Bundesliga Column - Round 27: The Relegation Battle intensifies

Round 27 of the 2011/12 Bundesliga season saw a number of teams in the relegation zone win, which has put pressure on teams above them then out of the earlier four now eight, maybe even nine clubs could be fighting to stay in the league until the end of the season.

Especially the incredible runs from FC Augsburg and SC Freiburg, who a few weeks ago seemed doomed for relegation has surprised many while other clubs like 1.Kaiserslautern, Hertha BSC Berlin, Hamburger SV and FC Cologne have not been picking-up enough points.

Bulgarian Krassimir Balakov made his debut as the new coach at bottom side 1.FC Kaiserslautern. Balakov happens to be a former Bundesliga star at Stuttgart and knows the league well, but he only joined midweek from Croatian side Hajduk Split. He couldn't do much as Lautern lost 0-2 in Freiburg against an inform side who moved into 13th spot.

Another inform side Augsburg needed an injury time equaliser against Bremen to continue their unbeaten run, while Hertha BSC scored a crucial win away to Mainz though staying on an automatic relegation spot. But the worry of the league are Hamburg and Cologne who suffered more defeats. While Hamburg has now lost four matches in a row, Cologne were trashed 6-1 by champions Dortmund.

For Dortmund the 6-1 win against Cologne on Sunday was crucial then Bayern Munich had closed the gap to just two points after their hard-earned 2-1 win against Hannover 96. The title race is one as both sides keep the momentum going, while Schalke moved into third spot with a 2-0 win against Leverkusen, while Mönchengladbach lost to Hoffenheim as they did not overcome their midweek German Cup blues.


Round 27 Results

VfL Wolfsburg 2-1 Hamburger SV
1.FSV Mainz 05 1-3 Hertha BSC Berlin
Borussia Mönchengladbach 1-2 1899 Hoffenheim
FC Bayern München 2-1 Hannover 96
SV Werder Bremen 1-1 FC Augsburg
SC Freiburg 2-0 1.FC Kaiserslautern
FC Schalke 04 2-0 Bayer 04 Leverkusen
VfB Stuttgart 1-0 1.FC Nürnberg
1.FC Köln 1-6 Borussia Dortmund

Robin Dutt returns to Freiburg tonight

Coach of Indian origin Robin Dutt returns to SC Freiburg in the Bundesliga tonight with his current club Bayer 04 Leverkusen. And it will be an emotional return for Dutt, who worked four years for the Breisgau club before making the move to the Rhine club in the summer.

In Freiburg Robin Dutt successfully worked for four years to make a name for himself after his time in Ditzingen and Stuttgarter Kickers. In the first season they gained promotion to the Bundesliga, then survived two years in the top tier and last year had their best finish in years.

The good work of Robin Dutt didn't go unnoticed with clubs in Hamburger SV and Hannover 96 showing interest in the coach, but in the end it was Leverkusen who signed him last summer. And for Dutt it was a big move to the Bundesliga runners-up, who are playing UEFA Champions League this season.

So far it has been a mixed season for Leverkusen, whose biggest problem has been consistency as the team has played some great matches but also disastrous performances. In the Champions League Leverkusen are second to FC Chelsea ahead of Valencia and Genk with chances to reach the pre-quarterfinals, but in the Bundesliga Leverkusen is only ninth with 14 points from 10 matches. And that isn't acceptable to the Bayer management, who have ambitions to challenge for the title or at least the Champions League places.

A win at his old club is therefore a must for Robin Dutt tonight...

Robin Dutt starts work at Bayer Leverkusen

Last seasons Bundesliga runners-up Bayer 04 Leverkusen yesterday introduced their new coach Robin Dutt at a press conference to the media before Robin Dutt held his first coaching session at his new club infront of 500 interested fans.

The Coach of Indian origin had joined the Rhineland club this summer from SC Freiburg, where he had coached successfully the last few years. Leverkusen is the biggest coaching assignment of his career so far and Robin pointed that out. When asked about his ambitions with the club he said he would like to fulfil the long cherished dream of Bayer 04 Leverkusen to finally win the Bundesliga title.

A confident Robin Dutt explained, "At Freiburg finishing ninth was a big achievement last season. Here in Leverkusen finishing outside the international spots would be a disaster, Europa League would be average, Champions League would be good and winning a title would be outstanding. That is what I would like to achieve here."

The 46 year old was born in Cologne, which is on the other side of the Rhine from Leverkusen, though he spend most of his life around the Stuttgart area before moving to Freiburg.

Robin Dutt belongs to the new generation of coaches. When asked about his style of football Robin said, "We should not be predictable in our game. There is no tactical system which remains the same for 60 matches."

It is clear Robin wants to be flexible in the way his team plays and prepare his side for different situations throughout the season. Other key aspects of his approach are respect and discipline.

