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Rhine in ruin

April 2, 2012

Bayer Leverkusen let go of their coach Robin Dutt on Sunday. Cologne, after much reflection, decided to stand pat and keep Stale Solbakken in charge. Both clubs face a tough task in reaching their goals for the season.

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Stale Solbakken
Image: picture-alliance/dpa

It seemed like a good idea at the time.

It looked like Cologne had engineered a major coup in hiring Stale Solbakken last summer, the man who had managed the impossible task of leading a Danish club into the Champions League knock-out stages, the man who had offers coming in from all over Europe.

It appeared Leverkusen had made a canny choice when they picked Robin Dutt to succeed Jupp Heynckes. He had led Freiburg back into the Bundesliga, steered them to ninth place - their best finish in a decade - and was among Germany's most highly-touted young coaches.

28 match days later, neither hire has worked out according to plan. Dutt is now Leverkusen's former coach, and Solbakken was spared the axe only after hours of boardroom deliberation and promises from the club chairman that “radical changes” in team selection and training methods were in the offing.

Turnaround needed

Whatever those changes are (rumor has it a handful of players will be sent to the reserves), they had better work fast. After rising to ninth place on match day 20, Cologne have tumbled to 16th - the relegation play-off spot.

Dropping down into the second division would deal the club a heavy blow. Cologne spent a decade as a yo-yo club (four relegations and three promotions in 10 years) before going up in 2008, and much of the present panic among Cologne fans comes from revulsion at the thought of going back there.

The last six match days will be challenging. The Billy Goats may like their chances of getting points off of Bremen or Mainz in the coming two games, but then they must face top sides Gladbach, Stuttgart and Bayern in three of their last four.

Quick hook

Leverkusen too are in danger of falling short, albeit on their own loftier terms. Thus Chairman Wolfgang Holzhäuser and Sporting Director Rudi Völler felt they had to make a coaching change.

Sami Hyypiä
Hyypiä will be in charge for the final six matchesImage: picture alliance/dpa

The race for Europa League qualification is poised on a knife edge - just one point separates fifth place Hanover from Wolfsburg in ninth. Considering the millions chemical giant Bayer pour into the club each year, the risk of finishing out of the top seven was just too great.

As of Monday morning, “Team Boss” Sami Hyypiä will be working toward that goal in concert with U-19 team coach Sascha Lewandowski (who has the requisite coaching badges).

The club's run-in could be tricky. It includes two against teams battling relegation (Hamburg and Hertha), as well as one head-on contest against Europa League qualification rival Hanover.

Author: Matt Hermann
Editor: Mark Hallam