Markus Weinzierl is already history as a coach at 1. FC Nürnberg. His successor is the sports director. Dieter Hecking now has to save his own job in the management floor as a trainer.
Nuremberg (dpa / lby) – After the separation from Markus Weinzierl, sports director Dieter Hecking proclaimed himself the savior at 1. FC Nuremberg and made a comeback as a coach that was actually no longer planned for the Franconians, who were threatened with relegation. The 2015 DFB Cup winner, who was last unsuccessful as an official, is even risking his office job by returning to the sidelines with the teetering second division soccer team.
“Of course, if he takes this step, he goes all in in a way. He doesn’t have to save his job, but he also puts his job up for grabs. You have to say that openly,” admitted Nuremberg Supervisory Board Chairman Thomas Grethlein at the press conference on Monday , where Hecking presented himself as a beacon of hope.
On the way back after the 0:5 disaster at 1. FC Heidenheim on Sunday, the sports director with a long-term official contract in Franconia came to the decision that Weinzierl had to leave the club. “Phew, that wasn’t much,” was Hecking’s assessment of Nuremberg’s recent achievements.
The 58-year-old no longer wanted to watch the “creeping death” on the lawn. And so he released Weinzierl after only 139 days in office. After the separation from Robert Klauß, it was the second leave of absence from the “Club” on the sidelines this season. “I see that we drive into the dead end with a car and the wall is just before it. I’m not one to wait for the car to hit the wall,” said Hecking.
Weinzierl only succeeded Klauss last October. At that time, Nuremberg only had ten points on their account after ten match days. Now the crisis team is only 13th in the table with 22 points after 21 match days. The lead to relegation rank 16 is only two points.
“I have the confidence to say that I can steer this team in the right direction,” announced Hecking, who had actually declared his coaching career over. After leaving as a coach at Hamburger SV in the summer of 2020, the former professional became a sports director in Nuremberg.
“It was no longer part of my life plan that I would return to the coaching bench,” Hecking admitted. “I said no once, and now I’m sitting here and I have to soften the no into a yes.”
Weinzierl and Hecking had different opinions about the quality of the squad. Hecking believes the traditional club can do much better than 13th place – in the summer he had also set the goal of the first third of the table. Weinzierl found: The current status in the table reflects the potential of the team. “I have to face the criticism of the composition of the squad,” said Hecking.
“I was very surprised by the decision this morning. Yesterday there was a clear announcement in Heidenheim that I would be on the bench against Sandhausen. What then happened in the evening and during the night that Dieter Hecking changed his mind can be I don’t understand,” Weinzierl told “Bild” after his release.
Hecking spoke of his “gut feeling” that ultimately suggested that he should separate from the long-standing Augsburg coach. “If someone thinks Hecking will walk with the boys and everything will be better – that won’t be the case,” warned Hecking. Nevertheless, he dares to save himself from falling into the third division.
The club also discussed external coaching solutions. In the end, however, according to the head of the supervisory board, Hecking was the “best solution”, after all it didn’t cost anything extra and had “cold start skills” because he was close to the team.
Hecking’s assistant at the DFB Cup quarter-finalists will be U23 coach Cristian Fiel. This is the “new constellation until the end of the season,” emphasized the new head coach himself. Grethlein also assured that the dual function would only last until the summer.
The ultimate crisis duel will take place on Saturday (1 p.m.). Then the 1. FC Nürnberg welcomes the SV Sandhausen. The bottom of the table had already separated from coach Alois Schwartz on Sunday – his savior is now called Tomas Oral.
