Helpless on the sidelines: For Tayfun Korkut (2nd from left) the game against Gladbach was the last as coach of Hertha BSC.
Photo: imago images/Matthias Koch
When the fans of Hertha BSC, out of frustration about their team’s next bankruptcy, hit the plexiglass panes in the guest block with their fists, Tayfun Korkut first slipped into his black winter jacket. The head coach of the Berliners had taken off the warming textile an hour earlier. Apparently, the 47-year-old was overwhelmed by heat flashes during his team’s poor performance before the break – that’s why he preferred to follow the hustle and bustle on the lawn of Borussia Park in the dark blue cardigan, which he wore over his light blue shirt.
It was foreseeable that Tayfun Korkut would no longer choose his clothes as Bundesliga coach for next Saturday’s home game of Hertha BSC against Hoffenheim after the Berlin team lost 2-0 in Mönchengladbach. Managing director Fredi Bobic, who had previously declared winning a point as “inevitable”, wanted to sleep one more night over the decision on the coaching question. When that was over, it was still late Sunday morning before the capital club Bobic announced via press release: “We have openly and clearly analyzed the development of the performance and results of the nine second half games and have come to the decision to make another change the coaching position.«
After only 104 days as Hertha coach, Korkut has to pack his things again, and his assistant Ilija Aracic has also been released. Of all the coaches who have tried at least four Bundesliga games at Hertha BSC in the last 25 years, only one was more unsuccessful than the native of Stuttgart: Michael Skibbe did not get a single point in his four appearances on the Berliner Bank in winter 2011/2012 . Korkut’s similarly devastating final record with the Old Lady is: Nine points in 13 games in the football league, making a poor average of 0.69 points. The end of this misunderstanding is a consequence of many mistakes in the past.
In the case of the Gladbachers, who have regained their breath in the relegation battle with a seven-point lead over the relegation rank, the term liberation was once again haunted by the hallways. Christian Peintinger didn’t want to know anything about it after the safe victory over Hertha. After all, Adi Hütter’s assistant, who represented his boss who was infected with the corona virus on Saturday, has been following the fortunes of the foal ensemble for eight and a half months – and identified inconsistency as the main constant. “It was an all-round good performance that you can build on,” Peintinger mentioned, but also included the great Gladbacher Aber several times this season: “That’s the problem – after a good performance we always fall into lethargy. The team has the potential, but we have to make sure that we develop it continuously.«
Tayfun Korkut will no longer work on the Berliners who have fallen on a direct relegation zone. However, Hertha’s recent appearance also made it clear that the performance of the team, which recently produced five defeats in a row with fatal 3:17 goals, is currently very limited.
“In our situation, we actually have to fight the ball in to get the momentum on our side. We didn’t manage that, “Boss Bobic explained soberly in Borussia Park – and also commented on the individual mistakes in the two Gladbach goals by Alassane Plea and Matthias Ginter: “It’s been going on for the last few weeks, you can’t train away from it. « A new trainer will nevertheless devote himself to this challenging task. “We will inform you about the successor to this position as soon as this personnel issue has been finally clarified,” said the Hertha message.
