Dortmund in crisis
Şahin dismissal: Is this why the BVB bosses are hesitating?
January 15, 2025 – 6:03 p.mReading time: 2 minutes
The Borussia Dortmund coach receives support from the club bosses despite continued disappointing results. They should have a different concern.
Three defeats from the last five competitive games, currently only mediocre in the Bundesliga, most recently the bitter 2:4 at newly promoted Holstein Kiel on Tuesday: Borussia Dortmund is in a serious crisis. The club has been running behind high expectations all season.
The focus is on new coach Nuri Şahin – the ex-BVB star only took over the black and yellow team in the summer. But there have been no consistent results under the 36-year-old, Dortmund has always been too changeable – most recently the oath of revelation in Kiel. Sahin himself has long been ailing and the pressure to achieve the minimum goal of qualifying for the Champions League is great.
Nevertheless, the BVB management has so far continued to hold on to the former Turkish national player. “We don’t need to have this discussion now,” said managing director Lars Ricken on Sky on Tuesday evening after the Kiel bankruptcy. But this loyalty could have special reasons.
Because the “Bild” newspaper reported on Wednesday: The Dortmund management team around Ricken, Hans-Joachim Watzke, sports director Sebastian Kehl and also advisor Matthias Sammer are said to fear that if Şahin is fired, their own positions will also be questioned.
Ultimately, a separation from the coach would be an “admission of guilt” that the decision for the relatively inexperienced Şahin, and especially the long-term retention of him, was wrong. The composition of the now criticized squad also goes back to the management level.
According to “Bild”, the structure within the executive suite is currently just as fragile as that within the team; it is more about looking good individually than highlighting the joint work. Curiously, the only one who has a good relationship with all members of the management team is coach Şahin.
BVB has to pass Eintracht Frankfurt on Friday. If the currently strong SGE suffers the next bitter defeat, it will become clear how strong the club management’s loyalty to the unfortunate coach still is – despite all the worries about their own position.