By Paul Gorgas and Roberto Lamprecht
There’s a bang in the basement! On Sunday there was a crash in reserve training at bottom of the Bundesliga table Hertha.
After warming up and a short speech among the players, the returnee coach threw up Pal Dardai (47) with clear words and gestures Ivan Sunjic (26) from the seat, called after him in the corridor towards the changing room: “Go away, bye, fuck off!”.
What’s behind the freak out?
After the terrible 4-2 draw against Bremen, Dardai announced that he would take action if the team lacked concentration and discipline.
The coach: “If everyone is focused and everyone lives and participates for Hertha, staying up in the league is a feasible task. But there are also things that I don’t understand, so I’ll attack them. If someone then looks wrong, we already have a problem.”
When Sunjic spits, Dardai freaks out
Sunjic felt that. According to BZ information, Sunjic is said to have seemed unfocused in the meeting at the beginning of the training session, not listening and looking properly. When he then also started to discuss with Dardai, the trainer’s collar burst. Videos of the incident show Dardai sending Sunjic off the field after a brief exchange of words.
And goodbye! Hertha trainer is angry, is now taking hard action at Hertha. Ivan Sunjic (center) flies off the field Photo: Matthew Koch
Also seen in the pictures: The loan from Birmingham spits on the floor several times when leaving. First in the direction of the assistant coach, then in the direction of the coach.
This visibly upsets Dardai, he calls out to Sunjic: “See? Do you see? What are you thinking?” After Sunjic stops and turns around, the angry Dardai announces “piss off”.
Pal Dardai apparently had to set an example. But does Sunjic’s expulsion wake up the team? Photo: City Press GmbH
When BZ asked what had happened, Sunjic only made a face when he left. Hertha’s official reason for being kicked out: lack of discipline.
But it is also clear: Dardai sent a public signal to all players with the drastic measure – if you don’t go along with it one hundred percent and are on the ball, you’ll be kicked out. Sunjic, who was last used on March 11, played no role in sport anyway.
Dardai takes action! The coach also cashed in on the free Tuesday before the game on Sunday in Munich: “There are so many things to discuss that I want to use the day for analysis. We can’t sweep everything under the rug and say everything is fine and we’re good footballers. I can’t hear that anymore.”
Tough Hertha – so that the rescue somehow succeeds.