Weiler has won titles abroad, but he is fighting for recognition in Switzerland. The Winterthurer is considered uncomfortable and unbending. In these weeks he and Servette FC are instilling fear in the champions YB.
René Weiler seems to have found peace and success in Geneva.
Salvatore Di Nolfi / Keystone
René Weiler, were you sufficiently valued as a football coach in Switzerland?
That’s not relevant to me. Who positions themselves in today’s media landscape and who presents themselves where and how – that rarely gives a real picture. Appreciation also has something to do with quality. And this regardless of ranking.
Servette FC can be dangerous for YB. The only time something like this has happened in recent years was when FC Zurich became champions in 2022.
That pleases me. But a few people are responsible for this. My teams went through similar developments everywhere.
A few weeks ago Servette won 1-0 against YB in Bern. Back then you said that you didn’t want to talk about titles, you wanted to win titles. You did that with Anderlecht in Belgium in 2017 and with al-Ahly in Egypt in 2020. But not in Switzerland.
A lot has to come together to win a title. The country doesn’t play a role, but other things do. It’s about initiating processes and moving forward, as a team, as an organization. The table position is only part of the truth.
You worked in Aarau from 2011 to 2014 and were promoted to the Super League with the club. There they say two things about René Weiler today: He was one of the best trainers. And it is exhausting.
I have a certain drive. I’m probably not a slow thinker and I have ambitions. I want to move forward – and those around me can feel that. I convey this downwards, towards the sides and maybe even a little upwards. And this despite the fact that I am an employee.
Did your successes in Belgium and Egypt not get enough attention in Switzerland?
In Switzerland, the general understanding of football is less developed than in other countries. Even in Japan they know better. Servette is playing against Viktoria Pilsen in the Conference League and I hear that success is being taken for granted. In Switzerland, leagues from smaller markets such as the Netherlands, Belgium or the Czech Republic are disparaged.
In Germany you worked in Nuremberg, 2nd Bundesliga. They say about you there: demanding, strenuous, quite successful. But you tended to leave the Rayon as a coach and get too involved in club politics.
Those who make club politics don’t enjoy this. You have to be transparent from A to Z. I appreciate it when someone from the junior level, i.e. from below, speaks to me on an equal level. Personnel policy is crucial: who do we bring in and for what amount? Why?
In the summer of 2016, René Weiler became Anderlecht coach, he was already Belgian champion in 2017 – and was still fired a few weeks later.
RSC Anderlecht
A bit surprised: you go to Belgium and become champions straight away in 2017, you are in the Champions League, and a short time later things happen. Competency dispute, separation. How is something like this possible?
When I left, the club got into big trouble. The internals would be exciting. But I don’t want to go into that.
Is there self-criticism in such moments?
That’s tiring in football; you’re constantly questioning yourself in a complex structure. You have to stay authentic, but at the same time often accept things that are difficult to accept.
What should you have done differently in Germany?
If I had stayed in Germany, the path there might have been more open. Things went well in Nuremberg until they were almost promoted to the Bundesliga. But like in Belgium, there were club political issues that made my work more difficult.
René Weiler defends himself – and doesn’t simply nod away at decisions.
Maybe that’s my problem. I have become more reserved and relaxed. But I will never turn my soul into a den of murderers. If I don’t like something, I speak up. It’s incomprehensible to me if a senior executive who is a role model doesn’t act like that.
Why do you actually work in the football business?
This is a key question. I am aware of how rich football makes me. Gain experience, get to know cultures, be able to live great, earn money, not have to organize anything, travel on all continents, live adventures. Football gives me gifts, but challenges me to the utmost. There are processes and machinations that do not live up to my values.
In football, the power game is obvious.
I try to stay away from it. But I expect that I will be allowed to do what I do when dealing with the team. There are no my players or your players. I act on a factual basis and not on a personal basis.
Here we are back to the sphere of influence. Isn’t more restraint sometimes required?
If you have to replace a good player, you have to anticipate and have adequate alternatives in mind. Nobody can do this better than the coach, who is always around his team.
But it could be that a coach made the wrong decision despite good intentions and a lot of intuition.
We coaches make decisions in the now, and what we feel is stronger than any tips from outsiders. I don’t ignore anyone. I record everything. But I don’t particularly like it when an outsider becomes dominant. In the end, we also bear the unpleasant responsibility. In Switzerland too many people have their say.
They are also available abroad.
Everyone abroad addressed me as “Coach,” in a café, on the street, while jogging. I definitely don’t want to be the boss, but I want to be the coach who tells you where to go. In the club you work towards a goal when interacting. In Switzerland I sometimes felt that: That’s the coach, but someone else could do it too, there’s enough on the market. We are almost forced to stop being authentic. We have to market ourselves.
