BUNDESLIGA BAYERN SACK MANAGER:FROM HERO to zero in 10 short months, Jürgen Klinsmann was unceremoniously dumped yesterday as coach of Bayern Munich after a disastrous season at a club not used to losing
After leading Germany to World Cup third place on home turf in 2006, Klinsmann was football’s golden boy when he took over last July at Bayern, fresh off their German season double.
But after presiding over seven league defeats so far this season – including three home games – Klinsmann’s fate was sealed yesterday morning. “Naturally I’m very disappointed at the moment,” he said, professing hope Bayern could still end the season on top. But even ahead of the 1-0 home defeat to Schalke on Saturday, the final straw for many Bayern fans, the 44-year-old appeared to have a premonition of his fate. In an interview on Friday, he seemed relieved at the prospect of a future without his “constant companion at Bayern: the pressure”.
“If Bayern Munich aren’t at the top of the table, there are whistles, criticism and lots of debate about the coach,” said Klinsmann, whose contract runs until 2010.
The heated debate about Klinsmann’s performance and the team’s dismal weekend performance finally became intolerable for Bayern Munich managers. After watching the side slip to third in the Bundesliga, conceding 37 goals this season over 21 last, they were concerned the former World Cup champion’s presence was a “psychological barrier” to renewed success, even endangering qualification for next season’s Champions League.
Firing Klinsmann was, they said “the appropriate step amid concerns the club may not achieve its minimum season targets”.
The departing manager has been replaced on a temporary basis by Jupp Heynckes, who led the Bavarians to two championships from 1987 to 1991, and is a close friend of general manager Uli Hoeness.
Klinsmann had 302 days, mostly bad, at Bayern. One of the first low points was exiting the German Cup after a 4-2 defeat to Bayer Leverkusen.
Bayern’s humiliation was not just a domestic affair: they limped out of the Champions League in the quarter-finals after a 5-1 hammering by Barcelona.
The pressure was clearly getting to Klinsmann at Easter when he tried to sue a German newspaper for depicting him on its front page in “Life of Brian” pose, nailed to a cross and singing “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life”.
Leading the tributes yesterday was Klinsmann’s national team successor, Joachim Löw, who said he was surprised at the firing so close to the season end.
“Normally one wants to draw a balance over the summer,” he said. “All in all, one has to say that Jürgen has shown great loyalty to the club, he was always straight with them and stood tall before his team. That’s character.”
Star striker Luca Toni kicked off successor speculation, nominating fellow Italian Roberto Manicini, trainer at Fiorentina, Lazio and, until last year, Inter Milan.
“It’s clear that if an Italian coach came – especially someone as good as Mancini – it would be really good for the club,” he told Italian television.
