Some ends have to be thought from their beginning. And when garlands are being tinkered here and there on the occasion of Karl-Heinz Rummenigge’s departure from the FC Bayern officials’ stage, then the recreational kickers of the “Boldklubben 1903” from Copenhagen, Bold means ball, can be remembered without their passionate straddles and Crossing in the Gentofte Stadium exactly 30 years ago, Rummenigge’s career would probably have taken a different turn than to Säbener Straße.
In October 1991 in the European Cup, the footballers around Ivan Nielsen, Svend Petersen and a certain Tur Tur, who was apparently named after the popular pseudo giant in Jim Knopf, dismantled a Munich selection led by coach Sören Lerby 6-2. “Mickey Mouse troop” mocked the Danish fans in Gentofte about Bayern.
It may sound absurd, but in the season when Rummenigge was named “Vice” by the politically cautious President Fritz Scherer together with Franz Beckenbauer, FC Bayern was temporarily a relegation candidate. Scherer brought Rummenigge and Beckenbauer to give the cool football company a human face. And for the manager Hoeneß, the promotion of two club icons to offices that were authorized to give him instructions actually meant a reduction in power.
Everyone loses, and Bayern? Nine million euros in profit!
So it is worth remembering these beginnings, now that shortly after a legendary six-cup conception year, Rummenigge decided to prematurely hand over the office of CEO, which he has held since 2002, to his successor Oliver Kahn. Rummenigge will soon be gone, via picture he just announced that no one thing in the world appeals to him, neither the board of directors at Bayern, nor the president of the DFB, Uefa, Fifa or a small state in the Middle East. Beckenbauer has been a bit shy of light for a long time. Only Hoeneß, honorary president and member of the supervisory board, whose presence can still be felt on the stage.
Is Hoeneß now stepping forward again because the boat he sponsored is starting a secret project called “FC Bayern AHEAD” after he has been enthroned? The question is whether “up front” is really a future project – or not a description of the state of FC Bayern developed by Hoeneß and Rummenigge.
The German Football League has just published the balance sheets for the 2020 epidemic year. Dortmund? 43 million euros loss. Hertha BSC? 53 million loss. FC Bayern? Nine million euros in profit! Earned in the midst of a pandemic, as if the record champions were protected by a basic immunity when everyone else coughs. A look at the personnel costs shows how far the club is from the Bundesliga: he costs his men and their supervisors an insane 339 million euros, two and a half times as much as the not exactly poor works club Bayer Leverkusen, more than one and a half times as much much like main competitor Dortmund.
30 years after FC Bayern was sung about as Mickey Mouse, the club could probably also be transferred to the club without having to fear going to the bankruptcy court immediately.
If external enemies decided to attack, Rummenigge and Hoeneß stuck together
You will see how much creativity is lost after the handover of the old front men to Kahn / Salihamidzic / Hainer – and at the end of the dualism of Hoeneß and Rummenigge. For 30 years they both rubbed each other in such a way that a lot of heat was created. Her attempts to achieve consensus were legendary. When Bayern took over from Jürgen Klinsmann in 2009, each of them covertly wrote down the names of a German and a foreign coach of their choice. The name “Louis van Gaal” was on both pieces of paper. With other coaches it didn’t work out that way with the agreement, but it still brought success. And when external enemies banded together to attack FC Bayern, Rummenigge and Hoeneß would hold their shields and spears together and form a phalanx.
Some say the club is now becoming more of Uli Hoeneß’s FC Bayern again. Now that the opposition is leaving the field prematurely. But if you think so, you may underestimate the explosive power of Kahn’s secret plan “FC Bayern AHEAD”.
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