Former MSV coach Gino Lettieri moved to Thailand in the summer of 2024. A few months ago, he moved within Thailand… Bitter news after draw against RWE – two defenders out
Erzgebirge Aue will have to do without two defenders in the coming weeks. Both players suffered the same injury in the game against Rot-Weiss Essen (2-2).
FC Erzgebirge Aue earned a point in their 2-2 draw against Rot-Weiss Essen last Sunday, but it came at a high price. Both Anthony Barylla and Jamilu Collins suffered torn thigh muscles during the match, as confirmed by MRI scans on Monday.
Barylla had to be substituted before halftime. Collins came on for him and took over the left-back position, but the former Nigerian international also injured himself in the closing stages. Both defenders will be unavailable for the Veilchen “in the coming weeks,” as the third-division club announced.
The two losses are a heavy blow for FCE, as they now have three left-backs missing from their squad. Moritz Seiffert is still recovering from a collarbone fracture and has not been in training or competition since the beginning of September. Anthony Barylla had been filling in for him since then, helping out on the left side of defense as a trained center back and right back.
Just two weeks ago, the experienced Collins was signed to fill the vacant position, but he was injured in his very first competitive game for his new club. At least center forward Marcel Bär and goalkeeper Max Uhlig are expected to return to team training in the next few days after long injury breaks. Nevertheless, coach Jens Härtel will probably have to improvise on the left side of defense in the coming games.
After the international break, the 16th-placed team in the 3rd division has a home game against SV Waldhof Mannheim on the schedule (Friday, October 17, 7 p.m.). Before that, the Veilchen still have a challenge in the state cup. In the third round of the Saxony Cup, FCE will face sixth-division side SV Panitzsch/Borsdorf on Saturday (October 11, 2 p.m.). Things are not going well at his new club yet.
Gino Lettieri has been coaching in Thailand since July 2024. With Muanghtong United, the former MSV Duisburg coach finished sixth in Thailand’s top division last season, and his team even reached the cup final against champions Buriram United.
Lettieri’s club lost the final 3-2, and the 58-year-old’s contract was not renewed. He joined league rivals Uthai Thani at the end of May 2025. However, the start of the season with his new employer did not go according to plan.
Uthai Thani, which finished ninth last season, is still waiting for its first win after seven games. Founded in 2010, the club has only three points to its name and is currently bottom of the Thai League. This means that Lettieri’s only goal this season will be to somehow keep his team in the division.
In Germany, Lettieri is best known for his work with MSV Duisburg. His greatest successes include two promotions to the then third-tier Regionalliga with FC Augsburg and SpVgg Bayreuth.
In early summer 2010, he led Wehen Wiesbaden to third-division survival as a “firefighter.” The following year, he narrowly missed promotion. Things should go better in the Ruhr region.
Lettieri is a promotion coach for MSV Duisburg
With Lettieri, MSV Duisburg was promoted to the 2nd Bundesliga in 2014/2015. However, after a total of 59 competitive games—and only one win since promotion—it was all over in November 2015. His second spell was a much less successful and shorter interlude: Lettieri was brought in in November 2020 to prevent the club from being relegated to the regional league. After only two wins in twelve games, the Zebras called time on his mission.
The Italian then signed on as assistant coach at AEK Athens before joining Panevezys in September 2022. Lettieri led the club to third place and thus into the UEFA Conference League. A year later, they won the championship.
Over the entire season, Panevezys suffered only one defeat and conceded just 14 goals in 36 games. “The selection of players was of course extremely important, as I couldn’t afford to make any big mistakes with our small budget of two million euros. Otherwise, the championship would have gone to Zalgiris Vilnius once again. The serial champions and FC Bayern of Lithuania,” Lettieri said at the time. In May 2024, it was all over and Lettieri moved on to Thailand, where, after his spell at Muangthong United, he is now under contract with Uthai Thani.