The home games of the Eastern Swiss Volksklub are a boon for the Super League. But it doesn’t take much to raise doubts. The abrupt change of the sports director, the suffering captain and the coach ensure this.
Last summer, Lukas Görtler (right) discussed things that led to outbursts with coach Zeidler (left).
Walter Bieri / Keystone
Again over 18,000 people come to the St. Gallen Stadium, the match against FC Winterthur ends 2-2. Anyway. St. Gallen coach Peter Zeidler, who appeared like a tireless volcano on the sidelines during the match, says that after four defeats it was all about “breaking the momentum”.
His team isn’t having an easy time of it at the moment. Main pillars like Betim Fazliji, Lukas Görtler and Jordi Quintilla are injured. And when the convalescent Julian von Moos was brought on and replaced again as a precautionary measure against Winterthur, it was evidence of how difficult FC St. Gallen is finding its face. Be different, become better. In addition, increasing spectator numbers, more season tickets sold than ever, more and more income at all levels and, in the first half of the year, loud home wins as a pick-me-up in an arena that sometimes threatens to overflow emotionally.
But it takes surprisingly little for doubt to trickle into the midst of optimism. The football year 2024 began, and soon there were four defeats in a row. In addition, the aura of home strength evaporated. Winterthur cannot be defeated either – and will be talked down to afterward.
You immediately think about six lean months again
Thoughts are already starting to emerge as to whether the club will remain true to itself, whether six profitable months will be followed by six lean ones, as has happened so often since the project was initiated in 2018 with the busy club president and former television presenter Matthias Hüppi.
The “Volksklub” project has gained momentum, but longs for more than average. This is also why voices within the organization do not fall silent, saying that the team is not making any noticeable progress.
The research into the causes includes four topic areas: the emotions that are difficult to control in St. Gallen, the epidemic year of the leader Lukas Görtler, the change of the sports director from Alain Sutter to Roger Stilz and the work of the long-term trainer Peter Zeidler. Of course, everything is interconnected.
The fact that a player like Görtler is unjustifiably sent off by the video referee after a few minutes in the first home game of 2024 also happens elsewhere. But the people of Eastern Switzerland have a tendency to wallow in the injustice they have suffered for too long – and to lose focus.
Görtler has become a monument in the club
Anyway, Görtler. The German will turn 30 in the summer and has become a monument at FC St. Gallen. Once St. Gallen, always St. Gallen. Contract until 2026. Flagship, engine. But Görtler is suffering through what he himself calls a terrible year. At the beginning of the season he took care of the climate in the team and discussed things that led to outbursts with coach Zeidler, who has a lot of power and can hardly be controlled. The consequences: a hike in the Alpstein led by Hüppi, pulling themselves together, directing energy towards the (home) games.
With pathos, FC St. Gallen announced in 2021 the contract extension with Lukas Görtler until 2026.
Youtube / FCSG
In addition, Görtler injured his foot, underwent surgery, fought his way back, endured the flu, was sent off the field and soon slipped into muscular problems that are currently keeping him off the pitch. Görtler is not a player who protects himself and hides. He could be suffering from the so-called “Inler syndrome”, which goes back to the former national player Gökhan Inler. It says: A player takes too much on himself because of his sense of responsibility, both off and on the field. Görtler is like a horse in the stable, stamping and waiting for the gate to open.
Impatience. The feeling of not getting anywhere.
FC St. Gallen made a change at the beginning of January, but not in the position of the coach, i.e. not where a construction site is suspected. After six years, the club parted ways with sports director Alain Sutter and tore apart a management trio that was known in eastern Switzerland as the Trinity. Hüppi, Sutter, Zeidler, inseparable since 2018. Every storm was weathered, every inadequate (half-yearly) balance sheet.
Be different. Don’t give in to any impulses, especially not the Vox Populi or demands in the media. “I don’t want any wailing walls here. There is a lot of complaining in football. The players know who their first point of contact is: the coach,” said Sutter last November.
Alain Sutter didn’t want to give up power
When the headstrong Alain Sutter sets his mind to something, he doesn’t change it the next day. The club management’s request was to provide Sutter with help. To relieve him in view of the growing organization: 1st team, transfers, coaches, women’s team, young talent. But Sutter insisted on agreements when extending the contract and wanted to keep all the power.
ℹ️ | FC St.Gallen 1879 has made forward-looking decisions for further sporting development and made changes in leadership. As part of this reorientation, the FCSG relieved Alain Sutter of his responsibility. Roger Stilz will be his successor… pic.twitter.com/yycKTqtFj6
— FC St.Gallen 1879 GRÜEWISS IN THE HEART (@FCSG_1879) January 3, 2024
St. Gallen has the path of YB’s sporting conscience Christoph Spycher in mind, who recently became co-owner of the Bern club but has long since delegated work – for example to sports director Steve von Bergen. He takes on sometimes tedious conversations with dissatisfied players and maintains closeness to the team. Spycher still has the power. If the club breaks with top scorer Jean-Pierre Nsame, it won’t happen without supervisor Spycher.
St. Gallen wanted to combine the different profiles of Alain Sutter and Roger Stilz from Eastern Switzerland. Sutter’s aura, his experience, his intuition, his willfulness – and Stilz’s backpack, his UEFA Pro license, his experience as a youth manager at St. Pauli. But Sutter apparently didn’t budge an inch from his stance in several conversations. This is how Stilz has been working since January.
Stilz is not to be envied because he must have quickly noticed that he will need energy in moderating between the team, staff and coach, whose power base has not diminished with Sutter’s departure. Zeidler doesn’t listen to others enough, doesn’t involve players enough, hardly adapts, and reveals human deficits. Such voices persist in St. Gallen.
On the other hand, Zeidler is a gifted external communicator and considerable amounts of energy are continually released under his leadership. This strengthens the club management’s belief that they have the right coach for St. Gallen’s exciting, fast-paced, running football.