How do you respond to a person who says that René Weiler is a good seller of himself?
Everyone sells themselves, I am a good communicator and a good rhetorician. However, far fewer salespeople than some others in this business.
The camera focuses on the coach on the sidelines if something is wrong.
I don’t like that. But I have to accept it. I prefer not to be the center of attention. This belongs to the players. My job is to help them, to be a good companion for them. Also off the field, in everyday life. I am happy when I feel that the other person values the collaboration and wants to benefit from me.
Is what is happening now with Servette FC any satisfaction?
It’s a joy for everyone. We lost three of the best players, Gaël Clichy, Kevin Mbabu and, in the winter, the goalscorer Chris Bedia. Other players like Frick, Severin, Rouiller, Stevanovic and Cognat were already in the Challenge League and we benefit from them. Some have created an unprecedented level of identification here, which is a stroke of luck.
In the European Cup, the path led Servette FC and coach Weiler to the round of 16 of the Conference League against Viktoria Pilsen.
Servette FC
Does YB have to be afraid of Servette?
There is no need to be afraid in football. You have to respect us, we have a strong team. But don’t forget others, for example FC Lugano.
YB is afraid of Servette and prevented a transfer.
Yes, by Donat Rrudhani. We wanted it, they didn’t give it. Now he is from YB to Lausanne.
What was actually meant was that of multiple top scorer Jean-Pierre Nsame.
YB didn’t want to give him to us. But whether we would have taken it and at what price is another question. It’s about financial and political things.
The Servette management says that Nsame would have been affordable.
I have no interest in talking about players who are not part of our squad – for whatever reason.
Bedia scored ten goals in one half-year for Servette, moved to Union Berlin and has played 43 minutes there so far. What does that tell us?
In Switzerland, football is not always judged correctly. When Bedia was deployed for ten minutes in Munich, I said to my assistant: This will be difficult for Bedia if he doesn’t fully commit himself, he can’t afford that there. In these few minutes he has to go all out, press, hold the ball and win duels. Sometimes you only have one chance and you have to take it.
Is the treatment of players gentler in Switzerland?
Yes. Here players complain more about something and find recipients more easily. I don’t know that from abroad. There you don’t ask the player about the coach, but the coach about the player.
You played football in Geneva in the 1990s. Didier Fischer, the strong person in the organization, says that you understand the club’s heritage. What does that mean?
Geneva is different from other Swiss cities. There is a wide range of leisure activities on offer here. The proportion of foreigners is almost 50 percent. Geneva is international, more diverse than Zurich. The audience attends international games. Those who play technically good football are more appreciated. And there are fewer of those who primarily work and work for football. At that time, Geneva did not admire the Swede Hakan Mild, but the Brazilian José Sinval.
Why do you accept the German-Swiss coach René Weiler?
As a player, my technical skills helped me. Maybe I can combine a bit of German-Swiss culture, German determination with the French mentality. It is said that the French have more joy in life, but are less likely to win anything in sport because of a certain nonchalance.
Servette came second last year with coach Alain Geiger.
Yes, and how should I answer that?
What have you taken on? What changed?
Intensity has been added, we are trying to press higher and be more unpredictable. Not everyone liked that at the beginning. The change of style, departures, additions, triple burden, expectations, second place in the table in 2023 and the question from outside: Why are they changing the coach? We implemented the adjustments made collectively.
Despite Aarau, despite the 2nd Bundesliga and despite the championship title with Anderlecht, YB preferred Gerardo Seoane in 2019, who had a good half-year with Lucerne at the time. Do you think coach Weiler is smaller than he is effective?
No. In football, a lot of people talk about a lot of things without really having the relevant knowledge. I can’t change that, I won’t dwell on it any longer. I want to accompany developments and make progress with my work. That is my focus.
At least in terms of behavior on the sidelines there are similarities between Seoane and you.
I know few coaches well, but I notice them. I like Seoane’s demeanor. He’s not an actor, doesn’t put himself at the center, and definitely shows emotions. We don’t have to present ourselves, we should literally be there to help our players.
René Weiler: Champion in Belgium and Egypt
bir. · The 50-year-old René Weiler from Winterthur broke off his career as a footballer due to an injury and started coaching early on. He was promoted to the Super League with FC Aarau in 2013 and almost to the 1st Bundesliga with 1. FC Nürnberg in 2016. He became national champion with Anderlecht in Belgium in 2017 and with al-Ahly in Egypt in 2020. Before he took over the Servette FC team in 2023 as the successor to Alain Geiger, he was employed in Japan. He ended his engagements in Egypt and Japan, not least for personal and family reasons. It was not uncommon for Weiler to leave a club in the wake of violent eruptions and power struggles.
