According to consistent media reports, second division soccer team 1. FC Nürnberg has drawn conclusions from the sporting misery and released its sports director Dieter Hecking.
As the “Nürnberger Nachrichten” reports, the decision had already been made before the disappointing 1:3 on Friday evening in the 2nd Bundesliga at Fortuna Düsseldorf. Bild wrote that she also had this information. The club will officially announce the separation “on Monday at the latest, possibly as early as Sunday,” it said.
“I can’t say anything about it, no one has spoken to me,” Hecking told the German Press Agency on Sunday. The club did not initially respond to a request. Hecking’s successor is “still open,” the newspaper continued. Discussions with possible candidates are said to have already taken place in the past few days.
The active fan scene has been calling for Dieter Hecking’s removal for weeks. After another weak performance against Fortuna Düsseldorf on Friday, the supervisory board also came to the conclusion that there was no longer any future for the 59-year-old sports director at 1. FC Nürnberg. Today, Hecking’s removal will be made official at an extraordinary meeting of the Supervisory Board. This would end his almost four-year term in office, during which there was mostly no sporting success.
Hecking’s dressing room lecture is the final straw
Hecking fought for his job until the end. The dark clouds had been hanging over the Valznerweiher for months. “It wasn’t a successful time in terms of sport,” said Hecking, self-critically, when asked about his previous work at the traditional Franconian club in “Blickpunkt Sport”. Last Sunday, Hecking really went on the offensive again. He visited the team – not for the first time – in the dressing room during half-time of the home game against Karlsruhe.
The sports director was so displeased with the dismal performance of Cristian Fiél’s team that he is said to have started a loud lecture – which was not agreed upon with the actual head coach. He confirmed the visit of the sports director at the press conference after the game. The supervisory board is said to have completely displeased Hecking’s appearance.
Four coaches in four years
There are many sporting reasons for Hecking’s dismissal. Since Hecking took office four years ago, little has improved for the nine-time German champions. Hecking – once a successful Bundesliga coach and novice at official level – installed four coaches, including himself, as an interim solution. With Robert Klauß, 1. FC Nürnberg stabilized in the first year (11th place) and was even allowed to dream of promotion to the Bundesliga by Easter in the 2021/2022 season (8th place).
But the following season it was over for Julian Nagelsmann’s former assistant in Leipzig. Hecking threw Klauss out the door – too soon, as he later admitted. Especially since successor Markus Weinzierl didn’t bring any improvement. Hecking himself had to save the club from going into the third division and managed to stay in the league on the last matchday. Before the season, Hecking’s assistant Cristian Fiél took over the professional team.
Even under him, 1. FC Nürnberg’s ability to stay in the league is shaky. The club is playing the worst second division second half of the season and is second to last in the second half of the season.
Positive Transferbilanz
But not everything went badly under Hecking. The integration of the youth performance center and the professional team was pushed forward. The FCN is once again a training team and can look forward to high returns from its talents. Top talent Can Uzun will bring the club a double-digit million sum in the summer. Nathaniel Brown has already been sold to Frankfurt (for a fee of three million euros), but is still spending the second half of the season at Valznerweiher. With 17-year-old Finn Jeltsch, the next diamond in the rough is already in the starting blocks.
However, he too is unlikely to see his future in Nuremberg after next season at the latest. On the one hand, this ensures a positive transfer balance. On the other hand, if a club has to give up its top players every season and does not get them adequately replaced, it cannot have long-term sporting success. Even Hecking couldn’t lead the traditional club out of this vicious circle.
Hecking soon in Wolfsburg?
If you believe current media reports, Hecking should fall softly. VfL Wolfsburg is said to have chosen him as a possible successor to Marcel Schäfer. The fans of 1. FC Nürnberg called on him on Sunday with a drastic banner to hire him in the Autostadt. A quick continued employment of Hecking would also be in the interests of the club’s financial situation. Hecking’s contract was extended early in autumn 2022. A long continued payment of wages would put further strain on the coffers of the permanently cash-strapped club.
Nuremberg’s fans called for sports director Hecking to be kicked out in the home game against Karlsruhe.
Source: BR24Sport on the radio May 5, 2024 – 3:05 p.m