One can only wish him all the best at Bayer 04 Leverkusen!

Bundesliga Finale: Dutt vs. Heynckes

Saturday will be the 34th and final match day of the 2010/11 German Bundesliga season with an interesting and often intense season coming to an end. But it isn't all over yet with the fight against relegation and for the final direct spot for the UEFA Champions League still on.

And there is a very interesting clash between SC Freiburg and Bayer 04 Leverkusen where the two coaches - Robin Dutt and Jupp Heynckes will be coaching for their present clubs, but both might at the very back of their mind have a thought about next season.

Robin Dutt is coaching his final game for SC Freiburg before he switches over to Bayer 04 Leverkusen and a win against his future club could deny him Champions League football next season, while on the other side Jupp Heynckes will be coaching Bayer 04 Leverkusen for the last time before returning for a third time to FC Bayern Munich and if he wins with Bayer 04 then Bayern Munich will have to go into the Champions League qualifiers.

The match is also a meeting of the generations. The seasoned Jupp Heynckes turns 66 next Monday and has been a very successful coach over the last three decades; while 46 year old Robin Dutt belongs to a different coaching generation. Dutt is termed as a concept coach like Borussia Dortmund's champion coach Juergen Klopp and Thomas Tuchel of FSV Mainz 05.

Talking about the situation Robin Dutt said, "I don't have a contractual obligation to give my best for SC Freiburg, but rather an emotional one. I guess Leverkusen will want to have coach who is committed until the last day and they are getting one."

Heynckes uttered similar sentiments by saying that if he was already thinking about his new club, then Bayern Munich would be signing the wrong coach.

But for Leverkusen the game is also about financial stability then not making it as Bundesliga second into the Champions League would be a loss of seven to 10 Million Euros as the Champions League qualifiers are always a gamble as they could face a tough opponent.

Coach Roulette in the Bundesliga

German football is experiencing something which it has never ever seen before. The clubs are in a hire-and-fire mode with even established clubs joining the mayhem which is resulting in coaches being exchanged like never before likewise the news is out this month on coaches leaving or forced to leave at the end of the season.

Veteran coach Jupp Heynckes had said before the weekends matches, "At the moment, the Bundesliga is a madhouse. The average football fan has trouble understanding it."

Now yesterday Heynckes himself became part of this carousel for coaches by announcing that he would not extend his contract with Bayer 04 Leverkusen. This meant Bayer 04 where now searching for a replacement and they found that in Freiburg in Robin Dutt, who is leaving them with a year still left on his contract and the reserve team coach Marcus Sorg will replace him. In Leverkusen Heynckes left it open if he would retire or return to his former club FC Bayern Munich.

At Bayern Munich things looked fine with coach Louis van Gaal after the club won the double and reached the final of the UEFA Champions League last season, but this term things weren't working out with the club having problems in league. For Bayern reaching the Champions League is a must and once it became clear that this aim was in danger the club was on the verge of firing van Gaal. They in the end didn't but decided it was time to part ways at the end of the season. And Bayern wanted former coach Heynckes as the replacement though rumours have said that the club has also shown interest in Germany coach Joachim Loew before he signed an extension, German technical director Matthias Sammer, Turkey coach Guus Hiddink, while in England the rumour has made rounds about former Bayern player and current Fulham boss Mark Hughes coming to the Saebener Strasse.

Elsewhere at FC Schalke 04 things looked similar in the summer. The Ruhr club finished second, Champions League football guaranteed, all looked fine for the royal blues. But Magath like he has done at earlier clubs started to rebuild the squad by buying and selling numerous players. But one of the main strengths of Schalke is the identification of the fans with the club. That was getting lost with Magath even on the board of the club. The club had reached the German Cup final and the last eight of the Champions League, but in the Bundesliga the results weren't good. The club was looking for reasons, so the many transfers and discrepencies there seemed to be the route out. A board meeting was conviened and out was Magath.

But not even 48 hours later Magath was back in the Bundesliga. His former club VfL Wolfsburg are fighting against relegation with a squad which cost owners Volkswagen tens of millions. The experiment with the first English coach in the Bundesliga in Steve McClaren failed and his assistant Pierre Littbarski also couldn't turn things around, so in a desparate attempt the VW bosses got in touch with Magath and suddenly he was back with most of the powers he had when he left the club in 2009 as Bundesliga champions.

Schalke 04 have since named former coach Ralf Rangnick as the new coach, who had left the club due to differences with the board in 2005 and the same people are still in charge. Rangnick meanwhile had left 1899 Hoffenheim in the first few days of the year in mutual consent. Hoffenheim supremo Dietmar Hopp and manager Ernst Tanner had sold a player without the okay from the coach, then his assistant Marco Pezzaiuoli took over.

