The coaching carousel in the 2nd Bundesliga has really taken up swing. The 1st FC Köln relies on firefighter Friedhelm Funkel in the promotion. Cult coach Peter Neururer sees the Cologne team well positioned with this personnel.
The targeted rise of 1. FC Köln has been faltering in recent weeks. After the weak 1-1 in the home game against Jahn Regensburg, the club spent consequences at the weekend and separated from coach Gerhard Struber, and sports director Christian Keller also had to go. Friedhelm Funkel was presented as a new coach on Monday.
With the coaching routine, the 1st FC Köln goes into the decisive season phase.
The long-time second division and Bundesliga coach Peter Neururer believes that the traditional club can pack the promotion with the new coach.
Neururer: “Funkel knows how to do it”
“With Friedhelm Funkel you certainly have two games who knows how to do it. In Nuremberg and at home against Kaiserslautern, three points should be enough,” said the 70-year-old in an interview RTL/NTV and Sport.de.
The fireman is the right one “in this situation with this club,” emphasized Neururer. However, there was no alternative.
He keeps his fingers crossed for the effze. “I hope FC can do it. You have it in your own hands. What more you want?” Said Neururer.
In the two (with relegation four) games, a trainer can mainly move something in the leadership and speech of the team, said Neururer. “For example, in the simplification of things or avoid fear of failure.” On the other hand, one has “zero influence” in such a short period of time.
For Funkel, it is now about spreading optimism and positive thoughts again. After the surprising draw against the bottom of Regensburg, the fans had acknowledged the team’s performance with a loud whistle concert and “Struber out” calls. Sometimes the mood in the stadium worked as if FC was in the relegation battle.
Trainer chaos in the 2nd league is “madness”
So how can Funkel generate euphoria again? “It’s relatively easy. If you win in Nuremberg, it works quickly. But it is also in the other direction,” said Neururer.
The 1st FC Köln will play in Nuremberg on Friday, and on the last match day it may be against the 1. FC Kaiserslautern for everything.
Who rises? Neururer quickly decides on the favorites: “HSV and Cologne.”
Struber’s expulsion was the 13th this season, on Monday the 14th followed with the dismissal of Jan Siewert in Fürth. Neururer had already said clearly before: “What happens in the second division this year is insane. Trainers are not even allowed to cope with the smallest crisis, then they are already gone.”