There is such a small number of American head coaches in Europe that I figured this one is at least worth a mention. American Dennis Lyukens has been made the head coach of FC Crystal in the Ukraine's third tier Here is an interview (need to translate) http://khersonline.net/novosti/spor...naet-vseh-igrokov-i-mnogie-russkie-slova.html
Joe, Thanks for the mention. Unfortunately, the translation gets my name wrong. It is Dennis Lukens and I was born in New York and spent almost all of my life and playing and coaching career in the US. I previously coached the Bay Area Seals of the USL "A" League (2000), the Boston Storm of the USISL (1993-1994) and the U-23 National Team of St Lucia (2008). I coached several college teams in the US as well as working in MISL with the California Cougars. As far as I know there are only two other American born coaches who have served as Head Coach of a European Team. Brent Goulet (born North Dakota) SV Elversberg in 2008 in the German Regionalliga Süd which is 3rd Division. Brent had played for SV Elversberg. Gregg Berhalter (born in NJ) is now Head Coach of Hammarby IF of the Sweedish 2nd Division. The LA Galaxy own 49% of the club and Gregg was an assistant coach with the Galaxy. John Murphy was named Head Coach of a Scottish First Division side but unfortuately was fired before he actually coached a game. It is a challenging getting a job anywhere but for an American in Europe it is extremly difficult. Few Europeans know that America has a really high standard of football when you look at the MLS and our First Division. Of course the National Team has been highly ranked for more than a decade. A big obstacle here is the language barrier and needing to have an UEFA "A" License. I got mine last summer and have learned Russian over the past 2 years.
Best of luck to you... Great to have you as an American coach in Europe post on this board. Please post here from time to time and keep everyone updated
Seconded. I'd be an avid reader of any sort of insight on your journey you would/could provide. Best of luck.
Thank you, Coach!! It sounds like you have already embarked on a remarkable journey and we all look forward hearing more. As you know you are a rare breed in uncharatered territory as a YA manager. Keep your head up and make us proud. Good luck and keep us updated for time to time.
Kherson is an interesting city - semi-resort, semi-industrial enclave, with many interesting historical events happening from its birth.
It appears he left the club in March. http://fckristal.at.ua/news/denis_ljukens_ja_ukhozhu_iz_kristalla/2013-03-14-796 (Russian)
Can we fix the spelling in the title? Thanks for the mention. Unfortunately, the translation gets my name wrong. It is Dennis Lukens @Friedel'sAccent
According to his Wikipedia page, he is at Sudnobudivnyk Mykolaiv which is in the Ukranian 2nd league (which is obviously, the 3rd tier). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dennis_Lukens#cite_note-SW-10 @bungadiri @Friedel'sAccent -- Let's update title to: Dennis Lukens Coaching at Sudnobudivnyk Mykolaiv And we better move him to YA Academy before we set a bad precedent.
Profile on American coaches in Europe: "I went from the American that people thought might not know anything, that might be better as a basketball coach, to now people respecting me because we won," Lukens said. "That's all it comes down to, and Bob Bradley will tell you the same thing, I'm sure. "If you're winning, it doesn't matter. As long as you win, they're going to accept you." http://www.espnfc.com/blog/espn-fc-...e-bob-bradley-face-endless-scrutiny-in-europe And let's update that title... @bungadiri@Friedel'sAccent -- Let's update title to: Dennis Lukens Coaching at Sudnobudivnyk Mykolaiv