Last September, Gino Lettieri received one of those calls, of which there are dozens in the industry every day. Hey, we know each other from Poland, don’t you want to come to Lithuania just for ten games? Our team would like to qualify for the Conference League! Of course, Lithuania wasn’t exactly at number one in Lettieri’s coaching plans; he had even turned it down once when the same official wanted to lure him to the long-time Lithuanian champions Zalgiris Vilnius.
But this time Lettieri had just completed a short stint as an assistant coach at AEK Athens. So the 56-year-old thought: “Ten games, why not?” With Lettieri, FK Panevezys actually reached third place in the Lithuanian league, the best placement ever for the club from the city of 85,000 inhabitants. And then what was supposed to be a short-term job turned into a step that could give the Bavarian by choice another career boost.
It had become quiet around Lettieri, who grew up in Munich and somehow always belonged here. Who became known as a footballer for the second team of 1860, later also trained them and worked under Werner Lorant, then at traditional clubs such as FC Augsburg, Bayern Hof and SpVgg Bayreuth.
His career is representative of the many in football who can run one way or another, who can be interpreted one way or the other. Example: MSV Duisburg. A noisy leave of absence in January 2021, after just twelve games. Lettieri counters this with his first commitment to the Zebras, as he was promoted to the second division with the team in 2015. And anyway: “I rose everywhere in my second year.”
The level of the league? Overall, probably between German league one and league four, somehow
Of course, that wasn’t possible in Lithuania, as Panevezys plays in the first league. But here Lettieri achieved a feat that once again made people sit up and take notice beyond the borders of the small country: the team completely surprisingly and completely confidently became champions, and after a 0-0 draw on the fifth-to-last matchday, his players threw him into the air. In the end it was twelve points ahead of top favorite Zalgiris Vilnius. “It’s like Dortmund becoming champions twelve points ahead of Bayern,” says Lettieri.
Last Sunday was the end of the season, Lettieri was named coach of the month again, for a third time, there was another big celebration, after which the long-term commuter traveled back to his family in Bayreuth. Lettieri now has a long winter break, but has already extended his contract for the coming season. Until things continue, you will be able to find him as a spectator in one or another German stadium.
Everything is quite tranquil in Panevezys. For the top games, 1,500 spectators come to a stadium with very low stands and a tartan track. At tea with the mayor, Lettieri was able to ensure that the team received a new dressing room and a new training ground for the coming year. When it comes to the level of the league, he says the gap is enormous. However, with the significantly larger budget, Zalgiris narrowly missed out on the Champions League in the summer (2:2 and 0:1 against Bayern opponents Galatasaray). So: overall, probably between German league one and league four, somehow.
Now the Champions League qualification is coming up – “a very interesting perspective”
But the Lithuanian experience is unique for him – especially because of the advantage that small countries bring with them: “What spoke for it,” he says of his recently agreed contract extension, “was the possibility of qualifying for the Champions League to play.” Thanks to the championship, this is now coming up after the team survived the first round of the Conference League qualification last summer.
That was “a very interesting perspective” at the end of last year, he says. There were offers from Germany at the time – including from two third division teams – but he thought playing internationally was better than “going to a club at that time of year that was fighting relegation in the third division plays”. In addition, Lettieri says he now has seven national players in his squad. “I don’t have to prove anything, but I do make players better. And I’ve actually always achieved my goals,” he says. His “downer” for the coming season: The budget will not be increased despite the success, TV and sponsorship money is not even remotely comparable to the third league in Germany, especially since basketball is the number one sport in Lithuania.
Perhaps a commitment to a national team in a small country will be tempting. There are Bavarian ties to the Lithuanian association: Reinhold Breu from Deggendorf, once a player at 1860 and Burghausen, is the technical director there; Mario Tanzer (most recently 1. FC Passau) and Robert Kilin (formerly Bayern Hof) work as assistant coaches. Otherwise, Lettieri will probably return home sooner or later. There is also an exit clause built into his contract, as he emphasizes.
But he no longer changes at any price: “Without prospects, at some point you’ll be an idiot,” he says about coaches who don’t have the opportunity to develop a team. So the goal is: long-term work or at least a real chance of it. It’s easy to see that this also brings success: in 1860, too, many players were exchanged, but SV Elversberg “marched through because they played completely together in the regional league for two years.”
After the hour-long phone call, Lettieri sent two articles from Italian newspapers. He is happy that he is being heard again in his parents’ homeland. In one article he is quoted as saying: “My dream is to train in Italy. I think I have the perfect profile for it. My mentality is the right one.” And the vita is polished like a freshly won trophy.
