Today, looking back, Jürgen Klopp’s time at BVB is a journey into happiness. But what many people don’t know anymore: The successful coach’s start at Borussia was bumpy. What’s more: the officials around Aki Watzke had to give Klopp a “free pass”.
“He gets time. You can see that as carte blanche.” Exactly 15 years ago, when BVB was in ninth place after matchday 23, far behind the European ranks, board boss Aki Watzke felt compelled to publicly support his coach Jürgen Klopp. A gesture that is quite common in the industry – and also for Watzke himself – but in the past it did not stop the BVB board from kicking out coaches like Thomas Doll or Bert van Marwijk just a few days later. But this time, in March 2009, everything was actually different. And so Jürgen Klopp said a sentence back then that was to be repeated 15 years later by another coach: “I feel the support!”
The current BVB coach Edin Terzić chose these precise words in December last year, after Borussia were six points behind in fourth place shortly before Christmas after the 16th matchday and a disappointing 1-1 draw at home against relegation candidate FSV Mainz 05 the table overwintered. Even if it’s hard to imagine today: in his first season at BVB – and beyond – Jürgen Klopp was anything but undisputed at Borussia Dortmund.
“We have a long-term project with him”
Especially because things weren’t going well in terms of sport for a long time. BVB also slipped deep into the bottom of the table at the start of the 2009/10 season. After the 7th matchday, Borussia was only one place above the relegation zone in 15th place in the table. At that time, BVB President Reinhard Rauball said of Jürgen Klopp: “The past few weeks have not left him unscathed.” Today, Edin Terzić says thoughtfully: “When things get restless outside, the trick is to still stay within yourself and stay positive.”
With Jürgen Klopp, BVB repeatedly spoke of a “free pass” that the coach had and they extended his contract with Borussia early on. Aki Watzke said about Edin Terzić in the first difficult phase in autumn 2022: “He’s in a safe place for us. We have a long-term project with him that we will definitely see through.” This is all very reminiscent of the complicated times that BVB had to go through 15 years ago when Jürgen Klopp was starting out at Borussia. And that’s why it’s no wonder that Aki Watzke never tires of naming these parallels. In the summer, after the tragic and unfortunate missed championship, the managing director of Borussia Dortmund, who will be leaving in autumn 2025, said of Terzić: “After Jürgen Klopp, he is again the coach who is completely committed to this club. What in his case “Of course it has to do with the fact that he has always been a BVB fan.”
Jürgen Klopp was not yet a Borussia supporter when he came to Dortmund in 2008, but he was definitely a man who enjoyed a certain, natural popularity and who liked to express himself in pithy words. His greetings, which Jürgen Klopp addressed to Borussia fans in the summer of 2008, are legendary to this day: “I’m really excited to work here. We’ll have some full-throttle events. I’ll never have lawn chess. When games are boring, they lose their justification.” Now, a few months and many sporting blows later, columnist Lothar Matthäus addressed a few compassionate words to Klopp. He described the former Mainz coach as his legitimate successor as the “speaker of the league” and said: “I know from my own experience that a sentence like that will stay with you for years with the full-throttle events. That it will be thrown around your ears left and right .”
“He’s not a machine. We don’t need one either.”
Today, these words from Jürgen Klopp are part of his great success story – and most people have long forgotten that, to put it mildly, things got off to a very rocky start at Borussia at first – but back then, the sporting situation was wearing on the nerves of the coach, like Reinhard Rauball said: “He’s not a machine. We don’t need one either. Jürgen Klopp is not our coach to demonstrate relaxedness every day. That’s often misrepresented. He’s a meticulous worker, not the good-humoured uncle. “
But the thing about the “good mood uncle” wasn’t that far-fetched. Because how deeply Jürgen Klopp was, as Aki Watzke put it, “heart and soul” committed to BVB was shown on a very special day 15 years ago in May. After the disappointing season, sponsors turned away from the club and terminated their boxes and partnerships. When a campaign was about to persuade these donors to stay, Jürgen Klopp – to everyone’s astonishment – personally picked up the phone. A tabloid revealed the story, which was supposed to remain secret, with the words: “Klopp pleads: Please help us!” And in fact: the sponsors were so surprised and impressed that a large number of them reversed their cancellation. Mission accomplished!
“We have a home game. We win!”
By the way: Of course, Jürgen Klopp never completely lost the relaxed attitude that Reinhard Rauball mentioned, even during the difficult sporting times. When they played at home on matchday 13 against FSV Mainz 05 and a certain Thomas Tuchel on the other side, Borussia was four points behind Mainz in 9th place in the table. But when asked how the game would end, Klopp answered heartily, courageously and with a laugh: “We have a home game. We’re winning! So, Thomas, now all you have to do is hang up my winning tip in your dressing room.” However, the extra motivation didn’t move the Mainz team. The unspectacular game ended peacefully with a score of 0-0.
At the end of his second season at Borussia Dortmund, the 2009/10 season, Jürgen Klopp entered the European competition in fifth place in the table. The rest is history. Let’s see what Edin Terzić’s story will look like in a few years’ time.