Csaba Laszlo, Dundee United's new manager, returned to Scottish Football yesterday and immediately declared himself to be a better manager for the experience of working under former Hearts owner Vladimir Romanov.
Laszlo was yesterday appointed as Ray McKinnon's successor at Tannadice until the summer of 2019 as the Tayside club entrust him with the task of leading them back to the Premiership between now and the end of the season.
The 53-year-old Hungarian spent two years with controversial Lithuanian Romanov during his spell managing the Tynecastle club and since then has had stints at the helm including Charleroi SC, the Lithuania national team, and MTK Budapest.
Laszlo, who will keep Laurie Ellis as his assistant as he prepares to take charge in the dug-out for the first time in Saturday's Irn Bru Cup quarter-final tie at home to Crusaders FC, will never forget the memory of his Hearts stay which saw him voted Manager of the Year in 2009 after guiding the Edinburgh outfit to third spot in his first season.
Having enjoyed the longest reign of any manager under Romanov from 2008-2010, Laszlo went on to broaden his experience both domestically and internationally and is convinced he's now even more equipped to enjoy further success in Scotland.
“It wasn’t easy. I think I was the longest-serving manager under Mr Romanov, " smiled Laszlo.
“At the time I wanted to look forward for the club, not myself and this was my mistake.
“But I don’t change my mind. The club is the most important thing not me personally.
“You can save your job if you are selfish but in football and especially if you are a manager, you can’t be selfish.
“You have a huge community and the club is the most important thing.
“I haven’t changed my mind about that and I will do the same in the future.
“After Scotland I travelled around the continent. I managed the national team, I managed two other clubs and know I am different now.
“I will tell you why. I need glasses for reading, I have less hair and I am greyer but Csaba Laszlo doesn’t change. I have the same character and charisma, I think the same.
“But I have a lot more experience and I can tell you I am a better manager.
“I know more about football and I learned a lot from other people.”
Laszlo's remit is clear on arriving upon Tayside and the ambitious Eastern European manager is demanding his players show similar burning desire to reach their target.
He said: “Dundee United is a club with a huge history, not just in Scottish football but at the European level.
“There is only one team who have beaten Barcelona four times home and away.
“The club can be proud about it but the past can give you a very good foundation to build the future.
“Now we have to talk about the Scottish Championship and how the future is the Scottish Premiership.
“We can turn everything left and right and talk about maybe we belong there but just talk clearly.
“We want to be there but for this, we have to show confidence.
“You have to show will, that is most important. Everybody who loves this club has to do this because if you don’t do this, you will never reach your target.
“We have to be very focused and also make plans. If we can do that, we can reach our target."
Laszlo regards Scotland as home to his family and spent his time away from the dug-out wisely which he hopes can prove beneficial now that he's back in management.
He added: “Yes, it is my home.
“My kids have gone to school here and it is my permanent address.
“I feel at home here. Every human has in their heart the feeling of the place where they feel good.
“So yes Scotland for me is perfect.
“It doesn’t matter about the rain or the cold, it is about the mentality of the people.
“Football is the No.1 sport here and it is my life.
“So for me, Scottish football has always been very important to me and I know everything about the Championship and Premiership.
“I know about the clubs but I mostly watched Championship games.
“Livingston is near to Edinburgh and I watched games there.
“I was never far away from it.”
Laszlo has inherited a side sitting joint top of the Championship following back-to-back wins under Ellis who'd been acting as caretaker manager and has told his new assistant to expect to to be working round the clock over the next few weeks.
He said: “At this stage you don’t have to change anything you just tell the guys to go out and do what you have done the last two weeks.
“We are keeping the same backroom team because I want to learn from them.
“Laurie is my right hand and I told him you can forget about your wife for the next two or three months because he will always be with me!
“We have to do everything to show everyone that we are the best couple, the best marriage!
“This is what I think about my staff.”
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