The same happened at Hamburger SV about 10 days back when Armin Veh was fired after a 0-6 trashing against Bayern Munich. It had been decided that Veh would leave the club at the end of the season, but events on the field forced the club to act swiftly and they promoted Veh's assistant Michael Oenning to the top job. Oenning has until the end of the season to prove himself, if he can convince the management then he might get an extension. But in all this turmoil the club also lost their managing director Bernd Hoffmann, who had to leave the club too; while the search for a director of sports had been a topic for close to 20 months but there the club found an answer in Frank Arnesen.

And today the mayhem continued with Eintracht Frankfurt firing their coach Michael Skibbe and seasoned Christoph Daum is set to take over. What makes this firing even more bizarre is the fact that Frankfurt won their match against FC St. Pauli over the weekend. While over a month back bottom of the table Borussia Moenchengladbach had already fired Michael Frontzeck and brought in Swiss coach Lucien Favre, but still they are bottom of the league.

Luckily this week there is an international break, so the fans can check who is actually coaching which club. And one never knows more might be in store for us...

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 .

Bundesliga: Robin Dutt much sought after

Coach of Indian origin Robin Dutt has been making positive news with his Bundesliga club SC Freiburg. The club from the southwest of Germany are currently eighth in the league table with 37 points, are unlikely to have anything to do with the relegation battle and Dutt has developed one of the league's top strikers in Papiss Demba Cissé.

These facts have brought the clubs coach in the focus on bigger Bundesliga sides who are looking at possible replacements in the summer. While Robin Dutt has denied in a press conference that he is set to leave in the summer, he has also said that it would be better for a club if their coach leaves for a transfer fee rather then a pay off. And if possible he would like to see himself leave cash strapped Freiburg for a fee, if in the summer he left open.

Robin Dutt is currently being linked with two Bundesliga jobs, those at Bayer 04 Leverkusen and FC Schalke 04. While Bayer 04's seasoned coach Jupp Heynckes could either retire or return to FC Bayern Munich, the future of Schalke coach Felix Magath also looks bleak. And both clubs are looking at the option of appointing Dutt as their new coach.

It has been written by German tabloid Bild that Dutt even has a pre-contract in place with Bayer 04 Leverkusen and an exit clause with Freiburg, but he continues to deny that. Dutt had earlier been linked to the coaching jobs with Hannover 96, Hamburger SV and VfB Stuttgart. One will have to see if he remains Freiburg coach or moves on in the summer.

Robin Dutt: An Indo-German success story

Have you heard of Robin Dutt the chief coach of German Bundesliga club SC Freiburg? Sounds a little Indian doesn't he? Actually Robin is half-Indian and half-German, and as the surname would suggest his father is of Indian origin, from Bengal to be precise.

Robin was born in 1965 in Cologne and was mainly brought-up in the southwest of Germany, in the Stuttgart region. As a football player he never made it big, playing amateur football in the fifth, sixth, seventh divisions; but as a coach he is working at the highest possible level - in the Bundesliga, the premier division of German football. But it was a long way to get to the top tier and the journey isn't over yet then at the age of 45 Robin Dutt is still young and could go on to coach for another two decades or even more.

Robin's coaching career started with the TSG Leonberg whom he coached until 1999, while he was winding down his playing career and they gained promotion to the next higher division in the last year. He then joined TSF Ditzingen, first as their second team coach and then coaching the first team. This brought him for the first time into the limelight locally and he then went on to join former Bundesliga side Stuttgarter Kickers as their second team coach in summer 2002. Doing good work at the club, the Kickers gave Robin a chance as their first team coach on Oktober 28, 2003 and he would guide the club well with a young team in the Regionalliga (third division) in difficult times as the club didn't have necessary funds. The highlight came in the 2006/07 season when the Kickers beat Bundesliga side Hamburger SV 4-3 in extra time in the German Cup.

The name Robin Dutt was suddenly known across Germany. And the first offers from Bundesliga clubs came in. But Robin decided to take up the job at 2.Bundesliga club SC Freiburg in summer 2007. It was the end of an era as previous coach Volker Finke had coached Freiburg for 16 years, a record in German professional football. The going initially wasn't easy for Robin, but in year two he was able to win the 2.Bundesliga title and Freiburg was back in the Bundesliga after four years. Last season they survived the relegation battle and so far they have had a good solid start to their 2010/11 season.

Robin is realistic with what he can achieve with Freiburg, he knows it is a club which develops talent and he has proven at the clubs he has worked so far that he is able to handle youngsters.

Would Robin ever coach in India? We have had this conversation and he once told me, unlikely a club but coaching Team India one day would surely be a highlight of his coaching career. But Robin is still in his early days in professional football in Germany, so India might not become a topic for him in the next decade or so.