FC Bayern: How Munich got rid of their tyrannical coach

An Monday, May 22nd, the FC Bayern supervisory board meets as scheduled. Four days before the end of a season where there might be nothing to celebrate. After ten years of dominance that is unique in the Bundesliga, Marienplatz could exceptionally not be inhabited by Bayern fans this spring. Unless they celebrate the dismissal of the board members Oliver Kahn and/or Hasan Salihamidzic in the said supervisory board meeting.

There is a lot of speculation about it, because Bayern are stuck before the Bundesliga game against Hertha BSC this Sunday (3.30 p.m., in the sports ticker at WELT) in crisis. It used to start in second place, today even the championship might not be enough. Which seems grotesque in view of the turbulence that the German record champions have had in their Bundesliga history. How did the people of Munich get out back then? With a lot of money – and the “Mia san mia” that is so missed today.

1974/1975: New Year’s impulse

After three championships in a row and a European Cup victory, the stars around Franz Beckenbauer could hardly be motivated. Especially not those seven players who also became world champions in 1974. Paul Breitner fled to Madrid in time and prophesied: “Bayern are fed up and need new motivation from the kit man to the shoeshine boy.”

Coach Udo Lattek couldn’t wake her up anymore, there were embarrassing defeats – a 0:6 against Kickers Offenbach or a 1:3 at relegated Wuppertaler SV. On New Year’s Day, Lattek went to President Wilhelm Neudecker to “make things change”. Something changed – he was fired. The club signed the well-travelled football professor Dettmar Cramer.

Short-term success did not set in, the season ended in the worst place up to that point (10th), but was saved by defending the national championship trophy. Striker Uli Hoeneß admitted: “We could only pull ourselves together in the European Cup games. Two games every four or six weeks – our concentration was enough for that.”

In the league, Bayern remained mediocre, but under Cramer they won the European Cup for a third time – and thus calmed the environment.

1978/1979: A tyrannical coach

After a miserable twelfth place last year, the first season without Franz Beckenbauer, Bayern did not play internationally for the first time since 1968. So they got Paul Breitner from Madrid, who promptly announced the motto “championship”.

But there was the threat of a second year without a European Cup, the players couldn’t get along with the tyrannical coach Gyula Lorant, and Breitner decided to “make a stink until he’s gone”.

In December 1978 they played against Lorant’s instructions in Düsseldorf with an offside trap, which became a pitfall for the coach – he flew after the 1:7. President Neudecker wanted to hire an even stricter trainer in Max Merkel – against any agreement.

The team voted 16-0 against the Austrian, they wanted to keep interim coach Pal Csernai and threatened to boycott the training session. There was a novelty that made it into the “Tagesschau”: On the evening of March 19, 1979, captain Sepp Maier had to explain why a president resigned out of frustration with a team instead of asserting himself.

also read

Everyone was talking about the March Revolution in Munich, and not everyone thought it was good that high-paid workers were mutiniing. But it worked. The air on Säbener Straße was clean, the team played freely. Paul Breitner and Karl-Heinz Rummenigge ruled the club under the gentle leadership of President Willi O. Hoffmann (“Champagne-Willi”) – and coach Csernai did what they wanted.

In May, Breitner’s bosom friend Uli Hoeneß joined as manager – at the age of 27. It should be the most important person in the history of the club. With a rapid final sprint, Bayern still made it into the Uefa Cup and then, after six years without a bowl, became champions twice.

1991/1992: dismissal of a friend

Meanwhile financially rehabilitated through the sale of Rummenigge to Milan (1984) and promoted to record champions (since 1987), Bayern’s claim was the championship. Although Hoeneß had announced a “year of transition” after a number of well-known departures (three world champions in Klaus Augenthaler, Jürgen Kohler and Stefan Reuter), when they were eliminated from the cup in October and were only twelfth in the league, he fired his friend Jupp Heynckes .

Successor Sören Lerby made it even worse, Bayern became the laughing stock of the league, Ottmar Hitzfeld said after a 3-0 win for his Dortmund team: “Where else should we win if not in Munich?”

The board pulled the emergency brake, and two former teammates joined Hoeneß, who was considering resigning: Franz Beckenbauer and Karl-Heinz Rummenigge became vice-presidents on November 25, 1991 – and soon they were promoted.

Beckenbauer provided a “real” coach and reactivated his friend Erich Ribbeck, who prevented relegation, which was still possible until the beginning of May. The new football competence in the club and the special charisma of the “Kaiser” led to an upswing.

also read

There were still minor crises: in 1994 and 1996, for example, Beckenbauer took over the team in the second half of the season, won the championship trophy and the Uefa Cup, the latter even as incumbent president. The Bavarian family hugged each other during the “Kaiser period”, the “mia san mia” was never more pronounced.

2006/2007: 88 million for new players

In January, double-double winner Felix Magath was released in fourth place because Uli Hoeneß had to fear that his flowery prediction of a rapid catch-up race (“Santa Claus was never the Easter Bunny”) might not come true. For the third time they brought a coach back – Ottmar Hitzfeld fell for Hoeneß’s charm: “Ottmar, would you help us?” He asked the master coach from 1999 to 2001 and 2003, who was released from the contract in 2004.

“I hadn’t planned to go back, but you can’t say ‘no’ to that,” admitted the surprised man later. Although he missed the goal of the season “Champions League entry”, but the anger of those in power hit the team. Ten players, including Hasan Salihamidzic, had to go and ten new ones came.

Bayern are investing the Bundesliga record sum of 88 million euros to give the team a new look. The league was happy about new stars like Franck Ribery and world champion Luca Toni, and Hitzfeld didn’t know what to do with all the national players.

also read

Miroslav Klose, Lukas Podolski and Jan Schlaudraff got to know the bank – everything for success. “The Galactics” called the “SZ” the Munich star ensemble, which plowed through the league and only lost two games – and the coach Hitzfeld, who is now finally retiring, went in tears as a double winner.

However, his successor led Bayern straight into the next crisis: Jürgen Klinsmann was knocked out of all competitions and didn’t win the championship in 2009 either. Just as little as Jupp Heynckes, who at least secured second place in five games in a short engagement.

2011/2012: Heynckes for the third time

In the summer of 2011, Heynckes came to Munich for a third time. Hoeneß wanted to make up for “the biggest mistake of my life” – the hasty dismissal of his friend in 1991. But initially the romance was not crowned with success: Bayern finished second three times, lost two finals and had to congratulate Dortmund on the championship and cup victory.

Two years without a shell and the tragically lost “final at home” against Chelsea plunged the club into a downright depression in May 2012. Bayern, however, trusted Heynckes, bought players like Mario Mandzukic and Javi Martinez for almost 70 million euros, which not everyone would have thought of. And they got Matthias Sammer as sports director, Christian Nerlinger had to go. “Our most important transfer,” predicted Beckenbauer.

Sammer promptly announced the end of the mourning period and emphasized: “We need a spirit of optimism. We have to be successful straight away.” No sooner said than done: In 2013, Bayern won the treble. Then they set about keeping Borussia Dortmund at bay and brought in Mario Götze (2013), Robert Lewandowski (2014) and Mats Hummels (2016).

“Bayern want to destroy us,” growled managing director “Aki” Watzke in 2014, but he also predicted: “They won’t be German champions every time until 2020.” He was wrong about that.

also read