| 06.11.2008 |
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| The rumors flying around regarding the future management structure of Bayern Munich and what effect it may have on the current staff of the German national staff suggests that certain people consider jumping out of the frying pan into the fire to be a good career move. News that Germany team manager Oliver Bierhoff is considering succeeding Uli Hoeness at Bayern Munich when the latter moves onto the Bavarian giants' advisory board next year also suggests that, despite his business degree from Hagen University, Bierhoff is not the smartest cookie in the jar. Either that or he is blissfully unaware what joining Bayern Munich's management can do to a man. Just look at his former team-mate and managerial colleague Juergen Klinsmann. Klinsi left the national set-up after taking Die Mannschaft to a World Cup semi-final on home soil and, after a period filled with speculation and presumably many long, thoughtful walks on Californian beaches, eventually joined Bayern Munich as coach. Klinsmann's Germany finished third at the 2006 World Cup. For a country used to reaching the final at least, this could have been described as a failure, one which could have ended a very short career in management before it ever really got started. And yet, the affable Klinsi was taken to the nation's heart (if, indeed, he had ever left it, considering his feats as a player). Not only had he provided the country with a team with the promise of a great future, he did so with an attractive playing style and a warm, genuine smile. The hierarchy at Bayern Munich, as was much of the country as a whole, was smitten. Fast forward to 2008 and Klinsmann's now careworn features are more likely to be seen dominating the back pages of German newspapers under less-then-favorable headlines. Take a glance at the Bayern bench during a game and see if you can spot the sunny smile which graced the dug-outs of Germany during the summer of 2006. More often than not, you’ll see a stressed-out, frazzled-looking Klinsmann despairing at his team's intermittent woefulness, while Hoeness the Destroyer makes a mental list of replacements behind his portly grimace. Should Bierhoff decide to take on the well-furrowed seat next to Klinsi on the Bayern bench, he would be wise to do his homework as to what will be expected of him at Germany's most demanding club. Hoeness, as part of the unholy trinity alongside Franz Beckenbauer and Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, has been responsible for making Bayern the most successful German team of modern times. This hard-nosed trio have driven the club with a ruthlessness and professionalism that has made them and their club hated, but has stocked the trophy room with silverware and the dressing room with global talent. If Bierhoff is to become team manager, he can forget about having an easy life. If he thinks that he will be swapping handbags-at-dawn standoffs with Michael Ballack and the diva-esque behavior of other inflated international egos for a cushy existence of watching his harmonious stars sleepwalk to title after title, someone had better dig this dreamer in the ribs. Taking over from Hoeness as team manager doesn't mean Hoeness will disappear. It doesn’t mean the Three Horsemen of the Bavarian Apocalypse will be calling it a day. It will mean that these tough characters will become Bierhoff's bosses – and that they will demand even more from him than they do of themselves. Sitting next to Klinsi again may stir memories of the summer fairytale of 2006 for Bierhoff and hopes of an equally rewarding relationship but the cut and thrust of a Bundesliga season is a very different proposition to masterminding an international tournament – just ask Klinsmann himself. And if they consider making a play for current national coach Jogi Loew in a bid to get him to sign on again for another collaboration which may help create their previous magic, then all reason will have gone out the window. Managing a league club is very different from managing a national team. Managing Bayern Munich is very different from managing any other club. Bierhoff may want to ask himself whether the grass at the AllianzArena is actually greener. |
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