Leverkusen: Robin Dutt to replace Heynckes

Following a meeting in the morning between Jupp Heynckes, the clubs general manager Wolfgang Holzhauser and director of sports Rudi Voeller Bundesliga side Bayer 04 Leverkusen officially confirmed what had been making headlines over the weekend that their 65 year old coach Jupp Heynckes would leave the club at the end of the season and that 46 year old Robin Dutt, who happens to be of Indian origin, would take over from him.

The club had offered Heynckes a one year extension, while Heynckes wanted to extend his contract by a couple of years and then there is also an offer from his former club FC Bayern Munich on the table. But at the moment it is not clear if Heynckes will take the Bayern Munich offer or retire from active coaching.

Jupp Heynckes commented on his decision, "Bayer 04 Leverkusen are a well led club with a great team. It was hard for me to make this decision. I will put all of my power into securing the second rank and qualifying for the Champions League directly."

Knowing that Heynckes could be leaving at the end of the season Bayer 04's management had been working in the background to secure a suitable replacement. And the decision was taken to bring in Robin Dutt, who is currently successfully coaching SC Freiburg. Dutt has been given a two year contract and with his contract at Freiburg running until 2012, Leverkusen will have to pay the southwest German side some compensation.

Robin Dutt meanwhile said about his new upcoming assignment, "I'm very much looking forward to my new challenge in Leverkusen. I will work with a team that has been coached outstandingly by Jupp Heynckes. I agree with the football philosophy shared by Wolfgang Holzhäuser and Rudi Völler."

For Robin Dutt, who has a Bengali father, his new coaching assignment will be the biggest of his coaching career so far and it will bring him back to the Rhineland, where he was born on the other side of the Rhine in Cologne.


Here a link to an older blog post of mine: Robin Dutt: An Indo-German success story .