Jurgen Klinsmann
J
urgen Klinsmann and
Lars Windhorst were
supposed to herald
a bright new dawn
for Hertha Berlin.
Klinsmann, the big-name
former Germany striker,
was hired in November by Windhorst, the
businessman who had purchased a 49.9
per cent stake in the club and funded a
major recruitment splurge in January.
But Klinsmann quit after just 76 days
in charge.
The former Germany, USA and Bayern
Munich boss, who had been appointed
interim “trainer” until the end of the
season, was not exactly a roaring success,
winning only three of his nine Bundesliga
matches at the helm. He departed with
Hertha 14th in the table, six points above
the relegation zone. A 3-1 home defeat
to Mainz was seemingly the last straw for
Klinsi, coming as it did a few days after a
German Cup defeat to Schalke.
In a statement on Facebook he wrote:
“In a relegation battle, unity, cohesion and
focus are the most important elements. If
they are not guaranteed, I cannot exploit
my potential as a coach and thus cannot
live up to my responsibility.”
It later emerged that Klinsmann hadwanted to be appointed technical director
in the summer and, hinting at tensions
within the club hierarchy, he contrasted
the role of a German “coach” to that
of a British-style “manager”.
“As I understand it, a manager
should have total sporting responsibility,
including over transfers,” he said. “That
gives the position more power but the
system in Germany has developed
differently with sporting directors.”
In a Facebook Live chat he said: “It
bothered me that someone was always
sat there commenting on players and
refs. We were at loggerheads. Conditions
were very difficult for me, perhaps
because I’ve had other experiences in
other countries. I’ve experienced life in
Italy and France and England, of course.
“In Germany we’re used to having a
manager on the substitutes bench at the
side of the pitch and that he participates,
that he’s there for the players, and keepsthe door open for them. I wasn’t used to
that anymore. I know the English model
for a manager – they’re called managers
in England, not coaches – has only one
job and that’s being the boss of the club.
“They’re different in Germany, where
everyone gets to have their say, everyone
plays a role, the whole management
structure. In the end only one can decide,
and I feel it has to be the coach. And we
disagreed there. Unfortunately we
disagreed on many things.”
Klinsmann’s comments were seen as adirect attack on Michael Preetz, Hertha’s
sporting director, whose position would
have become untenable if the coach’s
powers had been extended this summer,
when further heavy expenditure in the
transfer market was expected.
In Klinsmann’s short spell in charge,
Hertha broke the Bundesliga record for
money spent in the January transfer
window, with €78m invested in Krzysztof
Piatek (Milan, €27m), Matheus Cunha
(RB Leipzig, €15m), Lucas Tousart
(Lyon, €25m) and Santiago AscacibarOut after 76 days as Hertha Berlin coach
Record...Hertha spent
€78m in the January
transfer window“I cannot exploit my potential as
a coach and thus cannot live up
to my responsibility”Headliners