The bizarre fate of a coach: the boss's wife "would find Labbadia attractive"

At the moment, the coaches in Berlin, Hoffenheim and Cologne are about to be kicked out again. But all three could soon be active again elsewhere. Unless the separation is not harmonious – as was the case with a German legend.

Sometimes these days you would almost wish that it would really crash again. But somehow everything works very harmoniously and according to the scheme F when it comes to the issue of coach dismissals. No stories for the ages in any case. Even such an extraordinary expulsion can spark its very special charms – because you remember the unusual things much sooner and much better in the future. The best example of this is December 15, 1999, when emotions reigned in Cologne and the mind was switched off for a moment.

The main character of this cinematic drama was a truly unique piece of German football, the president of Fortuna Cologne, Hans "Jean" Löring. Fortuna always tried hard in these years to get out of the slipstream of the overpowering city competitor, 1. FC Köln, but that never succeeded despite all efforts. And that had sad consequences. The club simply lacked further interest from the fans. And so one day TV reporter Werner Hansch commented smugly when looking over the empty stands: "And again only 500 spectators in Cologne's Südstadion, call and I'll give you the names."

The often quick-tempered, always emotional instead of rational acting president of the Rhenish underdog club usually never missed an opportunity to have a well-chilled glass of alcoholic beverages. And so one of his many legendary sentences is no coincidence: "In the morning I don't think, because I only sober up my hangover". Whether alcohol was involved on that special December evening in 1999 – one can only guess.

"You're ruining my club"

How much Jean Löring merged with his club, yes, almost one, was shown in a special way on this unforgettable day. One of the reasons why it went down in the history of football was that that evening the Cologne President lost sight of all the rules and good practices for a moment and decided on his own.

At half time in the game against SV Waldhof Mannheim it was already 0-2. Loering was beside himself. As he went into the catacombs, he asked the stewards what he should do now? The unanimous answer was: "Jean, you have to fire Toni!" "Toni", as the older ones know immediately, was none other than the former German national soccer goalkeeper and the idol of the inner-city competitor, 1. FC Cologne. But at that moment Loering didn't care.

Snorting angrily, he opened the door to the cabin, stood in front of Schumacher with a bright red head and shouted at him in front of the assembled team: "Get out of here in the Eifel. You're ruining my club. You have nothing more to say here, you wanker! " The game then ended 1: 5.

As it turned out later, when a little bit of grass had grown over the matter, the stewards that Loering had met on the way to the catacombs actually meant, of course, that the "Cologne young" Schumacher should be after the game and not as usual should be released in the middle. But in retrospect, Loering didn't care. Years later he still saw himself fully in the right, as his legendary words impressively prove: "As a club, I had to react!"

Harmonic Separations?

Almost twenty-one years later everything is different, more ordinary. As always at this time of year, the motto in the Bundesliga is currently again: In autumn, the leaves fall – in winter, the coaches. And after Mainz and Schalke have already presented a good job, it is now again in Hoffenheim, at Hertha in Berlin and in Cologne: Let's see who of these three has to take his hat next? But no matter whether it hits Sebastian Hoeneß, Bruno Labbadia or Markus Gisdol, you can be sure that the separation will be carried out harmoniously and with many mutual thanks. It is and will remain as the then president of Eintracht Frankfurt, Rolf Heller, once said so beautifully after his fourth coaching expulsion: "I would like to work longer with a coach. But you don't get around!"

And of course you can understand the clubs: They always want to get the most out of their club and the fans, even if the teams in the lower regions of the table of course know that a new coach is not a panacea either. Or as the old coaching legend Dettmar Cramer once put it so aptly in memory of the world champion coach: "If every club in the Bundesliga had one hostel, two hostels would have to be relegated."

For Toni Schumacher, it was back then after this spectacular expulsion from Fortuna from Cologne. Never again should he stand on the sidelines as the full-time head coach of a Bundesliga club. However, the future prospects are much better for the three candidates who are currently worried about their employment. In all likelihood, they would find somewhere to stay again pretty soon. This also applies to the "beautiful Bruno". After all, Heribert Bruchhagen, who once said the following words in Frankfurt, is no longer in office and function himself: "My wife would find Bruno Labbadia very attractive. But I don't listen to her when choosing a coach. Otherwise I do."