Dhe Werder Bremen players got their third coach in just four days on Tuesday. After Markus Anfang resigned, interim coach Danijel Zenkovic, like midfielder Nicolai Rapp, tested positive for the corona virus and immediately sent to home quarantine. The U-19 coach and former Werder professional Christian Brand took over the management of the training for the time being, the Bundesliga relegated announced on Tuesday.
After all, the search for a new head coach seems to be about to be concluded. According to reports in the Bild newspaper and the “Deichstube”, Ole Werner is now the clear favorite to succeed him from the start. Accordingly, Bremen want to sign the 33-year-old this week and thus before the duel at Werner’s long-standing club Holstein Kiel.
Contract issues unclear
The last ambiguities apparently still exist with the exact contractual situation of the soccer teacher. “Ole Werner still has an existing employment contract with Holstein Kiel until June 30th, 2022,” said sports director Uwe Stöver of the Bild newspaper. Accordingly, the Kiel could demand a transfer fee for their long-time player, youth and head coach. However, Werner voluntarily resigned as a Holstein coach in September and, according to two media reports, has already terminated this contract on November 30th.
If there is no agreement between the parties, the former HSV coach Daniel Thioune and, according to “Deichstube” information, the Austrian Gerhard Struber from RB New York will continue to be traded as coach candidates. Beginning resigned on Saturday because prosecutors are investigating him. The 47-year-old is said to have used a forged vaccination certificate, which he himself denied in a message from the club.
More candidates
The 49-year-old Brand played for Werder from 1996 to 1999 and returned to Bremen in 2018 after playing as a player and coach at Hansa Rostock, FC Luzern and Jahn Regensburg, initially as a U-17 coach. In the 1-1 draw against Schalke 04, he was already Zenkovic’s Kotrainer on Saturday. Now he is supported by Cedric Makiadi, who also played for Werder from 2013 to 2015.
Werder Bremen does not want to pay its unvaccinated employees temporarily no salary in the event of a quarantine without their own illness. A Werder spokesman confirmed a corresponding report from Radio Bremen on Tuesday.
At Werder, however, almost all players and the support staff were vaccinated, the spokesman said. However, the stipulation also expressly applies to non-vaccinated employees who have to be in quarantine as a contact person without Covid 19 disease. They too do not receive a salary for the period of isolation. Recently, a comparable approach had also become known at FC Bayern and Hertha BSC.
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