Fans demand eviction
©IMAGO
At the beginning of December, Dimitrios Grammozis took over 1. FC Kaiserslautern in 13th place in the 2nd Bundesliga, almost two months later and after slipping to 16th place, the 45-year-old’s coaching chair is already wobbling worryingly. After the 1:2 (1:0) defeat against SC Paderborn on Saturday evening, a shrill concert of whistles echoed through the Fritz Walter Stadium. The FCK has lost ten of the last twelve league games and is still stumbling towards the 3rd league. Even Grammozis was unable to change the downward trend, and the fans identified him as another culprit for the misery.
The supporters of 1. FC Kaiserslautern demanded the release of the German-Greek with loud shouts of “Grammozis out”. It does not seem to be out of the question that the FCK will comply with the fans’ demands in a timely manner. After the fifth defeat in the sixth league game under Grammozis, managing director Thomas Hengen avoided making a commitment to the coach, who had only succeeded Dirk Schuster on December 3rd of last year, immediately after the game.
“The mood is not in danger of changing, it has changed. With the series behind us, that’s understandable. But after such a disappointing game, you don’t make any statements left or right. We will sit down together and analyze the game like we always do,” said Hengen on the TV channel “Sky”. “The trainer is the poorest pig, he had little standing here right from the start, for whatever reason. But you have to deliver results, I know that, the coach and the team.”
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Grammozis himself responded taciturnly to questions about his future and took refuge in slogans of perseverance. “It’s not nice when you hear calls like that. Being a professional doesn’t just mean being ahead of the curve when it comes to good things and being celebrated. Moments like that are part of it,” he said. “But all I can do is step on the gas. The situation is what it is.” Against Paderborn, his team put in a stable performance in the first half and took the lead after just three minutes thanks to a header from Jan Elvedi (27). As a result, the Palatinate team created a few chances and could have led higher at the break. But when the whistle restarted, Kaiserslautern was paralyzed.
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After just 55 minutes, Grammozis changed his entire offensive line with Ragnar Ache (25), Richmond Tachie (24) and Marlon Ritter (29). Top scorer Ache in particular didn’t like it at all. When he was substituted, he ran past the coach, visibly upset. But Grammozis’ impulse quickly fizzled out. A hand penalty converted by David Kinsombi (28) led to the equalizer after 65 minutes, seven minutes later Visar Musliu (29) headed in the 2-1 winning goal for the guests.
My feeling tells me that Grammozis will get his final against Nuremberg. Why?
1. We will now analyze together and come to the conclusion that we played a great first half, the team is potentially capable of it, and the coach also reaches the team, otherwise such a first half would not have been possible.
2. We further come to the conclusion that the changes were actually absolutely logical. Hajri has already stated that the week was very strenuous…
When the opponent for the DFB Cup semi-final was decided around an hour after the game – Kaiserslautern will face the winner of the game 1. FC Saarbrücken against Borussia Mönchengladbach – this was secondary to the disappointment of the game that had just ended shortly before. “I don’t really care at the moment who we play against. We have enough to do with the game now. I have no idea what will happen sometime in April,” said Grammozis. It is questionable whether he will still be on the sidelines as FCK coach.
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