Once again a Dane named Bo is supposed to save FSV Mainz 05. The Bundesliga football club, which is in serious danger of relegation, is relying on Bo Henriksen, who is largely unknown in this country, in the fight to stay in the league. The penultimate team presented the new coach on Tuesday as the successor to the dismissed Jan Siewert. Before Siewert, Henriksen’s compatriot Bo Svensson saved Rheinhessen from relegation and then worked successfully at FSV for a long time.
“We have looked intensively at our current situation and analyzed which type of coach with which footballing approach suits us in this difficult sporting situation,” said Mainz sports director Christian Heidel: “This led us to Bo Henriksen, a coach who is He has managed repeatedly in his career and under very different conditions to form teams and play football that is equally pragmatic, but also courageous and ultimately successful.”
Henriksen, 49 years old, started his coaching career in Denmark at lower-class clubs. In the 2021/2022 season he finished second in the Danish championship and cup winner with FC Midtjylland. In October 2022, Henriksen took over FC Zurich, then Swiss champions from the previous year, in last place in the Super League. He ensured that the team stayed in the league and even led them back to the top of the table. Zurich is currently in third place. However, Henriksen announced last week that he would not be extending his contract, which expires at the end of the season.
Now Henriksen left Zurich early and signed a contract with FSV until 2026. The Mainz team did not provide any information about the payment of a possible transfer fee. Heidel is counting on the new coach to settle in quickly. “Bo Henriksen is a very emotional, open and opinionated character who radiates incredibly positive energy and will fit in very well with Mainz 05,” said the board.
Henriksen, who will be presented at a press conference on Tuesday afternoon, is supposed to prevent the second relegation in the club’s history after 2007. Svensson managed to do this in 2021 despite a similarly hopeless situation. The new coach will celebrate his debut on Saturday in the home game against FC Augsburg (3:30 p.m./Sky).
Roland Zorn, Stuttgart Published/Updated: Peter H. Eisenhuth, Mainz Published/Updated: Peter H. Eisenhuth, Mainz Published/Updated: Recommendations: 1
“Unfortunately, we now see the change in the coaching position as a necessary step in order to be able to bring about a positive turnaround,” Heidel explained after Siewert was eliminated. After Svensson’s resignation, Siewert only took over responsibility for Rheinhessen at the beginning of November. In his first game, Siewert achieved his first win of the season, but it was to be his only win to date. In the following eleven games, Mainz achieved six draws and five defeats. The gap to the relegation place is four points, and the saving bank is already nine points.
