The tearful farewell of Max Eberl (48) in Gladbach touched many. And the appearance of President Rolf König (80), who is sitting next to him, is irritating.
He looked like Gladbach’s ice cream boss when he said at the press conference without much sympathy: “We tried to turn him around. We respected that, didn’t accept it!”
Ex-Gladbach professional Stefan Effenberg (53) at Sport1 stunned: “These statements are catastrophic. Actually, such a man has no place in a management position.”
Vice Rainer Bonhof (69) defended Königs: “In the inner circle, his words and sentiments were completely different.”
Who is the Ice Boss?
Königs is the head of the automotive supplier “Aunde” from Gladbach. The company has 120 plants in 28 countries with 25,500 employees.
In the list of the richest Germans by “Manager Magazin”, Königs was ranked 174 with a fortune of 0.8 billion (2016 edition).
He lives in Düsseldorf and has a chauffeur.
His motto: tough on others, but also tough on himself.
Bonhof to BILD: “You can always rely on his word!”
Königs has been the boss since 2004 and follows almost every game in the stadium. Turned a restructuring case ready for relegation (20 million lousy) into a healthy club that even managed to return to Europe.
BILD asked Königs: How do you see your appearance and the criticism of it a few days later?
King’s: “I regret that I was understood differently than I meant it. What I wanted to say: We are sad that Max Eberl is leaving us after all these years, it hurts us, we have been trying to build a bridge for him for months; but of course we respect his decision that it is not possible for him any other way.”
BILD: Did you still have contact with Eberl after the press conference?
King’s: “We saw each other afterwards and said goodbye to each other. And of course we will keep in touch. Max Eberl has achieved incredible things for Borussia, we and all Borussia are always grateful to him for that. Our relationship will not be marred by his decision.”
