City legend Uwe Rosler has returned to his spiritual home to carve out a career in England on the ‘other’ side of football.
The hero of the Maine Road fans in the mid-90s has called time on his six-year managerial career in Norway and has settled back in Wilmslow with his wife Ciciele and sons Tony, 13, and Colin, 10.
And the German powerhouse, who scored a half-century of goals in 150 senior appearances for the Blues between 1994-1998, is now looking to make a name for himself for the second time in English football – this time as a boss.
“My spell with City in the 90s was probably the highlight of my playing career,” said Rosler. “I was signed by manager Brian Horton from Dynamo Dresden and I seem to find a rapport with the City supporters from day one.
“I had Paul Walsh playing alongside me up front and Peter Beagre supplying the ammunition from the wing and those two had the ability to unlock any defence.
“Brian Horton came very close to building a team which could have challenged for the League title but he wasn’t given enough time to see it through. But for all the problems which befell us after Brian’s departure, I never once regretted joining City.
“My wife and I loved living in the Manchester area. We made lots of friends both inside and outside of football who we have kept in touch with.
Nomadic
“And even when I left City in 1998 I knew in my heart that I would come back one day.”
After a nomadic spell both in England and abroad after leaving the Blues, Rosler signed for the Norwegian club Lillestrom in 2003 where, only days after his debut he was given the bombshell news that he was suffering from cancer.
“The story came out that I was suffering from lung cancer but that was totally false,” he said. “It was discovered that I had cancerous tumours in my chest. My lungs were not affected in any way.
“I had chemotherapy and radiotherapy for the best part of a year but when the treatment was finished I was given a completely clean bill of health.”
Back to full fitness, Rosler spent the next 12 months gaining his coaching badges and the coveted UEFA licence which is recognised worldwide.
His first managerial opportunity came in 2005 when he took charge of team affairs at Lillestrom where he guided a struggling team to two top-four positions and two cup finals.
That was followed by another successful spell with Viking Stavanger before being asked early this year to take on ‘Mission Impossible’ by saving FC Molde from relegation.
Adrift
“When I was approached by Molde in November to take charge, the club was in the bottom three and were three points adrift of the fourth bottom club,” he explained. “To make matters worse there was only eight games remaining to save their bacon.
“From those eight remaining games we won six and drew two. That was 20 points out of a possible 24 and Molde escaped the drop. If I say so myself, I didn’t do a bad job for that club.
“There was no chance of me staying at Molde. By that time my wife and kids were already back in Wilmslow waiting for me to join them.
“When we decided as a family to leave Norway, there were only two possible destinations, Germany or England.
“Germany, obviously, was a temptation because that’s my homeland, but we knew that if we came back to England we wouldn’t be starting from zero.
“We still had our friends back in the Manchester area and I had lots of contacts that I’d built up during my time with City, so in the end the choice was simple.
“It had to be England in general and the North West in particular.
“I make no bones about the fact that I want to manage an English club one day. I’ve already got six solid years of management under my belt from my time in Norway and at 42 I’m as fit as I ever was.
“Of course, I accept that I will have to start from scratch but I am open to offers from any club, in any capacity, in any part of the country.
“Wherever I end up at, my family will remain in Wilmslow, so of course it would be nice to be offered a job by a club in the North West. But this is the start of a new career in England so I’m not in a position to pick and choose.
“I just need to get my foot in the door somewhere and I’ll be up and running. I’ve set my sights on becoming the manager of an English club one day and I won’t rest until I have achieved that ambition.”
Sign him up
