Talking about his final season at the reins of Stade Rennes, he described it as “difficult”, because of the different threats he faced, while discussing his next challenge: «to receive an offer from Monaco, me Bölöni, I’m very proud». He would some brought down to earth.

The reputation of a torturer

Hired by AS Monaco, his spell in the Principality was no more than a flash in the pan. Chucked out with little consideration in October 2006, he was heavily targeted by some of his players, eager to assign responsibilities to the former coach: “He acted with discrimination between the players. Bölöni’s departure is a real satisfaction. I was more than fed-up. What happened at the club wasn’t acceptable. I did not understand what he reproached me. He laughed when I asked him to play at my real position. But he was talking in my back. He even went to see other players to tell them he didn’t know where to position me, and that I didn’t fit in his tactics […]. I’ve got a status, I’m international” Yaya Touré declared the day after his managers’ eviction.

A year later, Bölöni opted for the exotism by joining the Al Jazira Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates). With the help of Bonaventure Kalou, he finished second in the Etsilat National League before bouncing back in Europe. Despite yet another interest from the Romanian federation, he returned to Belgium, the country in which he had arrived when he left his country of birth, and signed a contract at Standard de Liège in June 2008. After winning the national cup, Bölöni was name « 2009’s best manager », in a season he would finish by winning Standard de Liège’s tenth Belgium Champion title. It all seemed to go well, until a string of bad results forced Bölöni and the Standard’s management to part ways, only a few weeks after a contract extension was signed.

His misfortunes continued at Al Wahda, where he would only sit twice on the bench at the United Arab Emirates’ club, by which he had been recruited to help the Arab club realise a good performance in the next Clubs’ world cup. Rigid, the man is often contested for his fits of anger and his particular methods in a sport where players are highly susceptible. An austerity in phase with his life experience, but well balanced with the man’s sympathy. Often in conflict with the manager, Olivier Monterrubio makes it clear that he hasn’t always had the best relationships with the Romanian. But the former Rennes man gave him a tribute when he heard about his return to the French league, and more precisely to RC Lens, this winter :“ He is very rigorous in his work. But despite his image, he is also able to crack a joke, have a laugh with his players, it’s a very important quality in a squad. He might not always go towards the players, but if they have something to tell him, the door to his office is always open”. The method proved to work. And now, it allows RC Lens to hope for survival in the top flight, despite the very troubled situation before his arrival. It’s somehow the way it works, the Bölöni effect.

- “Mulţumesc László” (translation: “thanks László”)

- László Bölöni