Bjelica’s future in doubt
Union Berlin conceals great anger with conciliatory words
January 29, 2024, 10:57 a.m
Union Berlin achieves a breakthrough in the Bundesliga. Without coach Nenad Bjelica, who has to watch suspended. It is unclear what will happen next for him after his assault against Leroy Sané. Managing director Oliver Ruhnert sounds conciliatory, but apparently not everyone in the club is.
Nenad Bjelica appeared out of nowhere on Sunday afternoon. Suddenly, Union Berlin’s banned coach appeared in the belly of the Alte Försterei in a crowd of journalists and squeezed through the crowd of people. Without a word, the controversial coach high-fived match winner Benedict Hollerbach before disappearing into the catacombs of the stadium as quickly as he came.
Two things should remain. A hard-fought 1-0 (0-0) win against Darmstadt 98, an important liberation in the race to stay in the league. But above all the question remained whether Bjelica would still be Union coach after his three-game ban had expired – or whether the club would belatedly throw out its coach after the freak out against Leroy Sané.
Those responsible for the Union failed to provide a clear answer. “Of course it is unfortunate when a head coach misses three games,” said managing director Oliver Ruhnert after the game on ARD, adding that the three representatives on the bench had “done their job very well”. But Ruhnert also added: “If we are as successful in the next two games as we were in this one, it will of course be a good story.”
Hollerbach on “trivialities”
So is Bjelica staying? In addition to the ban and 25,000 euro fine that the DFB sports court handed the 52-year-old for repeatedly grabbing Sané’s face in the catch-up game at Bayern Munich, the club has already expressed its displeasure with the action through a contractual penalty. “It is clear to us that something like this should definitely not happen again,” said Ruhnert.
The managing director also emphasized that the 52-year-old Croatian was only restricted in his work on match days. “Apart from the half hour before the game and the half hour after the game, he is not banned from working. He can lead training as normal and that’s what he does,” said the managing director.
But the attitude of the players also has weight – and according to “Kicker” they were surprised that Bjelica was allowed to continue for the time being. It is said that individual players spoke out against it. However, goalscorer Hollerbach said: “It didn’t bother me that much, I have to be honest. The coach apologized to the team and then that was over. As a professional you have to ignore the trivial things.”
“We didn’t like it”
It will now be discussed whether Union considers Bjelica to be sustainable in the long term. “We didn’t like his behavior as head coach of Union Berlin. We made that clear to the team and also to the coach,” said Ruhnert. There is still time until February 10th, the day of the home game against VfL Wolfsburg, in which the coach would be allowed to take part again.
However, a decision is unlikely to take that long, even if the assistant coach Danijel Jumic and the assistant responsible for communications Marie-Louise Eta try to close the vacuum as best as possible on match days. Ideally it will be until the away game on Sunday (5.30 p.m./DAZN and in the ntv.de live ticker) Clarity at Rasenballsport Leipzig, three days later the important relegation duel with FSV Mainz 05 is coming up. Nobody at Union will want speculation and rumors about Bjelica’s future to cause unrest until then.
Bjelica himself, who is allowed to train the team during the week despite being banned, at least didn’t seem unaffected. During the Darmstadt game, he repeatedly paced up and down in the box, where he had to watch the games from a distance. After the final whistle, the Croatian’s tension, who looked upwards with clenched fists, was released in a prayer to heaven. Because he no longer has his own future in his own hands.