Plain text from Uli Hoeneß: The honorary president of FC Bayern criticized the dismissal of Julian Nagelsmann from the record champions at the beginning of the year. At the same time, he gave a hearty swipe at the fired sports director Oliver Kahn.
In the talk show “Sonntags-Stammtisch” on BR, Hoeneß initially explicitly emphasized that it was not he who fired Julian Nagelsmann, but the club. And this was “not necessarily wise,” complained the honorary president.
When asked what went wrong at FC Bayern during this turbulent phase last season, Hoeneß explained that he had also corrected his own mistakes: “The most important thing is, if you want to change something, that you start with yourself and admit that mistakes were made. And the appointment of Oliver Kahn as CEO was a big mistake!”
Hoeneß wants to make FC Bayern future-proof in six to twelve months
When he realized that Oliver Kahn “can’t do that, I changed that together with Karl-Heinz Rummenigge,” explained Hoeneß, with a view to Kahn’s dismissal at the end of the 2022/23 season.
In around “six to twelve months”, according to Hoeneß’s estimate, FC Bayern could have “the personnel that the future should have. And then Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and I will withdraw a little again”. However, he and Rummenigge are currently still involved in the operational business, said the honorary president.
Hoeneß changes his mind
Hoeneß admitted that he no longer adheres to his former mantra that only a former footballer could manage a football club correctly and conscientiously. In the past, his opinion was different, as former professionals had not yet thought about the end of their active careers – in contrast to today.
“If someone plays football at Bayern Munich for ten years today, he no longer needs to work at all. And whether this player is prepared to work twelve hours a day, six days a week when he no longer needs it… “That’s the big question. Oliver Kahn recently said in an interview that a CEO doesn’t have to work 24 hours a day. To that I replied: But there should be twelve,” the honorary president concluded with a swipe at Kahn.