Tuesday, November 23, 2021
Bremen chaos days continue
Successors tested positive after beginning-to-end
The affair about the initial vaccination certificate is far from over, since interim trainer Zenkovic is tested positive for the corona virus. Ex-Profi Brand is taking over for the time being. Even a player has to be isolated at home. A new coach is in the starting blocks, but there are problems there too.
The Werder Bremen players got their third coach in just four days on Tuesday. After Markus Anfang resigned, interim coach Danijel Zenkovic, like midfielder Nicolai Rapp, tested positive for the corona virus and was sent to domestic isolation. The management of the training was initially taken over by the U19 coach and former Werder professional Christian Brand, the Bundesliga relegated announced on Tuesday.
After all, the search for a new head coach seems to be about to be concluded. According to reports in the “Bild” newspaper and the “Deichstube”, Ole Werner is now the clear favorite to succeed him from the start. Accordingly, Bremen want the 33-year-old this week and thus before the duel at Werner’s long-standing club Holstein Kiel (Saturday, 8.30 p.m. / Sport1 and Sky) commit.
Werner or a surprise candidate?
The last ambiguities apparently still exist with the exact contractual situation of the soccer teacher. “Ole Werner still has an existing employment contract with Holstein Kiel until June 30th, 2022,” said sports director Uwe Stöver of the “Bild” newspaper. Accordingly, the Kiel could demand a transfer fee for their long-time player, youth and head coach. However, Werner voluntarily resigned as a Holstein coach in September and, according to two media reports, has already terminated this contract on November 30th.
If there is no agreement between the parties, the former HSV coach Daniel Thioune and, according to “Deichstube” information, the Austrian Gerhard Struber from RB New York will continue to be traded as coach candidates. Beginning resigned on Saturday because prosecutors are investigating him. The 47-year-old is said to have used a fake vaccination certificate, which he himself denied in a message from the club.
The 49-year-old Brand played for Werder from 1996 to 1999 and returned to Bremen in 2018 after playing as a player and coach at Hansa Rostock, FC Luzern and Jahn Regensburg, initially as a U17 coach. In the 1-1 draw against Schalke 04, he already acted as Zenkovic’s assistant coach on Saturday. Now he is supported by Cedric Makiadi, who also played for Werder from 2013 to 2015.
Meanwhile, Werder Bremen confirmed that the club temporarily refuses to pay its unvaccinated employees in the event of quarantine without their own illness. In the second division, however, almost all players and the support staff are vaccinated, the club said. However, the stipulation also expressly applies to non-vaccinated employees who have to be in quarantine as a contact person without Covid 19 disease. They too do not receive a salary for the period of isolation. Recently, a comparable approach had also become known at FC Bayern and Hertha BSC.