Max Eberl looked flustered as he faced the press, worry lines creeping around his blue eyes. A hastily arranged media conference on Monday placed the Borussia Monchengladbach sporting director in front of the cameras, forcing him to explain why Lucien Favre, the coach who had secured the club’s best Bundesliga finish for 29 years, no longer wanted his job. Gladbach wanted Favre to stay, Eberl insisted, but the coach’s mind was made up. Favre was set on leaving, no longer able, in his own mind, to find solutions to the team’s problems.
Five losses from five Bundesliga games this season has consigned Gladbach to the bottom of the table, their best campaign in 29 years in 2014-15 receding into their worst ever start to a Bundesliga season. Cologne handed out the latest defeat on Saturday, as an Anthony Modeste header decided the Rhine derby. Still, Favre was seemingly under no pressure at Gladbach, the run of defeats dismissed as a blip that would soon fade. As the news erupted on Sunday night of his departure, there was widespread shock.
Favre broke the news himself, with a statement concluding that “the best decision is for me to resign from my position”. It warranted a speedy reply from Gladbach. Eberl said he wanted the Swiss coach to stay and president Rolf Konigs indicated that Favre’s decision to go public had forced the club into accepting his resignation. Monday’s press conference wrapped up events, as details emerged that Eberl received the fateful call from Favre’s agent on Sunday morning, while walking his dog. A number of crisis meetings at the club throughout Sunday could not persuade the coach to stay, and the public statement finalised the 57-year-old’s decision. That was that.
Then came the fallout and the questions digging deeper. Rene Strittmatter, who brought the Swiss coach to FC Zurich in 2003, added intrigue by suggesting that the club’s recruitment was an underlying reason for Favre’s departure. “Lucien was unhappy with some transfers,” Strittmatter told Sport Bild. Kristoph Kramer returned to Bayer Leverkusen this summer, following a two-year loan, and Max Kruse was sold to Wolfsburg, depleting Gladbach’s squad.
Favre's key targets, reports suggest, included Hoffenheim’s Kevin Volland, Basel’s Breel Embolo, RB Leipzig’s Yussuf Poulsen and Dante, who moved from Bayern Munich to Wolfsburg. Gladbach failed to sign any of those players, with questions now being asked about the effectiveness of sporting director Eberl.
#Soccer Lucien Favre resigned as Borussia Monchengladbach coach on Sunday following the club's dismal start to… http://t.co/YiQ9I2cxI9
— 1800-WorldCup.com (@WorldCupFinals) September 21, 2015
But there are also doubts about Favre’s temperament. He has form. The 57-year-old took over at Gladbach in 2011, with the club bottom of the Bundesliga, and guided them to survival through a relegation play-off against VFL Bochum. But the spell at Gladbach followed a tumultuous time at Hertha Berlin, whom he almost guided to a remarkable Bundesliga title triumph in 2008-09 before being shown the door with the club bottom in September. Remarkable turnarounds are part of Favre’s appeal as a coach, but it appears that when the tables turn back around, the Swiss is first to the exit door.
That exit door is now firmly closed behind him, and Gladbach press on to find a permanent replacement. Andre Schubert, a former St Pauli and Paderborn youth coach recruited to manage Gladbach’s Under-23s this summer, will take over as interim boss, though the search for a permanent manager is thought to be ongoing. In Monday’s press conference, Eberl highlighted the difficulty of finding a manager in September, though two names immediately got the rumour mill churning.
Jurgen Klopp, out of contract since leaving Borussia Dortmund, has been mentioned, though his agent, speaking to Sport Bild, denied any interest, and Jupp Heynckes, retired since the remarkable 2012-13 Treble-winning season with Bayern has been muted as a distant possibility. Less fanciful suggestions include Thomas Schaaf and Mirko Slomka, though they may fail to capture the imagination in Monchengladbach.
A replacement is needed swiftly. Gladbach are in a better position than when Favre took over, of that there is no doubt, but his swift departure at the beginning of Bundesliga and Champions League campaigns has left the club in the lurch. Pointless and managerless, joy in May has quickly turned to despondence in September.
