Coach Per Johansson returns to CSM

For the third season in a row, CSM Bucuresti are changing coaches as the Women’s EHF Champions League is approaching its decisive phase.

Just over two weeks before the first quarter-final against Metz Handball, the Romanian side took a chance and replaced Danish coach Helle Thomsen with Per Johansson.

Johansson, 48, is the current coach of the Montenegrin national women’s team and he has been coaching Swedish side Boden Handboll IF over the last months.

The outspoken Swede has also been CSM coach between March 2017 and May 2017, when he replaced Aurelian Rosca at the then defending champions a week before the quarter-finals.

Cracks in the foundation of what looked like a true powerhouse

After this season's group matches, CSM were among the prime favourites for winning the Women’s EHF Champions League for a second time in the last three years.

But the last three months have shown the cracks in the foundation of what looked like a true powerhouse.

CSM lost against Györ and Rostov in the main round of Europe’s premier club competition, while a rare loss in the domestic competition against SCM Craiova only underlined their vulnerability.

In a similar scenario to last year, the team’s management decided to act and, after a thorough search process, identified Johansson again as the best coach to follow in Thomsen’s footsteps.

“We really gave it a try with Helle Thomsen but the results were really not there. Moreover, the team were definitely not hitting their highest level, therefore we felt like the change was needed,” SCM president Bogdan Vasiliu told ehfCL.com.

After talking to several coaches, CSM pinpointed Johansson as the best candidate to take over immediately.

“The objective for this season is unchanged. We need to qualify among the top four teams in the competition. I truly believe that this change will mean that our objective can be achieved,” Vasiliu said.

“Anything other than winning the title is a failure”

When Johansson took over last year, he led the team to the Women’s EHF FINAL 4 in Budapest, where CSM finished third after losing against Vardar in the semi-final.

“I have accepted this challenge and I must say that any result other than winning the Women’s EHF Champions League this season is a failure,” Johansson was quoted in a statement on the CSM website.

CSM have changed coaches six times over the past four years. Mette Klit started the 2015/16 season before being replaced by Kim Rasmussen, who led the team to their maiden Women’s EHF Champions League title.

When Rasmussen left immediately after the successful season, Jaob Vestergaard took over, but Aurelian Rosca replaced him in November 2016. Four months later, it was Rosca’s turn to leave and make way for Johansson’s first stint at the club.

As Johansson’s contract ran out in the summer, Thomsen got the job before history repeated itself this week.