“Celebrated until three o’clock with Hitzfeld”

Bayern Munich’s president Uli Hoeneß talked to the dpa in an interview about coach dismissals for the record champion. For the 67-year-old, such situations are “lows of his own career”. Specifically, he spoke about the throws out of Ottmar Hitzfeld and Otto Rehhagel.

“I can remember cases where my throat was closed,” Hoeneß said about coaching outbursts during his tenure as manager and president of the FCB. Letting trainers go is “the most difficult thing” in his job, especially if you have “often worked well together for years”.

The dismissal of successful coach Ottmar Hitzfeld, with whom the Bayern won the Champions League in 2001, was “crazy”. “I invited him to my home with his assistant Michael Henke and his wives. My wife cooked. First we discussed the separation, then we ate nicely and celebrated until three o’clock in the morning.” Hitzfeld trained the Bavarians from 1998 to 2004 before making his comeback in 2007/2008.

When Otto Rehhagel was dismissed in 1996, Hoeneß “would have preferred to disappear under the president’s table in Franz Beckenbauer’s office. Franz was tough back then. I wouldn’t have wanted to do that back then.” Meanwhile Rehhagel is again a good friend of the club.

Hoeneß again called the dismissal of Jupp Heynckes “my biggest mistake”. You have to be patient with the current trainer Niko Kovac: “I liked the way he led the team out of the difficult valley in November. The team is in a state of flux.”