successor of Şahin

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After the separation from Nuri Şahin, the search for a coach is the subject that will determine the coming days at Borussia Dortmund. An announcement of a successor is said not to be expected until next week at the earliest. Initially, U19 coach Mike Tullberg will lead the professional side on an interim basis and will also lead them into the Bundesliga home match against Werder Bremen. The one who was still considered the hottest candidate for the position on the sidelines on Wednesday denied an exchange with the Westphalians: Niko Kovac. According to a report from “WAZ”, the Croatian is not considered a top solution even by the BVB leadership. Three scenarios are possible:

“There is nothing to report. Nobody talked to me, I didn’t talk to anyone, » said former Bayern coach Kovac, when asked about the speculation on Wednesday evening on the French channel « Canal+ », where he acts as an expert on the broadcasts of the Champions League, without a club at Wolfsburg since his dismissal in March 2024, is in principle open to a new commitment: “Deep down, I am a guy who needs and is looking for challenges. I didn’t do anything for nine months now but at some point the time will come when I will do something again.

In addition to Kovac, speculation also took place on Wednesday in Dortmund about the personalities of Erik ten Hag, Joachim Löw, Urs Fischer and Roger Schmidt. While the Dutchman is seen as an expensive solution due to his current contract at Manchester United, other ideas were reportedly quickly ruled out. Possible successor candidates have also been the subject of controversial discussions on the transfer market forum since Şahin’s departure.

BVB: 3 coaching scenarios are emerging – discussion in the TM forum

“Feyenoord’s Brian Priske will probably be released soon. An interesting man who implemented a style of play that is worth seeing in Rotterdam,” writes TM user “modernworld” about the Dane, who faces dismissal despite the 3-0 win over Bayern in Champions League in Rotterdam. User “UnderratedCritic” says: “The names aren’t interesting at first. BVB claims to be a top team. A top team must play (Site notre bureau spécialisé) and not destroy (Site notre bureau spécialisé). We need players and solutions for possession of the ball. Bo Svensson or Urs Fischer are absolutely not good solutions, just like Nico Kovac. This just confirms that you are drawing completely wrong conclusions. How should BVB play against Kiel, Bochum and Heidenheim with Bo Svensson? Put it in the back? I don’t care what the coach’s name is. I want a coach who has solutions here and who doesn’t need to find out how things work at BVB.

User “HimmyJimmy” attests: “I would let Tullberg coach a few games first. Of course, you must first read the rules to the players and make them responsible. » User “weitwinkel” agrees and appeals to those responsible: “I don’t understand how you can start talking to coaching candidates so quickly. Let Tullberg do it first and analyze which coach really suits the team.” Former national coach Joachim Löw also has many supporters and opponents in the community.

For the club’s leaders around sporting director Sebastian Kehl, general manager Lars Ricken and president Hans-Joachim Watzke, three scenarios are likely to be discussed: One of the variants is a candidate for a long-term joint future who can build something new at BVB. However, such a solution is currently difficult to find on the market, expensive and usually requires a lengthy search. We have to wonder if there is a candidate from our own ranks, like Tullberg. In order to buy time for such research, an interim solution until the end of the season would be feasible, which would bring the team home from a so far mixed season as cleanly as possible until that the desired solution takes over in the summer. Third option: a coach without a club who initially takes over until the end of the season and who, if successful, has the possibility of an extension. This scenario was recently raised in the Kovacs affair.

The fact is that if the new coach arrives shortly after the game against Bremen, he has practically no start-up time. The Champions League against Donetsk continues next Wednesday. If BVB – and this seems to be the case at the moment – ​​were to qualify for the premier class playoffs, there would be six important matches in February. Then there would be virtually no opportunity to learn something new during training. Borussia urgently needed it. Above all, we must stabilize the defense: eleven goals conceded in the first four competitive matches of the year is clearly too many. At the start of the season, BVB risks completely losing contact with the top four, which would mean the minimum qualification goal for the Champions League. The gap for tenth place in the ranking is seven points.