FOKUS Appoint JTR as Head Coach After Benching kuben

FOKUS have named Ricardo “JTR” Júnior head coach of their Counter-Strike 2 roster, replacing Jakub “kuben” Gurczyński on 24 September 2026.

Bem-vindo, @JTR_cs !

Ricardo joins us as the new Head Coach of our CS roster. We’re excited to have him on board and can’t wait to see what we can achieve together.

Welcome to the team! ❤️#123FOKUS pic.twitter.com/k0bl2sBwzi

— FOKUS CS (@fokusclancs) September 24, 2026

The German organisation moved kuben to the bench earlier that day, saying it had decided to “move forward with a new direction for the team”.

Thank you, Jakub!

As we look ahead, @kubenCS2 will be moving to the bench as we decided to move forward with a new direction for the team.

Thank you for everything you’ve brought to the team. We wish you all the best in your future endeavors.❤️ pic.twitter.com/QaWPlOCE6y

— FOKUS CS (@fokusclancs) September 24, 2026

JTR arrives from FlyQuest, where he spent the past two years as an assistant coach, and takes charge of a team ranked 55th in the global Valve Regional Standings (VRS). His first assignment is already booked, with FOKUS invited to the playoff stage of NODWIN Clutch Series 12.

Why FOKUS Benched kuben After Seven Months

FOKUS had been under kuben since February, when the organisation entered Counter-Strike with a newly built international lineup captained by Erik “ztr” Gustafsson. That lineup changed over the summer, as Georgi “Jorko” Mitev and Sebastian “volt” Maloș left and Paavo “podi” Heiskanen and Jacob “jocab” Nerheden came in.

Results since the reshuffle have been mixed. FOKUS finished 9th-16th at BLAST Bounty, 17th-32nd in the Esports World Cup (EWC) open qualifier, and 9th-12th at Stake Pulse Beat II, so none of those three runs ended inside the top eight. The club’s statement thanked the Polish coach for his work but offered no further explanation beyond the new direction.

JTR’s Record From Nigma Galaxy to FlyQuest

JTR made his name at Nigma Galaxy, coaching the organisation’s women’s roster from 2021 to 2023. That squad dominated ESL Impact, the women’s circuit, winning the first two seasons along with ESL Impact Valencia and Katowice.

He then spent a year in charge of ODDIK and narrowly missed taking the team to PGL Major Copenhagen through the Americas Regional Major Ranking (RMR). From 2024 to 2026 he worked as an assistant coach at FlyQuest, leading the team himself only briefly, at BLAST Open London 2025.

That makes FOKUS his first full head coach job since ODDIK. Changing coaches with a playoff invite already in hand leaves him little time to shape a lineup that has only been together since podi and jocab arrived in the summer.

The FOKUS Roster Under JTR

The player side of ztr’s team is unchanged by the switch, so JTR inherits the same five players kuben was coaching when he was benched.

Name	Nationality	Role
Matias “Banjo” Kivistö	Finland	Player
Mateo “Matheos” Prišlin	Croatia	Player
Erik “ztr” Gustafsson	Sweden	Player
Paavo “podi” Heiskanen	Finland	Player
Jacob “jocab” Nerheden	Sweden	Player
Ricardo “JTR” Júnior	Portugal	Head coach
Jakub “kuben” Gurczyński	Poland	Benched coach

Beyond the NODWIN Clutch Series 12 playoffs, FOKUS are also signed up for ROG Journey Autumn, a $20,000 event in Skövde, Sweden.