Oh dear, if I can read that again… All possible candidates mentioned in the article have played for Bremen at some point. If that’s really the deciding factor (maybe even ahead of competence?), then goodnight.
It can’t really be the claim of a Bundesliga club that the GF Sport position can ONLY be held by a former club member. If this is actually the AR’s approach, then it should be deselected or replaced as quickly as possible.
The club currently has a clear mission: to establish itself in the BL, with a long-term view to the top. Whether a Fritz without any (social) leadership experience or without clear successes in this position is the right person will only become clear after some time. Things are not fundamentally different at Mertesacker!
What is needed now is a seasoned CEO, preferably with 5-10 years of experience in exactly this position, in BL2, Austria, Switzerland, or NL.
or perhaps Bundesliga experience as a manager like Bobic or Heldt? Maybe Mislintat or Hitzlsperger?
I can’t quite tell whether this is slightly cynical or serious.
I assume the latter: Bobic has of course gained a lot of prestige after the Hertha outfit. I have no idea how much that was his fault and how much BSC Kluengel was to blame for the miserable squad. You would probably have to ask an SGE fan how to rate Bobic.
I don’t know much about Heldt either, other than the fact that he has a lot of experience in exactly the same job, at Schalke, Stuttgart, H96, and FC. You would definitely know what you were getting (in contrast to Fritz…).
Mislintat, as others have already written, is primarily responsible for the Stuttgart squad, but of course thanks to the Ajax interlude, like Bobic, has suffered a real dent. If you set certain guidelines for him, then he could (probably?) bring the Bremen squad into shape. In combination with Jahns this could be really adventurous (in a good way!).
Hitzlsperger is (for me) not dramatically different from Fritz. He certainly has more direct experience, but from what I passively noticed about what was going on at VfB, I wonder whether he would be the best candidate.
But if I spontaneously imagine that Mislintat is putting together the squad together with Jahns and Fritz and perhaps Svensson will come in the next few months… I would like that.